Intranets vs Microsoft Teams? What’s the difference between them? And do you need both? These are some of the questions we’re being asked right now. And rightly so. Microsoft Teams is the hottest digital workplace platform out there. We’re not just saying it because we love Microsoft tech. The figures speak for themselves. According to Microsoft, more than 500,000 organisations globally are using Microsoft Teams and 91 of the Fortune 100 have adopted Teams.
So, do you really need an intranet anymore if all your colleagues are spending all their time in Microsoft Teams? Well, the answer is yes. The truth is, this isn’t an ‘either, or’ situation. You’re going to need both. Why? Because your intranet and Microsoft Teams have different functions and play different roles in your digital workplace. We also believe the two systems work best when they’re put together which is why we’ve built Valo Connect. But more on this later in the post.
Your intranet and Microsoft Teams have different functions and play different roles in your digital workplace.
What Microsoft Teams is good for
First, let’s take a look at what you can do in Microsoft Teams:
- Chat-based communication
- Real-time collaboration & co-authoring
- Video meetings
- Intelligent bot frameworks
Teams is your multi-person collaboration hub. It’s where you can chat one-to-one or one-to-many. You can form small groups, based on projects or departments, and can create dedicated channels. Plus, it’s the home of video calls and meetings.
Beyond video conferencing and chat, Microsoft Teams enables workers to collaborate in ways not possible before. They can now use multiple services, such as SharePoint, OneDrive, Visio, and planner all in Teams. They can even have apps embedded and immersed in the Teams interface.
Other services available in Teams are being powered behind the scenes such as Stream for video, Flow for for Automation, Power Apps for Intelligent Apps, and Exchange for conversations.
A great example of this in action is document libraries, which are being powered in the back end by SharePoint. Workers can now share, edit and manage documents in real-time. Cross organisational teams can work together on the same document, at the same time without having to leave the platform. Making it quick, instant, and perfect for small team collaboration.
Teams is also the place you can get the latest Microsoft innovation around Flow, Power BI, and Power Apps.
But what’s especially great about Teams is that everyone has to go to the same place to work and collaborate, which creates better alignment internally.
However, Teams can’t do everything. It’s currently no good at search (which Microsoft is working on), its ‘announcements’ feature isn’t as good as SharePoint’s/Yammer’s, and it’s not the best tool for group-wide communications or brand building.
What intranets are still good for
That’s where intranets, built on SharePoint, still hold their own. Here’s what you can do within an intranet:
- News
- Web pages
- Structured data
- Search
The intranet is where your company can share its values, mission and vision as well as set out your goals and objectives. Plus, it’s the place where you tell the latest company news and stories about your successes.
So, intranets are great at connecting employees to the people, the files and the departments that help them to do their jobs. They enable staff to self-serve – finding solutions and answers to their questions faster and easier.
Intranets vs Microsoft Teams, why you need both
But in reality your employees are going to need access to both Microsoft Teams and your intranet. It’s not realistic to expect them to constantly switch between the two platforms. Which is why we’ve built Valo Connect.
With Valo Connect, we have combined the best of both worlds and created a totally new digital experience. Our latest addition to our digital workplace product suite is designed to bring co-innovation, collaboration and the communication experience inside Microsoft Teams.
With Valo Connect, we have combined the best of both worlds and created a totally new digital experience.
Valo Connect, launching this autumn, will sit inside Microsoft Teams. It will augment Microsoft Teams – enhancing search, aggregating news and connecting employees to each other.
It will provide users with a single source of truth – a place where they can connect to the people, conversations, files, news, information and content that will enable them to be productive from anywhere, on any device.
Valo Connect will marry communication and collaboration channels – bringing together corporate comms, employee engagement, and organizational information along with productivity – so end users can do everything they need to do, in a single place.
Want to know more? Then join us at our launch event. Your party invitation is below!
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You’re invited to the Valo Connect Virtual Launch: Oct 13, 2020!
- What: Hear how Microsoft Teams is “taking over” and what it changes in your workdays, see what this new HUB is and how it benefits you. Plus, learn how Valo Connect fits to the bigger picture to make your “new normal” workdays better.
- When: October 13th at 10am EDT (Montreal, New York) // 16:00 CET (Berlin, Paris) // 1am AEST (Sydney, Melbourne).
- Duration: Approx 1 hour.
- Cost: Free – and you’re invited!
- For whom: Anyone who’s shaping the future of digital workplaces, employee experiences, and improving productivity at work, home, or school. Welcome to learn and be inspired! 🙂
Register and join all the fun!
