For businesses using an intranet or enterprise content management service, migrating to Microsoft SharePoint Online may seem daunting. Like changing the location of your physical office space, changing the digital space of your intranet can be just as stressful. However, Microsoft is making it easier to migrate from content management services to SharePoint.
This article highlights four reasons why many organizations are choosing to migrate intranet services to Microsoft SharePoint Online. Our intent is to help you look past the short-term hurdles of a migration to realize the long-term benefits of a robust intranet in SharePoint Online.
The Importance of Finding the Right Intranet
We are living in an age when more and more businesses and employees are dependent on digital spaces to work effectively, so it is important to consider if a migration to SharePoint Online is right for you. Without using an industry-leading intranet service to connect your employees, your organization runs the risk of having an intranet that resembles a digital junk drawer.
A 2019 survey asked hundreds of internal communications specialists what they felt most contributed to unorganized intranet services. The most noted factors were unclear process mapping/workflows and confusing content governance processes. Optimized workflows and content governance are just two of the many reasons why switching to SharePoint Online can have a positive impact on your business operations.
What is a SharePoint Intranet?
Microsoft SharePoint is an out-of-the-box intranet that fully supports and enhances all business operations. A SharePoint intranet allows you to incorporate all relevant information for your business, including news, training modules, resources, event promotion, and content that is personalized for Microsoft 365 users. The best part of a SharePoint intranet is that it provides a low-code/no-code solution to your intranet design, lessening the burden on your IT department to code an intranet from scratch, and freeing up their time for more critical tasks.
Four Key Reasons to Migrate to SharePoint Online
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Content Accessibility for Internal and External Users
While some intranet services focus on data security and governance, often enhanced data security can come with limited capabilities when sharing information with external users. Businesses depend on collaboration in digital spaces, so employees often need to collaborate with users at external businesses and organizations. With SharePoint Online, you can get the best of both worlds—it offers enhanced data security and governance, while also allowing employees to seamlessly share and collaborate with external users anywhere in the world.
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Affordable Pay Structures with Scaling Capabilities
As part of Microsoft 365’s general pricing structure, organizations can choose a pricing model that is best for their business, ensuring that they are not paying for more than they need. The best part about this feature is that your monthly or annual subscription can be changed alongside the changing structures of your business. With an intranet in SharePoint Online, you can add new users and scale your intranet as your business grows, ensuring that you are paying for precisely what you need along every step of your organization’s journey.
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Enhance Operations in OneDrive for Business
With enhancements in interoperability in the OneDrive for Business app, your intranet content will always remain in one secure space. This improves the organization of your information architecture with optimized security and accessibility, meaning all critical information can be in the right person’s hands at the right time.
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Security and Compliance Measures
Microsoft SharePoint Online ensures that all information remains organized and accessible in your business, but unlike other intranet services, this does not come with the cost of data security and governance risks. Representing the gold-standard of data security combined with the user-friendly accessibility of low-code solutions, SharePoint turns data security into a total team effort.
SharePoint Online offers organizations the ability to properly train, manage, and support all employees while contributing to data security and governance, all while employing cutting-edge security measures for data encryption, backups, and organization. Furthermore, SharePoint can give you peace of mind in knowing that the identities and sensitive information for your business will not be mined for marketing purposes.
Although a migration to Microsoft SharePoint Online may seem like a daunting task, the above reasons demonstrate why it is a worthwhile investment to ensure the long-term health of your data and your operations. If you are curious about migrating from your current intranet service to SharePoint Online, reach out to our team to request a free consultation. Elantis has a Microsoft Gold-certified team of enterprise content management experts who are here to help!
