Introduction
Recognizing when your law firm’s intranet is outdated isn’t always obvious. Many firms operate with intranets that are clunky, outdated, or lack the necessary capabilities to keep up with the demands of modern work. Sure, you may notice surface-level issues such as a clunky interface, an unsupported version of SharePoint, or irrelevant search results, but these are just the most noticeable problems. Often, it’s the more subtle signs that can make a real difference in productivity and employee satisfaction, and they may not be as easily identified.
In this blog, we’ll explore these lesser-known signs that your intranet might need a refresh. These symptoms are not always immediately apparent but can signal that it’s time to rethink your intranet strategy. If your firm experiences any of these challenges, it may be time to invest in a redesign.
The role of intranets in the legal industry has changed significantly in recent years. There was a time when having a properly designed and deployed intranet was merely a “nice-to-have” feature for law firms. Today, it’s a necessity. Remote and hybrid work models have forced firms to prioritize efficient access to resources, clear communication, and employee engagement—making an optimized intranet essential for success.
An effective intranet enables seamless collaboration, facilitates easy access to firm-wide information, and fosters a cohesive firm culture. Law firms today must work harder to retain talent, and having a robust intranet is critical to maintaining a positive and unified culture, even when teams are dispersed.
Let’s dive into the specific signs that indicate it’s time to refresh your intranet and offer insights on why investing in an updated, efficient platform is crucial for your firm’s continued success.
Sign #1: It’s Been 5+ Years Since Your Last Redesign
One of the most significant indicators that your intranet may be outdated is the length of time since its last redesign. Five years is a considerable amount of time in the fast-paced world of technology, and the evolution of content management and collaboration platforms during this period is nothing short of transformative.
The Acceleration of Technological Innovation
In the last five years, there has been a massive increase in investment from key vendors like Microsoft, as remote work became the norm for many firms. Microsoft, for instance, saw a tremendous opportunity in the shift from in-office work to remote work, and the company has since doubled down on its investment in SharePoint and the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem. As a result, SharePoint Online now offers a suite of capabilities that weren’t even on the drawing board five years ago.
In addition to the enhanced capabilities of modern platforms, the way law firms work has likely evolved in the past few years as well. As new technologies and practices emerge, the tools your firm uses to get work done need to evolve too. A stagnant intranet can become a hindrance rather than a help, preventing employees from accessing the tools they need to work efficiently.
Changing User Expectations
The expectations users have for their intranet experience also shift over time. As your firm’s processes change, so do the tools your employees need to perform their work. Moreover, employees engage with new technologies both inside and outside of work, and their expectations for user experience increase accordingly. A five-year-old intranet may no longer meet these expectations, which can lead to low adoption rates, decreased productivity, and frustration among employees.
It’s important to keep the user interface and content fresh, ensuring that your firm stays ahead of the curve in terms of technology and user engagement. An updated, modern intranet not only enhances productivity but also promotes employee satisfaction and engagement.
Sign #2: Your Intranet is Hosted On-Prem
If your intranet is still hosted on-premises, this is another strong indicator that it may be time for an update. While the initial appeal of on-premises hosting was often the control it provided over data and infrastructure, modern cloud-based solutions now offer numerous advantages—many of which go beyond simply reducing data center footprint.
The Case for Cloud-Based Hosting
SharePoint Server, which is often used in on-premises environments, lags years behind SharePoint Online in terms of new features, integrations, and updates. SharePoint Server’s lack of integration with cloud-based services limits its potential, leaving users with an intranet that doesn’t support the advanced capabilities available in the Microsoft 365 suite.
Migrating to SharePoint Online provides your firm with the flexibility and scalability to meet today’s demands. It also enables seamless integration with other Microsoft 365 tools, such as Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, and Microsoft’s security and compliance tools.
Additionally, SharePoint Online benefits from continuous updates, which means your intranet will always be equipped with the latest features and functionality—without the need for manual upgrades or patching.
The Cost and Efficiency Benefits
Another key advantage of moving to the cloud is the reduction in infrastructure costs. Maintaining an on-premises intranet requires significant hardware, personnel, and IT resources. Cloud solutions, on the other hand, allow you to scale your infrastructure as needed and reduce the complexity of managing multiple servers, storage devices, and physical data centers.
By moving your intranet to SharePoint Online, your firm can free up valuable resources and reinvest them in other strategic areas.
Sign #3: Users See Mostly the Same Content
A critical aspect of a modern intranet is the ability to deliver personalized content to different user groups. If your intranet users are seeing the same content, regardless of their role, department, or location, then it’s not working to its full potential.
The Importance of Personalization
For instance, a litigation attorney in the New York office should see different content than a paralegal supporting an intellectual property attorney in Atlanta. Relevant, targeted content ensures that employees can quickly find the information they need without sifting through irrelevant news, updates, or announcements.
SharePoint offers basic audience-targeting capabilities, but these features can be difficult to manage with out-of-the-box solutions. Third-party tools can make persona targeting processes far more effective and manageable, ensuring that content is delivered to the right people at the right time.
Simplifying Content Management
Managing personalized content shouldn’t require constant IT involvement. Using Active Directory groups to define audiences can create unnecessary clutter and slow down the content management process. Fortunately, modern intranet platforms now allow content managers to define audiences more easily and make updates without needing IT’s help, which leads to faster delivery of relevant content.
By streamlining this process, law firms can ensure that their intranet is always up to date and delivering personalized experiences that enhance productivity.
Sign #4: Utilization Isn’t Good or Isn’t Being Measured
It’s not enough to simply have an intranet; it’s crucial to measure its effectiveness by tracking utilization. Without a clear understanding of how often users engage with your intranet, you won’t know whether it’s delivering value to your firm.
