Elevate your Employee Experience with a SharePoint Intranet
We specialise in SharePoint intranet solutions that engage, inspire and connect employees. Working across IT, internal communications and engagement teams, our expert Microsoft 365 consultants help organisations make the most of SharePoint.
We know intranets aren’t one-size-fits all. Our range of services are flexible across business shapes, sizes, and challenges. Every project we deliver is designed with employees at the forefront, to sit at the centre of organisations’ digital workplace.
SharePoint Online Intranets
We design and build modern intranets that maximise SharePoint’s out-of-the-box capabilities. Our team of consultants combine expert knowledge with our unique people-first approach to deliver first-class intranets that promote collaboration, productivity and communication.
Best for: Small to medium organisations looking for a quick, simple solution
Custom Intranets
Our custom intranets take SharePoint to the next level. Using bespoke components and our own products, we give internal communicators more flexibility, creativity and control than any intranet-in-a-box solution.
Best for: Medium to enterprise organisations looking for more enhanced, tailored features
Portal Sites
Our SharePoint portals help support business processes and initiatives outside of the global intranet. From communication sites and department sites, to learning hubs and change management centres, we can build portals for every scenario.
Kickstart Your Intranet Project Today
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It was a pleasure to work with Silicon Reef. To have their knowledge and expertise in developing a user-centred intranet using SharePoint was critical to our success. Embedding Silicon Reef’s Beacon software to lift the out-of-the-box features and the My Tools app to give users a choice of business applications to choose from have been an unexpected and very welcome bonus.
Our Clients
Our Approach
It’s not just what we do that’s important. It’s how we do it. Our unique approach puts employees firmly at the heart of every project.
People-First
Our people-first approach means every intranet project start with employees, not tech. By getting to know employees first, we can make the best technical recommendations and design the right solutions to solve your challenges.
Employee Experience
Intranets sit at the centre of the digital employee experience (EX). We build intranets with the wider EX strategy in mind, giving organisations a solid foundation to build from. With SharePoint underpinning the digital EX landscape, it opens the door to other tools like Microsoft Viva and Copilot.
User Experience
User experience (UX) is paramount to a successful intranet. Our in-house experts ensure every intranet is easy to use, accessible and – above all – designed to maximise employee engagement.
Training & Support
Once we’ve delivered an intranet, we’re always on hand to offer our help and expertise. We offer options for training and on-going support so help organisations get the most out of their new intranet.
“Our new intranet has already improved internal comms significantly and we now have a great platform on which to build. We would never have been able to deliver it in such a short timeframe without the team at Silicon Reef.”
How to Create a People-Friendly Intranet
Catch up on our webinar with Internal Comms expert Carly Murray on how to sort your SharePoint out and create a people-friendly intranet that works for your business and your employees.
Our Process
To create your perfect intranet, we work with organisations through a series of phases.
First, we’ll get to know you. Through a series of workshops, we’ll understand your organisation, your people, your needs and challenges. This will help us define a roadmap to success.
With this knowledge under our belt, we’ll set about designing your intranet. We’ll get employees involved along the way, with feedback, testing and UX activities.
When everyone is happy with the design, we’ll move onto the build. Followed by more testing, training and an official handover.
Once your intranet is complete, we’ll be on hand with recommendations for the next stage of your modern workplace transformation.
Our Products
Our in-house range of SharePoint add-on products have been built based on the things our customers ask for time and time again. Our products sit on top of SharePoint, are fully integrated with Microsoft 365, and are designed to enhance the SharePoint experience.
Looking for inspiration?
We’ve got you covered. Check out some examples of how we’ve helped other organisations design and build a new intranet to meet their goals. Plus, extra resources to help internal comms teams maximse all that SharePoint has to offer.
Met Office: Award Winning Intranet
Learn how the Met Office delivered a new intranet that champions accessibility and collaboration, and scooped the award for Best Intranet at the 2023 ICE Awards.
University of Leeds: Transforming Internal Communications
The University of Leeds consolidated their channels to create a new home for internal comms in SharePoint.
How to Build a Business Case for a Modern Intranet
A practical guide to help internal communicators secure budget and buy-in for a scalable, flexible, collaborative intranet.
How to Create a Killer Intranet Launch Campaign
Building your intranet is one thing – launching it is another. Learn how to launch your new intranet with a bang with this guide from our partners at The Surgery.
Let's Talk Intranets
Book a meeting with our team to start solving your SharePoint challenges
Why Choose SharePoint?
Choosing SharePoint as your intranet platform can transform your organisation’s internal communications and collaboration.
SharePoint is an intelligent intranet that integrates seamlessly with the full suite of Microsoft 365 tools, including Viva, Power Platform and Copilot. This gives organisations a centralised platform for document management, team collaboration and workflow automation – as well as an intranet.
In addition to promoting collaboration and productivity, SharePoint can also save valuable time. With document management at its core, advanced search capabilities make it quick and easy for employees to find the information they need.
There’s also greater personalisation and customisation than many off-the-shelf intranet products. Sites and portals can be tailored to cater to the needs of different teams and departments. This customisable nature also means the platform can grow and flex with your business needs.
Organisations can also be assured their data is secure, with extensive security features that keep sensitive information safe.
By choosing SharePoint, you’re choosing a tool that empowers your team to work smarter. SharePoint promotes collaboration, communication, efficiency and digital transformation. It’s so much more than just an intranet.
What Makes a Good Intranet?
A successful intranet enables collaboration, streamlines workflows, and makes information easily accessible within an organisation. But, it’s not just about the technology.
A good intranet is also user-friendly, intuitive and well-structured. It should reflect your company culture and values, and encourage employee engagement.
