A Must-Read for Internal Comms, Intranet and IT Teams

If you’re involved in intranets, internal communications, or IT—and you’re looking to implement or enhance your organisation’s intranet or employee experience platform—this report is for you. And it's free.

???? This article is available in Portuguese at KMOL

Why Intranets?

“These platforms help people get things done, stay informed about what’s going on, and help find that expert, that application, or that little piece of data they need. They contribute to the way an employee feels about the place they work, encourage and reflect organisational culture, and can even improve levels of customer service. They are strategic investments that drive organisational benefits and support employees through their working day.” (p. 11)

Because of their strategic importance, launching a new intranet—or improving an existing one—should be a well-informed, intentional process. That’s why Intranet and Employee Experience Platforms – Reviews of the Best Products on the Market, the annual report by ClearBox Consulting, is an invaluable resource to guide you.

But be warned: at 871 pages, this report is no light read.

How to navigate this report

Here’s my recommended approach to get the most value from the report without having to sift through all 871 pages:

1. Start at page 862 – Read the Four Phases of Product Selection to understand the best approach to choosing or improving an intranet.
2. Look at the 8 intranet scenarios (p. 824) – These describe what an intranet can deliver, which might go beyond what you expect or know to be possible.
3. Explore the four product approaches (p. 857) – Understand the pros and cons of using SharePoint or opting for an alternative.
4. Check the diagram on page 854 – If budget, internal (technical) resources, and time are constraints, this visualisation provides a valuable lens for steering your analysis.
5. Use the tables on pages 9-10 – These help filter and prioritise the products worth exploring, particularly in relation to the 8 business scenarios.
6. Review market trends (p. 12) – When discussing with shortlisted vendors, understanding the direction of their product development is key.

This independent report was compiled by Suzie Robinson and Sam Marshall of ClearBox Consulting Ltd, alongside 10 global professionals who reviewed the products—and each other’s reviews—to ensure a fair and comprehensive analysis.

“If the scores seem generally good, it is because we didn’t invite any vendors where we thought their product would perform poorly and not because we were lenient.”

Noteworthy insights from the Report

While many of these points have been covered in the suggested approach above, they’re worth highlighting separately for easy reference.

Types of products reviewed

The report categorises intranet and employee experience platforms into four groups:

1. Modern Intranets & Employee Experience Platforms – The ‘classic’ intranets, now positioned as broader employee experience platforms.
2. Communication Platforms – Focused on the communication elements the intranets, these are optimised for reaching employees across various channels.
3. Employee Mobile Apps – “feature rich, addressing specific business needs through the mobile interface”.
4. Complementary Solutions – Designed to enhance modern intranets, offering extras like SharePoint web parts, analytics, or integration features.

Four approaches to a new Intranet

The report highlights four paths organisations typically take when selecting an intranet:

1. Standard SharePoint
2. SharePoint with an add-on product
3. Independent intranet platform
4. Custom build using a CMS or SharePoint as the base

Five market trends to watch

1. Artificial Intelligence (AI)
2. Engagement & social features – think social feeds, reactions, and praise features
3. Experience for administrators – though still an area with much room for improvement
4. Features for internal communicators – like newsletters, digests, and multi-channel comms from a single platform
5. “Accessibility features becoming more obvious”.

AI features were assessed in four areas — how supportive, purposeful, usable, and governable they are — and their role:

• Generative AI for content creation (the most common use)
• Search and information finding (e.g., likely answers, search assistants)
• Support for admins (one of the weakest use cases)
• Other enhancements (e.g., auto-translation, audio generation)

Score vs Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

The Score vs TCO diagram maps products in 4 quadrants based on their estimated total cost of ownership and average review scores.

For instance, Turnkey Products are platforms that offer good value, easier setup, and less administrative burden.

Many organisations may find this diagram a wake-up call, particularly those who assume SharePoint + Viva is the most cost-effective and comprehensive choice. The positioning in this visual challenges that perception, showing a range of strong alternatives in the Turnkey Products quadrant

Final Thoughts

There are other resources to guide organisations through the process of creating a new intranet. Like the book The Right Way to Select Technology by Tony Byrne and Jarrod Gingras (my review in Portuguese) or a booklet I co-created in 2014 with Isabel Caetano (Ferramentas de Gest?o do Conhecimento: Principais Critérios de Selec??o). However, the independent product reviews are what really sets apart this resource.