SharePoint 2016 has finally arrived – we take a look at some of the exciting new features.

Microsoft’s SharePoint platform has been around since 2001, and this is the first major version since SharePoint 2013 came out four years ago.

What is SharePoint?

Originally intended to provide a content management platform for creating web portals, SharePoint has now grown into a platform that has countless uses.

It now includes functionality to create intranets and extranets; manage, search and discuss content and documents; manage workflows, and implement business intelligence solutions.

It even has its own app store.

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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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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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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.

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

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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