Intranets have been around for over 30 years, and for many of those years they were the best way to facilitate internal communication. But somehow intranets have fallen behind as technology has raced forward. Intranets are becoming increasingly outdated for several reasons, including:
1. Irrelevant Content
Because many companies have had their intranets in place for many years, they are full of old, irrelevant content. According to the CEO of Customer Carewords, Gerry McGovern, “Intranets die under the weight of old, outdated, stale information. Employees of too many companies have to put gas masks on before visiting their companies’ intranets because they just stink so bad.”
When employees have to search and sift through years of old content, they often just give up and find what they were looking for elsewhere. And when employees don’t want to spend time on your intranet, it’s outdated and no longer useful to your company.
2. Irrelevant Technology
When companies built or purchased their intranets originally, they were likely the best technology available. Unfortunately, most companies didn’t update the intranet when needed. And even those that did fell woefully behind, especially when it came to internal communication.
Nowadays employees expect instant communication, particularly the ability to communicate and access information with mobile devices. This will only increase as more and more Millennials join the workforce, with a recent study showing that 1 in 5 Millennials access internet exclusively through mobile devices. Most traditional intranets don’t offer this option, rendering them outdated and irrelevant.
3. Cost Inefficient
Many companies developed intranets in-house, which allows for customization but comes with great cost, both initially and with each additional upgrade. And out-of-the box solutions often charge monthly per-user which can add up quickly. When intranets were the main way of communicating internally, they were worth the investment. But now that most intranets are full of outdated content and outdated technology and there are so many alternatives, it’s difficult to justify the cost.
Of course, there are many other reasons why intranets are outdated. But the best thing to remember is that there are so many alternatives to an intranet now! Just like other areas of your business that need re-investment to remain efficient and relevant, your internal communications platforms require the same. Mobile communication platforms are rapidly becoming the standard in internal communication, and are often a much more cost-effective method.
