Evolution of The Intranet

Communication is easily the most important aspect in business – without it, everything could fall apart. A company intranet is possibly the most effective way to facilitate communication; it links departments and even the individuals within them. They have however come a long way since they first started out. In this article we discuss the evolution of intranets.

Intranets Before

The story of the intranet starts with one man: Ray Tomlinson. In 1971, Tomlinson sent the first ever email, completely changing the way we communicate. It started off as a quick way for programmers and researchers to keep in touch, particularly targeted at those who can’t be relied on to answer their phones. The 1990s then saw the birth of the internet which connected the world and also revolutionised communication and collaboration in the world of business with the intranet. Older intranets tended to lack in many ways compared to what is available currently. 

Older intranets needed significant involvement from IT staff because very little could be done by the user in terms of maintenance and issue resolution. Managing older intranets was a time-intensive process that used up resources which could’ve been deployed elsewhere.

The user experience of older intranets was poor. They tended to be difficult to navigate and search functions failed to return needed results. Typically, they were not visually appealing and of course lacked a modern feel. They were difficult and almost impossible to change. Companies that used these would have to fit their content into existing parameters. The intranet didn’t adapt to the organisation; the organisation instead had to accommodate the intranet.

Intranets today

The world of technology today is expanding and advancing faster than ever so it comes as no surprise that newer intranets have a lot more to offer than the older ones. Many of the new intranet platforms were built from the ground up, incorporating the most recent technology every step of the way. The intranet of today meshes with common business software, and mirrors the user experience of popular applications.

Because the newer intranets were designed from scratch, developers could take current work habits and the organisation’s way of doing things into account. The employee experience is carefully designed with consideration for how work is completed, and the platforms look and feel state of the art. Advanced intranet platforms are customizable, with easy-to-use point-and-click configurations. As a result, they can be tailored to the specific business needs of an entire organisation, department or team.

New intranets were originally created as cloud-based systems, they are fully integrated with cloud-based storage and delivery features.

Today, smartphones dominate our lives. These pocket sized devices handle everything from social media to gaming and even work. New intranets are designed with users in mind, which means that users can move between laptops and smartphones. This feature encourages wider adoption and increased productivity among employee users.

One of the most appealing features of advanced intranet technology is its self-sufficiency. These systems can be implemented in just a few weeks, and they require little or no subsequent IT support. Instead, business users have complete autonomy in managing the system, making it possible to create a deep, rich library of content and employee-centric features.

Intranets have come a long way from where they started, offering businesses a solution that requires little to no maintenance and fits seamlessly with how the employees operate. A major platform for the modern intranet is Microsoft SharePoint. SharePoint has 190 million active users worldwide across over 200 000 customer organisations. Sound Idea Digital develops SharePoint Intranets, contact us today for a consultation. To learn more about SharePoint, watch the video below.