Intranet best practices now require customisation and personalisation. Creating hub sites, project portals and departmental hubs within a larger global intranet can help meet unique needs of each group. Equally, using custom development or add-on tools to deliver personalised content that’s relevant to individual employees can take an intranet to the next level.
For a one-stop-shop solution, a successful intranet should integrate with other company tools. Whether these are other Microsoft platforms, or third-party apps, your intranet can be a gateway to everything employees need. This takes your intranet beyond a simple news site, to a unified all-in-one platform for work.
A good intranet should also be mindful of security and governance. Sensitive information should be safe, whilst making sure the right information is accessible to the right people. Putting a long-term strategy in place helps ensure security is maintained long after your build is complete.
How to Plan Your Intranet Project?
A strong plan is key to intranet success.
Start by defining your objectives. What do you want your intranet to achieve? What does good look like to your people, and your business? It could be improving how the site looks and feels, connecting employees to organisational vision and goals, or making it easier for people to do their jobs.
Whatever your North Star is, the first step is understanding. Understand the needs of employees, challenges with the current system, and how your intranet can solve those problems.
Mapping out your intranet’s structure is next. Using learnings from the first phase to ensure the structure helps to solve the right challenges, and using UX best practices, can encourage employee adoption and engagement.
Before you launch, don’t forget to include change communications and training. Communicating with employees in the lead up to launch can generate buy-in and excitement. Role-specific training helps employees understand how the intranet can benefit their day-to-day work, and how to use it effectively.
Lastly, don’t forget to measure. Establishing metrics will help you measure the success of your intranet and understand how it’s achieving the goals set out at the start. Measuring will also help you continue to evolve your intranet as the needs of your people and your business shift.
SharePoint Intranet FAQs
How much does a SharePoint intranet cost?
If your organisation already has a Microsoft 365 licence, there’s no additional cost to use SharePoint as your intranet.
If you’re looking to work with a SharePoint partner like Silicon Reef to help with your intranet, there are lots of factors that contribute to cost. Things like number of employees, number of pages, and level of complexity can all impact the cost of a SharePoint intranet.
We offer a variety of options to suit most business needs. Get in touch, and we’ll be happy to provide you with a quote.
How long does a SharePoint intranet take to build?
It depends. If your intranet just needs a facelift, we can do a design refresh in as little as seven days. If the intranet needs custom development, it’ll take longer.
If you’re working to a tight timeline, we can help create a phased approach to hit the most important milestones first.
Do you just build intranets?
We offer lots of other SharePoint services, including:
What’s the difference between SharePoint out-of-the-box and custom intranets?
SharePoint out-of-the-box (OOTB) intranets make use of standard web parts developed by Microsoft. They’re included as part of your licence and don’t require an additional cost.
The good news is that OOTB web parts are always compatible with other Microsoft tools, (like Teams, Outlook or Viva), and will be aligned with future Microsoft updates. But, OOTB features are limited in functionality, are less customisable and may not align to your requirements or company branding.
Custom web parts can be tailored to meet organisations’ specific needs. This is ideal for larger organisations who have more complex requirements.
Custom webparts and third-party add-ons can often be integrated with Microsoft tools and other services like CRMs and HR platforms. Plus, custom webparts can often be branded to ensure consistency with look-and-feel.
However, having bespoke components build or using third-party tools will come with an extra price tag.
Can we use SharePoint for frontline workers?
Yes. Thanks to Viva Connections, organisations can now bring SharePoint intranet content straight into Teams. This makes it a great way to bring your frontline and field workers into the community.
What are some tips for a good SharePoint intranet?
We have plenty of tips to offer – but it comes down to the needs of individual organisations.
A common theme across organisations is content management. Having a good content governance strategy in place before you start populating your site with content is a key step towards intranet success.
For tips on how to make your intranet look great, check out our guide to SharePoint design.
Do you need to use SharePoint for document management for an intranet to work?
Yes. A successful intranet needs content to thrive, and that content should live in SharePoint.
If the goal of your intranet is to be a one-stop-shop or single source of truth, then all the content from across your business needs to live in the same place.
We’re happy to talk about document management, best practice and governance as part of your intranet project.
What are the resources and timelines required to take your intranet to the next level?
If you want to go further than out-of-the-box, or what you are able to deliver in-house, there are a numer of things that can impact your direction of travel.
Timelines depend on a number of factors. The size of your audience, the number of personas for any personalisation, and the number of business areas.
When it comes to resources, it depends on the approach you take and the people you have available in your team.
Typical projects we work on require input from senior members of the Internal Communications, IT and HR teams. We will provide extertise in User Experience, Employee Experience, technical Microsoft 365 consultants and a Project Manager.
What are the cons of using SharePoint as your intranet?
It’s very locked in to the Microsoft ecosystem. If your organisation is already fully embedded with M365, this can actually be a huge benefit.
If you’re not using Microsoft 365 across other areas of your business, SharePoint won’t be a great option for an intranet.
There are also some premium features that come with an added cost when you start exploring Viva.
Does SharePoint OOTB connect to Microsoft 365 to pull data?
Yes. The beauty of using SharePoint for your intranet is it’s fully integrated with Microsoft 365. Data from across your Microsoft 365 landscape can be pulled into SharePoint.
A ‘people finder’ tool is a great example of this. It’s one of the most common features we get asked about. With a little plumbing in the background, it’s easy to do.
If you're building your intranet from the ground up, where do you start?
Listening.
You need to get to the core of employees’ current challenges, their wants and needs before you make any decisions about design, structure or content.
We call this our discovery phase. It’s one of the most important parts of any project. It helps us understand what success looks like for your organisation, and gives employees a chance to be heard.
Ready to talk?
So are we. Get in touch today to discuss your SharePoint intranet.