On-Prem to M365 Migration Scanning

User experience (UX) matters. Companies using SharePoint need to consider that while it is massively flexible and customizable, it arrives much like a human infant – ready for anything but knowing little. This is why time and again, SoHo is introduced to inadequate SharePoint installations that corrode the user experience and erode confidence in the tool.

A SharePoint environment is a fantastic solution for enterprise-level content management. It provides a highly customizable digital workplace via modern intranet communications. It also integrates with great synergy with Microsoft 365 (M365).

SharePoint lets businesses stay on top of the vast data they collect each day. It does this by letting administrators strike a balance between overwhelming employees and ensuring that content relevant to their function is available when they need it and fully compliant with regulations.

Greater Lawrence Health Care (GLHC) wanted to improve upon its existing SharePoint environment. GLHC is a family health-care provider with a network of high-quality, comprehensive health-care services. The company is a mature data manager, so it was surprised when an employee poll on the performance of GLHC’s intranet showed these results:

• 59% of employees had trouble finding the information they need
• 64% said that the search didn’t yield helpful results
• 63% of employees believed content on the intranet was not current and relevant
• 61% said they wanted access to the intranet outside of the work VPN
• 55% wanted access to the company intranet content from their mobile device

GLHC serves a culturally diverse population. The company cares for many people through a network of clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, and school-based healthcare centers. As the IT solution had little customization, users were dissatisfied with the SharePoint UX, and found collaboration and file location challenging. Needless to say, workflows remained inefficient. GLHC required a modern M365 user experience – one that’s responsive and clean, with corporate communication documentation directly available to those employees who need it.

SharePoint UX can be modified with plug-ins

GHLC agreed with SoHo’s approach to implement Akumina; to build a digital front door providing a single point of access to corporate information for all employees. Built on SharePoint online, in Office 365, Akumina’s Employee Experience platform (EXP) gave the company build and design flexibility. It won’t force the company into a bland template.

The digital workplace team is creating a branded workspace with simplified, global navigation, improved enterprise search, LinkedIn-style profiles, and collaboration tools that enable knowledge sharing among colleagues.

SoHo’s solution ensured:

• A single point of access to corporate information for all employees
• Version control
• Streamlined collaboration and communication

GHLC enjoyed its digital transformation journey. The blended and customized M365 and SharePoint toolset significantly improved the employee experience, supporting their day-to-day functions. It provides a sophisticated hub, empowering collaboration across the company’s locations. GLHC is now able to focus on organizing content for an optimum user experience and ensure that employees can readily access the information most relevant to them.

Key outcomes included:

• Modern pages with responsive browser support
• Improved adoption of the customized intranet and content platform
• Consistent branding across all content
• Improved ROI with optimized information and content management, collaboration, and communication

SharePoint UX requires some tuning – don’t be thinking “out-of-the-box & go”

GHLC is fully aware that SharePoint optimization is key to the user experience. A good enterprise content management (ECM) solution does not dictate your workflow. If it did, it could hinder the work process. This is why it is vital to tune ECMs such as SharePoint to your needs.

There are some excellent extensions to SharePoint that provide a page-building user interface (UI) that is highly intuitive, abstracting away multiple menial and time-consuming tasks.