Using social media communication for a new intranet had long been a plan at Roland Berger. The existing static intranet based on OpenText Livelink no longer met the modern requirements of the highly dynamic environment of the strategy consulting firm.
After an initial pilot in 2012 based on Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and NewsGator Social Sites, the decision on the technology platform for the final implementation was pending. The project team early on opted for the then-new version of SharePoint 2013 and carefully compared its new social features with those already known from NewsGator Social Sites. The wealth of functionalities offered by NewsGator Social Sites clearly won the race.
Thanks to a highly agile methodology, the interdisciplinary team managed to deliver a pilot within three months and complete the entire relaunch of the intranet within six months. Accompanied by an extensive change management process and an internal advertising campaign, the introduction of the new social intranet was a complete success.
From the beginning, a very clear focus on the goals of the new intranet was crucial for this success. The following use cases, depicted in the diagram below, were particularly central:
The intranet is divided into three main areas: News, Communities, and Profile Pages. The significant importance of social collaboration is evident in the design of the homepage.
The entire left side is dedicated to the so-called news feed, where the employee receives personalized information. The right side is dominated by corporate news with a modern slider function.
The excellent collaboration with Alight in our interdisciplinary team enabled us to implement the new intranet in record time and exceeded our high expectations for quality.
Florian Hoecherl
Technical project manager for the introduction of the new intranet
With the additionally developed feature “Manage My Widgets,” employees have the opportunity to customize the homepage according to their preferences within defined parameters. The intranet is complemented by a modern “megamenu” that directs navigation to the topics important to the employee without being limited by underlying SharePoint structures. This ensures that all information is accessible to the employee with just one click.
Structuring was done more on a content basis and is supported by a very clear and excellently designed interface. Different colors are used to denote specific areas of the intranet; for example, orange is used to highlight personalized content.
Our goal was to put employees at the center of the intranet. It wasn’t just about meeting their needs as best as possible—colleagues, contacts, authors, experts, etc. are present throughout the intranet. We’ve achieved this brilliantly.
Felix Huck
Chief Knowledge Officer
