5 Important Benefits of Utilizing your Microsoft 365 Investment

Digital Workplaces have become increasingly important in this day and age with many companies having employees work remote or in a hybrid setting. The need for collaboration and communication grows daily and companies are looking for the best solution for their intranets. With many options out there from 3rd Party Solutions, Custom Development and SharePoint Out-of-the-Box, it can be overwhelming to decide what is the best option for you. But why would you want to make an additional software investment for your intranet after you just invested in Microsoft 365?! With a multitude of features and assets, Microsoft 365 is all you need to have a successful and collaborative Digital Workplace! Check out these 5 Benefits of Utilizing Your Microsoft 365 Investment for Your Intranet...

1. Future Proof

Version updates, new releases, updated API's are all great things because they are fixing bugs, updating user experiences and overall creating a more functional product. But what happens if you are using a 3rd Party Solution or Custom Development? Many times, you will lose access or there will be a broken connection because your solution isn't compatible with the latest version of Microsoft 365 or any other integrations you may be using. Your intranet will no longer be current, and you could lose momentum in collaboration as an uncertain amount of time is needed to try and fix the connection and have a solution update of its own. Why play catch up with your intranet when you can future proof it?! By sticking with SharePoint for your intranet solution, you never have to worry about having an outdated intranet as your SharePoint site will update with the latest Microsoft 365 or integrated API’s.

“21st century employees want to be engaged and trusted. We get work done when and where it makes sense!”

2. Mobile Access

With remote work on the rise, the need for access anywhere and at any time is a necessity! Sure, there are ways to access a 3rd Party Solution through your mobile device but how functional is it? Having to go through multiple steps to get to your intranet is time consuming and not the ease of use employees wants or are accustomed to on their mobile device. When we can access so many things through a simple app on the phone, an intranet should be one of them as well! With a SharePoint built intranet with PowerApps, users will be able to access their intranet right through the SharePoint app or their PowerApps within their intranet on the PowerApps app. Easy access that is straightforward.

3. Speed of Customization

Employee buy-in is the true test for the strength of your intranet and the best way to get this is through customization. Having a personalized hub when you log in that hosts all the important features users need to get their job done is imperative. Not only should users have all the features to get their job done, each users hub page should have customized features that are made specifically for them. Whether it’s making sure that the marketing team sees all of their collateral on their hub page or having C-Level users receive information when they log in, each user should have a different experience. With Microsoft 365, admins will be able to not only make sure that each user is given permission to see the appropriate features, it will also be very quick to do so.

"Cyber security is much more than a matter of IT"

4. Security

Data security is one of the top features you should be looking at when deciding on an intranet solution. Where is information stored? What is the security process for implementation? With keeping your intranet strictly within Microsoft 365, you never have to worry about a security breach or issue with any of your sensitive data. Not only is your data protected from the outside but with SharePoint you are able to set permissions on the most minuscule data with the help of an IT Admin.

5. Power Platform Integration

The Power Platform is one of the greatest features within Microsoft 365 that allows you to do powerful things with your intranet. PowerApps, Power Automate and Power BI allow you to have full control of your site, each one providing important tools. Power Automate allows admins to automate workflows. This means that you are able to create workflows between apps and/or services to synchronize documents, receive notifications, collect information and much more. Power BI is used for reporting. With this tool you are able to find insights within your organization’s data. This helps connect contrasting data sets, transform and clean data into a data model and create charts to provide a visual aid. Not only will it provide the information, but you are also able to share this information with other members of your organization.

Finally, PowerApps are one of the greatest features within Microsoft 365 for your intranet. With over 250 connectors and the ability for custom apps, your intranet design and integration have endless options. With E3 and higher for Microsoft 365 PowerApps are included with your license so everyone in your company will have access to the integrations. Having these apps allows for a functional intranet as well as one that I visually appealing for employees to use! With other 3rd Party Solutions you will lose out on some key integrations as they don't have the proper APIs or the discovery time to see if something is available is not worth the price to have it for your intranet.