For more than 20 years, we’ve been working on SharePoint-based intranet development. And for those who chose this collaboration solution, custom intranet development was the most common option. Ready-made intranets, on the other hand, have recently evolved from content publishing solutions to full-fledged enterprise collaboration platforms. As a result, the market anticipates the rise of off-the-shelf intranets.
Factors to consider when choosing between custom and ready-made intranets
When deciding between a custom intranet and an off-the-shelf intranet, we’ve compiled a list of critical considerations. To make it easier for you to see the advantages and disadvantages of each option, we placed a winner for each factor first.
Time to implement
Intranets that are pre-built are much easier to set up than those that are built from scratch. In most cases, a company can get an intranet up and running in 30-45 days. Analysis of requirements, installation, configuration, content integration, and user training are all part of the implementation process.
The average time to build an intranet is 6-9 months. However, depending on the functionality required (e.g., integrations, multiple complex workflows, branding, etc. ), an intranet project can take anywhere from 3-6 months for a small business to up to 1-2 years for a large corporation. Needs analysis, customization, testing, and tuning are all stages of the implementation process.
Budgetary considerations
Ready-to-use intranets are less expensive than custom intranets because they do not require costly customizations.
Intranet development that is customized takes more time and expertise. Developers tailor a solution to a company’s specific requirements, which makes such an intranet costly. Custom intranets can cost anywhere from $30,000 to $250,000, depending on the conditions.
Relevance of functionality
In this category, custom intranets triumph. A custom solution has unique functionality because it is created with its specifics (size, industry) and social and business needs. Such intranets don’t have many features, only those that will bring value to the company.
Intranets that are pre-built have a limited set of features. For example, they lack advanced analytics and search, which are critical for businesses, so you’ll have to rely on third-party software to fill those gaps.
Affordability
Many pre-built intranets allow remote workers to log in. In addition, most intranet-in-a-box solutions come with mobile access by default, making them ideal for working at any time and from any location.
Mobile-friendly intranets are also possible. Bringing cross-device optimization to a custom intranet, on the other hand, necessitates a significant amount of development work: the IT infrastructure must support remote access, and the user interface must be designed and coded accordingly.
Adaptability
Custom intranets are built with a scalable architecture to ensure that as the number of users, content and concurrent users grows, so performs the solution. All of this leaves room for the intranet to expand further, which is essential for large corporations and small and midsize businesses looking to expand. Ready-made intranets lack a scalable architecture, resulting in performance issues such as longer response times as the number of intranet users or workload grows.
Adoption by users
Before being made available to users, ready-made intranets have undergone extensive beta testing and refinement. They have an easy-to-use interface that is simple and intuitive. They only require a minimal amount of training, facilitating and speeding up user adoption.
Custom intranets are frequently implemented into a company’s digital environment before they have been proven effective by many users. Their complexity necessitates extensive user training as well as ongoing UI and UX optimization. Furthermore, the evolution of an intranet through iterative development necessitates more time and effort for mastering new features.
Proprietary Rights
Only one person owns a custom intranet. A custom intranet has distinct branding that sets it apart from the competition, promotes its values and goals, and encourages user participation. A branded intranet aids in the development of corporate culture, which is especially important for international companies with multiple offices and teams located across the globe.
Pre-built intranet solutions are not uncommon, and many businesses use them. Furthermore, because ready-made intranets lack branding, they cannot serve as carriers of corporate culture and a sense of community throughout the organization.
Upkeep is essential.
Ready-made intranets are fully managed and maintained by a vendor, ensuring that they are regularly updated. Most ready-made intranet solutions include round-the-clock support, ensuring that there is virtually no unplanned downtime. Furthermore, such an intranet does not require an in-house team to manage.
Custom intranet owners must either hire an in-house specialist or outsource maintenance and support. They also require ongoing rework by skilled IT specialists who add new intranet features, install security patches, fix bugs, improve UI and UX, and more due to their lengthy implementation.
Safety is paramount.
Custom intranets provide a high level of security for a company’s data because developers ensure that custom web parts and apps do not contain errors that could lead to security breaches during their implementation. Custom development also entails securing an intranet with advanced security features such as two-factor authentication. As a result, for highly regulated industries like healthcare, custom intranets are the best option.
Ready-made intranets, like any other open-source software, are vulnerable to hacking. They frequently have many plugins and extensions, making them more susceptible to security breaches because extension and plugin developers are not always security experts.
Should you build or buy?
We’ve compiled a list of the benefits of both intranet options and created a checklist with two question groups that will help you decide which is the best option for your company.
If you answer yes to the following questions, you should buy an intranet out of the box:
- Is your business a small one?
- Do you require a functional intranet in a matter of weeks?
- Do you want your employees to have the bare minimum of training before they can use an intranet effectively?
- Is it necessary for your intranet to only include essential productivity and collaboration features?
If you answer yes to the following questions, building an intranet is your best option:
- Is your business a small start-up or a large corporation?
- Do you want your intranet to reflect your company’s identity?
- Do you have multistep, cross-departmental, or other complex collaboration processes?
- Do you require integrations with several different systems?
Of course, there could be a mix of responses for either list. Furthermore, some aspects, such as implementation time and cost, are more critical than others. Not every company, for example, is ready to invest in lengthy and costly intranet development. As a result, a business should assess its needs, prioritize them, and make the appropriate decision.