Delivering an Innovative Bank Intranet Powered by SharePoint and Involv

Background

The client is a leading financial institution in Europe. The organization was established as a spin-off from a larger financial group and has since built a strong reputation as a reliable and customer-focused bank. Since 2011, the institution has operated as an independent entity and was eventually reintegrated into a broader governmental structure.

The bank serves both individual and business clients and offers a wide range of financial services. Through its focus on stability, customer-centricity and sustainability, the institution has grown into a major player in the European market.

Key Strategies of the financial institution:

• Customer-Centricity: The organization aims to serve its clients in a personal and efficient manner, offering financial solutions tailored to their specific needs.
• Innovation: By continuously investing in technological advancement, the bank seeks to optimize its processes and improve its services.
• Sustainable Finance: The institution is strongly committed to corporate social responsibility and focuses on sustainable financing and community engagement.
• Community Investment: The bank supports projects that enhance quality of life, such as affordable housing, educational programs and cultural events.

A Legacy System Holding Back Potential
For years, the bank’s intranet was powered by an on-premises SharePoint installation. As the workforce grew increasingly mobile and tech-savvy, this legacy platform struggled to meet modern needs. Information was very difficult to access and silos persisted across teams and branches. The user experience felt clunky and unintuitive. Collaborating on documents was a chore. Worse yet, the old information structure made it difficult for employees to find the resources they needed.

Unleashing Productivity Through Modernization
It was clear that modernizing the intranet environment was crucial for unleashing productivity across the hybrid workforce. A cutting-edge solution was required – one that could centralize knowledge, streamline collaboration, and empower employees through self-service.

By migrating to SharePoint Online with Involv Intranet on top as a intranet content management system the bank could leverage the full power of a futureproof, intelligent intranet.

Powered by Involv, this modern SharePoint ecosystem could surface personalized, contextual content based on an employee’s role, location, and activities. And advanced Involv search capabilities, driven by years of experience, would ensure information was always just a few keystrokes away.

Amplifying the Brand Identity
Beyond functionality, the modernized intranet also presented an opportunity to amplify the bank’s brand identity. Highly detailed branding guidelines would be meticulously integrated across all intranet sites and pages for a cohesive, on-brand experience. From the color palette and typography to iconography and multimedia, every element would reinforce the bank’s unique identity and core values.

An Innovative, Future-Proof Foundation
By partnering with Involv, the bank could realize its vision for an innovative, future-proof intranet. As a leading SharePoint Intranet partner, Involv’s experts collaborate closely to strategize, design, and deploy the ideal solution.

Their comprehensive approach ensures a well organized, smooth migration, seamless integration of third-party systems, and robust governance for long-term scalability.

With an ultra-modern intranet powered by SharePoint Online and Involv Intranet, the bank could finally break free from its legacy constraints. Employees are empowered with the digital workplace they deserved – an intelligent hub for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and productivity.

Based on the information architecture of the bank and all the existing and future Microsoft technology and best practices a new information architecture was created.

The new information architecture aimed to create an intuitive structure that would simplify navigation, improve discovery, and increase productivity for employees.

Key considerations included:

• Organizing content logically by department, role, and task to reflect how employees naturally think about and search for information
• Standardizing metadata and taxonomy to enable powerful search capabilities
• Integrating line-of-business applications and data sources to provide a unified experience
• Embedding rich media like video, audio and interactive elements to bring information to life for a more engaging employee experience
• Utilizing data and analytics to personalize and optimize content delivery based on employee roles and behaviors

The redesigned information architecture would form the foundation for a futureproof intranet platform – one that could scale and adapt and evolve alongside the bank’s own business for the years to come.

Designing an Inspiring, Engaging Intranet Experience

Our strategy hinged on delivering an exceptional user experience that would captivate employees and drive adoption. We meticulously crafted intuitive intranet, page and web part designs leveraging Involv’s expertise in design and user experience. The result was a visually stunning, personalized intranet tailored to cater to diverse roles and responsibilities within the organization.

Migrating and Consolidating Existing Information

Ensuring a seamless transition was paramount. We developed a robust migration plan to consolidate scattered information from disparate sources into a centralized, searchable information base.

This process involved meticulous content auditing, organizing, and mapping to ensure a cohesive and logically structured information repository.

