The intranet dilemma: bridging IT and communications for a better employee experience

Having been in the corporate communications industry for the past 25 years and for the past decade in communications technology, my career calling has been to bridge the gap that exists in so many organizations between those professionals working in IT and those in Communications.

My point of view – IT and Communications professionals have unique and important skill sets that are each critical to the success of the companies they work for. Nevertheless, a need for greater collaboration and mutual respect between the two is required for the sake of one – the employee.

One area where this partnership is especially critical is in the decision-making around a company’s corporate intranet. This digital hub is the technological glue that binds an organization whether it be a few hundred or hundreds of thousands of employees. It is the first thing employees see each day—a launchpad to news, tools, resources, collaboration spaces, and more.

When done well, it reinforces culture and streamlines work. When done poorly, it becomes a graveyard of outdated documents, unread announcements and broken links.

Let the conversation begin . . .

Traditionally, intranets have “lived” under IT and have been paid for through IT budgets. This makes sense from a technical standpoint. Intranets require software, servers, authentication, security and support. But the intranet is no longer just a technical utility—it’s a strategic communications platform.

There are various vendors offering modern intranet solutions. Some focus exclusively on the mobile experience and employee apps; others are desktop-only. Some offer integrated communications platforms that unify desktop, mobile, email, digital signage, SMS, etc. and are designed to reduce redundancy, improve content delivery across channels and save money.

This begs the question – who should make the intranet software buying decision? Communications professionals are often more familiar with the emerging tools that impacts the work they do, especially when it comes to creating and managing a meaningful employee experience. Since the employee is at the core of the work that both IT and Communications do, this is why the relationship between the two is so important.

SharePoint and ServiceNow: familiar, but not always a fit

In many organizations, IT controls enterprise licenses for platforms like Microsoft SharePoint and ServiceNow. As a result, there’s often pressure to maximize these investments—even if that means stretching their original use cases and purpose. Over the last decade, I’ve consulted with some of the world’s largest companies on how they manage their employee communications infrastructure. One common theme is the use of SharePoint and ServiceNow as makeshift intranets or communication platforms.

SharePoint was built for document management and team collaboration—not communications. But many organizations have expanded its scope to become their default intranet. Without strong governance, this often results in a proliferation of disjointed SharePoint sites. Content becomes duplicated and outdated. Employees searching for HR policies or benefit documents encounter multiple, conflicting versions. The user experience becomes confusing and inefficient.

Similarly, while ServiceNow excels at workflow automation and IT service management, its interface and capabilities aren’t optimized for communication or content engagement. Yet, due to its cost and enterprise footprint, some companies try to retrofit it for these purposes—with mixed results.

This isn’t to say that SharePoint or ServiceNow can’t work for some organizations in their communications. But for those where employee communications and experience are high priorities, it’s worth taking a closer look at purpose-built intranet platforms that were designed with communications in mind.

The day after: who owns the experience?

• What happens the day after we launch?
• Who’s going to be responsible for the content and keeping the homepage up to date and fresh?
• Who will track employee engagement and usability?
• Who will ensure that the intranet evolves with the needs of employees?

The answer? Communications of course.

Once the intranet becomes a daily ritual for employees, Communications professionals will be the ones responsible for publishing content, organizing information, and driving adoption. It is for this reason that they must have a meaningful role in choosing the platform they’ll be expected to lead.

Shared ownership, shared success

To be clear, this doesn’t mean IT’s role ends at this point. Ongoing collaboration will be essential to ensuring the intranet remains secure, stable, and scalable. But once it is in place, Communications will be on the frontline. They’re the ones who will be expected to bring it to life, every single day.

That’s why intranet buying decisions cannot be made in isolation. The Corporate intranet isn’t just software—it’s an employee communications, engagement and experience strategy. If IT builds it, Comms will be expected to fill it. But both will have the ongoing responsibility for shaping it.

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