For over 10 years, Code A Site has been helping businesses find the right intranet software solution, and we want to use that expertise to help you. For us, there’s no worse feeling than seeing a company run at less-than peak operational efficiency because of inconsistencies with their intranet hub, and one of the leading reasons for this is when a company decides to use an intranet solution that isn’t one of the best. We know it’s intimidating — just look at the list of solutions available!
That’s why, to help your decision-making process, we’ve pared down the list to what we think are the top 3 intranet solutions available:
Igloo if you need a workable intranet solution fast
We like Igloo Intranet primarily because it’s so easy to get started. To create your first intranet site, you pretty much just go on their website and in a matter of minutes you can have a functioning intranet site with a variety of features. Igloo provides several built-in templates for different intranet page types, including blogs, calendars, wikis, as well as basic file sharing and company directories. In terms of ease of use, Igloo Intranet is hands down the most intuitive intranet solution available.
The only real trade-offs for using Igloo are the lack of customization, and the price tag. Igloo’s prefabricated site pages and almost no startup time means that extensive personalization and development opportunities are limited. Though site pages have settings that can be tweaked to your liking, new site pages must fit a template, and various advanced intranet features (like multi-language sites, and support for SAML and LDAP authentication) are unavailable. Additionally, Igloo’s starting price is $12/user per month, which can be a steep barrier to entry for small to mid-sized companies.
If you don’t mind paying the monthly fee and some of the reduced customization features, Igloo provides a fast, highly-functional intranet solution.
Kentico CMS if you need a full online marketing platform/online store
Does your company have similar needs for an easy-to-use collaborative intranet space, but also require a way to sell your product to customers online and need a way to market to them through the same site? Then Kentico is the intranet solution for you! With an all-in-one (intranet hub, e-commerce platform, and content management system) system that works right out of the box, Kentico is the perfect one-stop-shop for company’s with a variety of intranet needs. Despite its easy setup and plethora of template solutions, Kentico supports a variety of personalization and development, both aesthetically and functionally. Easily build upon the base platform with Kentico’s extensive API and documentation to create site pages such as newsletters or forums.
Using Kentico, you may have to deal with a couple drawbacks, though. These include minor situational issues like problems with adding additional back-end users, or difficulty embedding certain files into some article types; as well as larger issues that the Kentico team is working to fix, like an unresponsive mobile version and some site performance issues when user volume is high.
This all being said, if your company wants an intranet platform that can grow along with the business (in terms of customization and new feature development), and especially if your company needs both a traditional collaborative intranet space as well as an online marketing tool and an e-commerce platform, Kentico CMS is the perfect solution for you!
SharePoint if you have Office 365 and want maximum performance
Last and certainly not least comes the grandfather of all intranet platforms: Microsoft SharePoint. Possibly Code A Site’s favorite intranet software, SharePoint provides a cost effective solution for companies that already pay for Office 365…it’s included in your license for free! SharePoint has site templates and add-ins made by Microsoft, but also has the Office store where you can download many free and paid add-ins developed by members of the sprawling SharePoint online community. Documentation and support for SharePoint is immense, with many free Microsoft resources and an entire network of Microsoft Partners available to help out.
The importance of such a community does not go unrealized, though, as SharePoint does have a bit of a learning curve. Though day-to-day users will have no problem using the intranet solution for their work (to share and collaborate on files, access employee directories or blogs, view the company calendar listing, etc.), but administrators and developers may require additional training to be able to get the most out of Microsoft’s powerful tool.
If your team doesn’t mind learning the platform, SharePoint is a cost-effective, extremely powerful intranet solution that can be customized to fit your company’s branding and business model (think automated document creation and sharing files with external users).
Having trouble deciding?
Still not sure which solution is for you? Check out this blog post and make sure you’re considering the right factors when making your important intranet decision. Then, take our free quiz to see which intranet solution you match up best with!
Free Quiz to Find Your Intranet Solution
