5 ways intranets have changed for the better

Underused, unusable, a waste of time – for many people, these are terms that might come to mind when picturing an intranet.

We’re trying to change that perception, because we know that, done right, an intranet can have a truly transformative effect on an organisation and its staff.

It’s fair to say that intranets have had a bad rep in the past, because, in the wrong hands, they’re very easy to mess up.

For many who’ve used an old-school intranet, the experience was one of frustration – at not being able to find information, at the site being out-of-date, or even at being unable to use it on the latest browsers.

Fortunately, it’s 2016, and all that has changed. We’ve put twenty years of experience into creating our Kira intranet accelerator.

It’s a new kind of solution that brings the corporate intranet resolutely into the 21st century.

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Benefits of an intranet for every department

Upgrading to a modern intranet can clear the road ahead for every area of your business.

If you’ve been tasked with delivering a modern intranet for your organisation, it’s vital to get buy-in across the company.

The good news is that every department can find their journey made easier by a well-run intranet, such as one built on our Kira intranet platform.

Here are just a few aspects that your colleagues can take advantage of across some key departments.

Benefits to management

An intranet provides a number of valuable tools for senior management.

For a start, it provides a fantastic way to communicate with the whole organisation.

Managers can publish blog posts or news items to quickly and effectively spread the word about new initiatives or developments in the organisation.

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Thriving sector makes Edinburgh key UK tech hub

A new survey of the British technology sector has revealed something we already knew – that Edinburgh is one of the top places for tech sector employees to live and work.

The report, Tech Nation 2016, was commissioned by Tech City UK to discover hot spots for growth in the industry.

Factors contributing to Edinburgh’s stellar growth include the availability of commercial property, flourishing local networks and a large pool of graduate talent.

We’ve already recognised this, taking part in local initiatives and running our own, very successful apprenticeship and graduate recruitment schemes.

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The Name Game: Naming an Intranet

What’s in a name? Quite a lot, as it happens. Picking the right name for your corporate intranet is even more important than you might think. Read on to find out why, and how to pick a good one.

Disengaged employee
Photo by Travis Wise, used under Creative Commons

What should we call our intranet?

A lot of work goes into an intranet – from making the business case, to gathering requirements, creating an information architecture, and actually building and deploying it.

Compared with all that, your intranet’s name might seem like a trivial thing. But it’s actually one of the most important elements to get right.

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Event: Digital transformation in the Public Sector – Edinburgh, 25 February

SHR logo

We’re running an event at our Edinburgh offices on Thursday 25th February with the Scottish Housing Regulator.

This free event is a fantastic opportunity for public sector professionals to hear how innovative business intelligence technology is being deployed in Scottish public sector organisations with enormous success.

Savings

Ahead of the presentation, here’s a lovely example of how implementing an innovative system immediately saved SHR time and money.

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Re-engaging employees with flexible working options

A survey has shown that most people feel disengaged from their jobs. Could flexible and remote working hold the solution?

Disengaged employee
Adapted from a photo by Fod Tzellos, used under Creative Commons

Do you ever wonder how many of your colleagues are counting down the minutes to 5pm? A Gallup survey published last month shows that more than half of employees are not engaged in their jobs, and a further 17.2% are ‘actively disengaged’. That leaves less than a third who find their work engaging. While the number of workers who replied positively has steadily increased since pollsters started asking the question in 2000, they now describe the trend as ‘stagnant’. It’s a sobering thought that more than two thirds of employees aren’t enthusiastic about their work – or committed to their employer.

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What do you get with Office 365?

You might have heard a lot about Microsoft’s Office 365 service without knowing exactly what it is. We’ve helped dozens of businesses make the move to Office 365, and users are often surprised and delighted by some the features of this thoroughly modern software suite.

It might seem like it’s just a new way of paying for Office (there’s a small monthly subscription fee instead of a large one-off cost), but in reality there’s a lot more to Office 365. It’s evolved from the ‘classic’ desktop software we’re all familiar with into a tool with the power to transform how your office works.

Here’s some of our favourite features an Enterprise subscription to Office 365 gives you.

Access your files from anywhere

Office 365 DevicesReplacing the traditional shared network drive, OneDrive securely hosts all your business’s files in the cloud. It seamlessly integrates with Windows and automatically synchronises files across multiple devices. That means that, wherever you are, you can access the same files.

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Managing the move to hybrid cloud – video

We wanted to share a video from one of our customers, Hymans Robertson, which offers a fascinating look at how a major financial firm can transition their systems from a fully on-premise setup to a hybrid cloud solution. The presentation, filmed at last year’s Microsoft Future Decoded event, features their IT Director, Barry Smart, together …

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Is there room for flexible working in your organisation?

With the announcement of the closure of the Forth Road Bridge for 3 week leading into the New Year, many people and businesses were not prepared to  deal with the disruptions this was to cause. But this closure shouldn’t need to have such a negative impact on your business.

Could you offer flexible working? 

Flexible working in times such as these could be a blessing for your business. It offers your staff the ability to cope with the increasing demand of their daily commute, their work and their life outside of work, and your business can run as normal with  your staff logging on from anywhere, minimising the effect reduced staff would cause.

So what are the benefits of having a flexible working policy?

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Users flock to new enterprise CRM system for major financial client

One of our major financial sector customers is experiencing unprecedented user adoption of the new CRM system we built for them.

In fact, in the six months since the new solution was launched, they’ve seen the number of staff using CRM quadruple compared to their legacy SalesLogix system.

pipeline

That astonishing uptake is being reflected in tangible business benefits, with more sales opportunities being created, and management reporting the system is creating a far clearer picture of the sales pipeline.

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