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Best practices for SharePoint intranets

The vast majority of corporate intranets are now running on SharePoint, or are moving to it, and this is ushering in a new era for intranets.

But what does a great SharePoint intranet look like? What should be done to ensure project success? This business-focused report, written by the world’s intranet experts, provides SharePoint answers and examples from organisations such as Coca-Cola Enterprises, BDO, Knight Frank, IMF, Standard Chartered Bank and many more.

SharePoint is a hugely powerful product, across a broad range of areas. But is also a complex product, with a steep learning curve and many moving parts.

SharePoint intranets, like the intranets that came before them, are hidden within organisations. This makes it hard for intranet and project teams to see what others have done, and to identify what works (and what doesn’t).

On the other hand, the widespread deployment of SharePoint for the intranet provides a unique opportunity to discern best practices, and learn from others. By ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’, organisations can avoid project risks and maximise the benefits of their SharePoint intranet deployment.

This report shares 25 key insights that have been drawn from real-world SharePoint intranet experiences and projects. These covers seven overall categories:

  • lay the foundations
  • planning your project
  • design your intranet
  • collaboration
  • people and social
  • processes and activities
  • keeping up momentum

For each of the 25 best practices, we provide practical advice, quotes from SharePoint intranet experts, project examples and screenshots.

The purpose of this report is to surface what’s already been done on SharePoint intranets, and to highlight best practices that will have the greatest impact on success.

Hear what this report is all about

Using this report

The best practices are written as bite-sized chunks that can be dipped into as needed. This allows the information to be used in many different ways:

  • See what others have done, by browsing the screenshots and case studies.
  • Get inspiration for your project, uncovering new ideas or approaches that will increase the impact of your SharePoint deployment.
  • Focus on high impact areas, helping you to allocate limited project budgets and resources to have the greatest effect.
  • Avoid common pitfalls, by identifying risks and problems early, and planning the project around them.
  • Address non-technology issues, putting in place the supporting processes and structures to ensure that new functionality will be adopted and used.
  • Use as conversation starters, whether it’s within the team, with stakeholders, or the IT department.
  • Use as evidence, showing your IT team or external implementation partner that it really can be done.
  • Kick off further research, using this report as the starting point for seeking out in-depth answers on key topics.

If you’re deploying a new SharePoint intranet, upgrading to a new version, or benchmarking your current site, this report provides invaluable insight.

Featured organisations

The 130 page report shares insights from organisations around the globe. This includes:
Ausgrid, BDO, Bennett Jones, BUPA Australia, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Commonwealth Bank, COWI, IMF, KiwiBank, Knight Frank, Lundbeck, ONO, Standard Chartered Bank, Stockland, Vancity.

Packed with screenshots, details are also provided on what these organisations did, why they did it, and what the benefits were.

Who this report is for

This is not a technology report that deep-dives into the development and configuration aspects of SharePoint. Instead, the report is for people trying to solve business information problems.

The report is highly relevant for:

  • intranet managers
  • internal communications managers
  • IT managers
  • CIOs
  • SharePoint designers
  • business analysts

(The generous site license means the report can be shared within a single organisation, providing a valuable common talking point for all stakeholders.)

Which SharePoint version?

At the time of writing this report, SharePoint 2010 is the current version. Many organisations are deploying this for the first time, or are migrating from SharePoint 2007 (or even 2003!).

SharePoint 2013 has just been released as a beta version, with no official release date announced.

Wherever possible, we’ve focused on best practices that are ‘version agnostic’. These fundamental principles should hold true regardless of which version is being used, or migrated to.

More information

order report

Best practices for SharePoint intranets

Best practices for SharePoint intranets (PDF)

Maximising the business value of your SharePoint investment

The must-have guide to designing and implementing a successful SharePoint intranet, written for a business audience by the world’s intranet experts.This report shares 25 key practices that help teams to learn from others, avoid pitfalls, and see what great SharePoint intranets look like.

Purchase now:
Online from Step Two (US$149)
Offline from Step Two (AU only)