Content Formulas favourite intranet, SharePoint and Office 365 blog posts from 2017

Its nearly 2018, and as well as looking forward with our predictions for the coming year, weve been looking back over the past 12 months. Its been another exciting year for Content Formula, with our flourishing partnership with Wizdom Intranet, our continuing client work and our attendance at numerous conferences and events.

During 2017 weve also written a lot of articles for our blog covering intranets, SharePoint, Office 365, the digital workplace and more! Some of these posts are relevant to those starting out with an intranet project, while some will resonate more with those who already have a mature platform. So there’s something for everyone. Heres a selection of our most popular posts.  Happy reading!

15 ways you can integrate Office 365 functionality into your intranet

Many organisations are basing their intranet on SharePoint Online and Office 365.  This provides an excellent opportunity to integrate some of the powerful tools from the Office 365 suite right into the intranet experience, allowing you to drive adoption and improve efficiency. In this post our UX Director John Scott lists 15 of the most powerful ways to integrate Office 365 and your intranet. Get ready for lots of screenshots!

We need a new intranet. Where do I start?

Occasionally we stumble across a company which still doesnt have an intranet, or has grown rapidly to the point where it really need one. This article looks at the broad steps teams need to follow to get a new intranet from starting an internal conversation to building a strategy and business case all the way through to implementing that intranet project.

Define your intranet strategy before you buy your intranet

Were always surprised by the number of organisations who have no intranet strategy but are still going full steam ahead with buying intranet software and starting a project. In this thoughtful post Dan Hawtrey explains what an intranet strategy is and outlines seven key reasons for developing one. He also reiterates the importance of research and understanding your users to deliver a successful intranet.

How to be an intranet video star

So far video had a bit of a bumpy ride inside the enterprise compared to the consumer world. The meteoric rise of YouTube hasnt exactly been matched by the success of internal video sharing platforms. In this video (about video!) John Scott explores how you can move forward with video on your intranet. Its based on a well-received presentation John gave at the IntraTeam conference in Copenhagen in the Spring.

Making the business case for your intranet

How do you go about making a business case for your intranet? What should you include in it and what type of evidence do you need to argue your case?  And how should you present it? This very practical checklist is full of tips and advice and a great starting point for preparing an argument to present to your stakeholders.

Stay close to your users to deliver a great intranet

Here at Content Formula we know how important it is to listen to and actively involve your users in an intranet project. Staying close to your users helps you to carry out the effective user research needed to build a great intranet as well as test and validate the design. It also supports your  change management efforts as you build advocacy through involvement. This post explores the contribution users make and how to involve them throughout your project.

Microsoft unveils whole host of Office 365, SharePoint and OneDrive updates at #MSIgnite

OK, we admit we are a bit geeky here at Content Formula, especially when it comes to Office 365 and SharePoint. Naturally we always are excited by what Microsoft will reveal in its announcements at the annual Ignite conference. Here our Technical Director Joe Perry lists some of the major changes on the horizon from new hub sites to improvements to Teams to a whole new SharePoint admin centre.

Got Office 365? Why opting for a non-SharePoint intranet is madness!

This post was partly inspired by a conversation we had with a potential client about whether it was right to go with a non-SharePoint intranet when they had Office 365. In our view it doesnt make much sense at all!  This article covers how a SharePoint intranet allows you to fully leverage your investment in Office 365 by integrating with the wider suite of tools, helping to drive adoption and creating a gateway to your digital workplace. It also reduces costs, avoids user confusion and means youre future-proofed!

Running an intranet RFP an agency view

We often get asked to participate in RFPs to win new work. If youve never run an RFP process before it can prove to be time-consuming and require a lot of effort. Here Dan Hawtrey gives his thoughts on how to manage an intranet-related RFP and provides some tips for success that will help you to choose the best digital partner for your company.

Buy or build your intranet? Off-the-shelf versus custom build (webinar)

Back in April we held a webinar led by Dan Hawtrey and John Scott which examined how intranets have shifted over the last couple of years from being mainly custom-built for each individual organisation to where purchasing an off-the-shelf intranet now makes more sense. In this recording we take a deep dive into the buy or build question and rate the two approaches across different criteria such as cost, access, scope, speed and relevance.

And lots of information about Wizdom features!

Way back in January we announced our partnership with Wizdom, the leading SharePoint-in-a-box product. Wizdom comes packed with features and capabilities, some of which weve covered throughout the year.

So if you want to read about Wizdoms excellent Learning Management System, its highly useful policy library feature, the instant intranet Accelerate module which revolutionises deployment or its great approach to news (mixing more formal corporate news and informal noticeboard items), then youve come to the right blog!

Keep on reading!

Were going to be carrying on writing post and articles in 2018 covering practical advice and tips, the latest developments in the SharePoint and Office 365 world, our thoughts and more. Let us know if theres something youd like to cover. See you next year!