Why Utilization Matters
Utilization is the best indicator of ROI for your intranet investment. If employees aren’t using the intranet, or if they’re only using it sporadically, your intranet is failing to meet their needs. To maximize the impact of your intranet, it’s essential to measure how often users visit the platform, what content they engage with, and which features are being used the most.
Key Metrics to Track
Tracking key metrics is essential for ensuring your intranet remains relevant. Important questions to consider include:
- What percentage of your target user base visits the intranet at least once a week?
- Which pages receive the most traffic, and why?
- How relevant are the results provided by your enterprise search?
- What topics or news stories generate the most engagement?
By continuously monitoring these metrics, your content managers can identify areas for improvement and optimize the user experience.
Sign #5: Your Intranet Isn’t Fully Integrated With Back-End Systems
Another sign that your intranet may be outdated is if it’s not integrated with key back-end systems, such as CRM, financial, and document management systems. Today’s legal firms rely on these systems for managing client and case information, so it’s critical that your intranet integrates with them to provide a seamless user experience.
The Value of Integration
The main value proposition of an intranet is its ability to consolidate information and make it accessible to employees. If your intranet is siloed from important back-end systems, users will find it difficult to access the data they need. Integration with tools like CRM and document management systems can provide a consolidated view of client and matter information, reducing the need for users to switch between multiple systems.
Moreover, the vast majority of major back-end legal platforms now offer APIs, making integration easier than ever. This opens up new possibilities for enhancing workflows and improving productivity.
Sign #6: Your Enterprise Search Solution Isn’t Fully Integrated With Back-End Systems
Search is one of the most important features of any intranet. If your enterprise search solution isn’t integrated with back-end systems, users will struggle to find relevant information quickly and efficiently. Enterprise search solutions that only index content within the intranet itself, without considering data in other systems, are limiting the power of your intranet.
Improving Search with AI and Machine Learning
Modern enterprise search platforms, like Microsoft’s Azure Cognitive Search, leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to deliver smarter, more relevant search results. These platforms can index a wider range of content, including documents, images, and videos, making it easier for users to find the information they need.
By integrating your intranet’s search functionality with back-end systems, you can enhance the accuracy of search results and ensure that users have access to a comprehensive view of relevant data.
Sign #7: You Don’t Have a Robust Employee Directory
Intranet solutions serve three main purposes: connection, collaboration, and productivity. One of the key ways intranets support connection is through an employee directory. A robust employee directory allows employees to easily find colleagues based on skills, expertise, or practice areas, fostering collaboration and enhancing productivity.
Building a Rich Employee Directory
A well-structured employee directory provides employees with easy access to information such as bill rates, practice areas, bar admissions, work anniversaries, and language proficiencies. This makes it easier for employees to find the right person for a project, collaborate on tasks, or respond to client requests.
Adding advanced search functionality to this directory further enhances its usefulness. With the right tools, employees can search for colleagues based on specific criteria, making it easier to connect with the right person, even in large, dispersed firms.
Sign #8: Content Managers Need the Help of IT to Do Their Job
If your content managers require IT’s help to update or create intranet pages, it’s a sign that your platform isn’t user-friendly enough. An efficient intranet should allow content managers to manage their content without needing technical expertise or constant support from IT.
Empowering Content Managers
Many modern intranet solutions enable content managers to work independently, without needing to rely on IT. SharePoint, for example, offers user-friendly tools for editing and managing pages within the platform, empowering content managers to deliver updates quickly and efficiently.
This not only reduces the workload for IT departments but also accelerates the delivery of fresh content to employees, keeping your intranet relevant and up to date.
Sign #9: You’re Not Using a Legal-Specific Solution
Many intranet platforms are designed to be generic, with the flexibility to be deployed across a variety of industries. While this may be great for the vendor, it’s often not ideal for law firms. Legal work has unique needs that a generic solution can’t fully address.
Why Legal-Specific Solutions Matter
A legal-specific intranet platform is designed with the unique workflows and processes of law firms in mind. These platforms are built to integrate seamlessly with back-end legal systems, such as document management and timekeeping tools, and offer features tailored to the needs of legal professionals.
By using a legal-specific solution, you ensure that your intranet supports your firm’s specific requirements, enabling greater efficiency and enhancing user adoption.
Sign #10: Your Intranet Isn’t Mobile-Ready
The remote and hybrid work trend is here to stay, and your intranet must be mobile-friendly to support this new way of working. In today’s world, employees need to access firm resources from anywhere—whether they’re working from home, traveling for a case, or in the office.
The Importance of Mobile Compatibility
Mobile-ready intranets allow employees to work on the go, improving their flexibility and productivity. Platforms like SharePoint Online offer mobile-friendly templates that make it easy for content managers to create pages that automatically adjust to different screen sizes.
By ensuring your intranet is mobile-ready, you empower your employees to access the information they need from any device, anywhere, anytime.
Conclusion: The Future of Your Firm’s Intranet
If your firm’s intranet is showing any of the signs outlined above, it’s time to start exploring alternative solutions. A modern, mobile-ready, and well-integrated intranet is no longer a luxury—it’s a business necessity.
By moving to SharePoint Online and leveraging the full capabilities of Microsoft 365, your firm can create an intranet that not only improves internal communication but also enhances employee engagement and collaboration. With the right intranet strategy in place, your firm will be better positioned to navigate the challenges of a remote work environment, retain top talent, and increase productivity.
Investing in a modern intranet is an investment in your firm’s future success. The possibilities are endless, and now is the time to act.
To learn more about Infodash, schedule a demo today!