In past blogs we have talked about the Office 365 Ecosystem and its position as the next generation Microsoft Office platform that will dominate the business world. The capabilities and functions present in Office 365 make it ubiquitous and the number one platform used by businesses, for good reason.
As part of this Office 365 Ecosystem, a lot of organizations are looking to deploy an Intranet and Office 365 provides a great platform to do this. As a result, a lot of Intranet companies are offering stylish and modern out-of-the-box solutions. The problem arises though when these Intranets are not integrated with the Office 365 interface but instead replace it, and this will be disastrous for organizations that choose enticing over enduring.
Microsoft has very specific guidelines, made clear at Ignite 2015, that are core to its Office 365 integration strategy regarding a common look and feel driven by its native themes and designs. And, for this reason Microsoft has repeatedly stated that customers should be using native Office 365 branding capabilities.
The look and feel of Intranet portals need to follow the Office 365 experience as well as the native Office 365 themes and layouts. You can reference this guidance in the Microsoft Dev Center section, "SharePoint site branding and page customization solutions."
So what does all of this mean and why is it important? Core to the Office 365 interface is the app launcher, which presents a set of collaboration components, such as Skype for Business, Delve, Videos and so on. These components transform Office 365 into a far-reaching platform that increases organizational productivity and internal collaboration.
Now, the Intranet’s role in all of this is its ability to put these components in the context of the organization and its needs. The Intranet is just one component of this Office 365 Ecosystem and therefore should integrate but not take over the user interface.
By replacing this interface instead of integrating with it, as a lot of newly available Intranets do, an organization is actually putting itself in a position where they will not be able to take advantage of all the components in one place. And, in the future when Microsoft adds more components, which it surely will, if your organization has deployed an Intranet that has replaced this interface, how are you going to be able to take advantage of these components if they aren’t there? You can’t and sadly you’re going to have to start over from scratch.
Let’s take a look at an analogy that puts this into perspective. Every business has standard wall plugs into which you can charge your devices. If all of a sudden an up-and-coming company unveils a fancy new device with its own electrical source, adopting this is not going to be a good strategy for your organization. Yes it might make your life easier and offer some features that provide short-term gratification. But if you don’t look at the long-term impact of the incongruent electrical source it could be your downfall.
So, what can you do? The obvious answer is to go with the smart choice and pick a device that will align now and in the future. SP Intranet 365 is an example of an Intranet that does just that because it plugs into the Office 365 Ecosystem, instead of replacing it or covering it up or hiding it.
Everything is presented in one easy to find, easy to use place. SP Intranet 365 is a natural extension of the Office 365 interface that not only looks good and also does all of the things those fancy Intranets do but the difference is it will work not only now but in the future also.
Visit SP Marketplace online to learn more about SP Intranet 365 and to see a tutorial video.
by Darrell Trimble via Everyone's Blog Posts - SharePoint Community
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