Fostering Collaboration and Empowering Employees

At the core of our strategy lay a commitment to fostering collaboration and empowering employees. By integrating powerful SharePoint capabilities, we enabled seamless document management, real-time co-authoring, and secure information sharing. Additionally, we implemented robust social features, facilitating cross-functional communication and knowledge exchange.

Leveraging the Power of SharePoint and Involv

Our strategy capitalized on the synergy between SharePoint and Involv’s cutting-edge technology. SharePoint’s robust platform provided a secure, scalable foundation, while Involv’s innovative front-end components and back-end content management system enhances the user experience, personalization, and governance capabilities. This potent combination ensures a future-proof intranet equipped to evolve alongside the organization’s growth.

Launching and Driving Adoption

Successful adoption is a critical factor for every intranet and a part of our strategy. We orchestrate a comprehensive change management plan, including targeted communication campaigns, training programs, and ongoing support. By engaging employees early and addressing their concerns, we foster a sense of ownership and excitement, paving the way for a smooth and successful intranet launch.

Through our strategic approach, we deliver a SharePoint-powered intranet that empowers our client’s workforce, streamlines operations, and positions them as a digital leader in the financial sector.

Microsoft SharePoint Online

At the core of this innovative intranet lies Microsoft SharePoint Online – a powerful and flexible cloud-based platform for collaboration, content management, and document management. SharePoint Online provides a secure and scalable foundation for building robust, enterprise-grade intranet portals, enabling seamless integration with other Microsoft 365 applications and services.

As part of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, SharePoint Online seamlessly integrates with other essential productivity tools, such as OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Viva. This integration fosters a cohesive and unified digital workplace experience, empowering employees to collaborate, communicate, and access information from a single, centralized platform. BUT SharePoint Online does not offer the the necessary customization possibilities to create a personalized, brandable, unified communication experience.

Microsoft Viva Integration

Microsoft Viva, a comprehensive employee experience platform, is another key component of this intranet solution. Viva empowers employees by providing personalized insights, learning opportunities, and access to community resources directly within the intranet.

Involv’s Intelligent Intranet Platform

Involv, a leading provider of modern intranet solutions, plays a pivotal role in this innovative setup.

Involv’s intelligent intranet platform is built on top of SharePoint Online, leveraging its robust capabilities while adding a layer of customization, enhanced user experience, and advanced features tailored to the specific needs of the banking industry.

With Involv, the intranet becomes a dynamic and intelligent hub, providing personalized content, seamless search capabilities, and intuitive navigation.
Taking the entire employee experience to a whole new level.

Seamless Integration and Customization

One of the key strengths of this technology stack lies in its seamless integration and customization capabilities. Involv’s platform is lives on the tenant of the customer and is in true symbiosis with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, ensuring a cohesive and unified digital workplace experience. Customizations can be made to align the intranet with the bank’s branding, workflows, and specific requirements, enabling a tailored solution that meets the unique needs of the organization and its employees.

By leveraging the power of SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365, and Involv’s intelligent intranet platform, this innovative solution empowers employees with a modern, engaging, and productive digital workplace. It fosters collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and streamlined access to essential resources, ultimately driving efficiency, employee engagement, and organizational success within the banking industry.

Implementing a new intranet is a major undertaking, but measuring its success is crucial to justify the investment and drive continuous improvement. Key metrics to evaluate include adoption rates, user engagement, and productivity gains.

Adoption Measurement

To gauge adoption, we can leverage Microsoft’s built-in analytics tools like SharePoint usage reports and Microsoft 365 usage analytics but these tools reports are often very limited and not tailored to needs of the internal communication expert. The Involv Analytics center provide a central dashboard with all the key metrics to measure the agreed upon KPI’s for the intranet. KPI’s like page views, likes, active users, site visits, content interactions, and a lot more.
Microsoft’s AppInsights can also surface engagement signals like page views, click paths, and dwell times.

Engagement Insights

Surveys enable gathering structured and unstructured feedback on user satisfaction, feature usefulness, and workflow impacts.

Regular stakeholder meetings

Success isn’t a one-time achievement – it requires ongoing tracking and optimization. Establishing a cadence of quarterly stakeholder meetings allows interpreting the latest metrics, identifying opportunities, and prioritizing enhancements. The data-driven approach combined with the stakeholders meetings ensure that the intranet continues delivering increasing value over time.
Combining quantitative analytics with qualitative feedback provides a holistic picture of adoption, engagement and productivity gains. This multi-faceted measurement strategy validates the transformative impact of the new intranet while guiding its evolution as workforce needs change.