An intranet should help employees do their job: find information, share knowledge and reach colleagues. In this edition from under the hood , we look at how fresh Intranet deals with this in practice. Not from promise, but from Effect and effect. What does it add to standard SharePoint? And what do employees and communication teams notice on a daily basis?
Build on Microsoft 365
Fresh Intranet is built entirely on Microsoft 365. the platform uses SharePoint as a base and adds its own components. Not a standalone environment, but an extension within the existing Microsoft tenant. For organizations already working with Microsoft 365, that means connecting to familiar structures, rights, and security.
Fresh emphatically does not position itself as a replacement for Microsoft functionality. What Microsoft already delivers remains leading. Fresh focuses on what SharePoint often lacks in practice: ease of use, coherence and control over content.
The additions of Fresh
Fresh provides a broad set of add-ons to SharePoint. Think of a more extensive news service, communities, a social timeline, a smouldering book and a knowledge base. Notifications and search functionality have also been further developed. In total, it involves dozens of additional web parts and functions.
In practice, this means that employees do not have to switch between different sites or solutions. News, documents and colleagues can be found through one entrance, with logic that matches how people search and read.
Search and find
Search is a recurring bottleneck in intranets. Fresh tries to overcome that with two approaches.
The FRESHMIND AI assistant lets employees ask questions in plain language. The system searches the intranet and displays relevant pages and documents. It is striking that this does not require a separate Copilot license.
Daarnaast ondersteunt Fresh enterprise search via Copilot connectors. This also allows linked systems to be included in search results, as long as they are connected to SharePoint. Think of HR or CRM information. Colleagues search from one place, even outside the intranet itself.
For end users
For employees, this mainly translates into time savings and clarity. New colleagues find their way faster via onboarding pages with fixed checklists. Employees who are looking for someone with specific knowledge use People Search by Skills, project or location and make direct contact. It is important that this is done within a recognizable Microsoft environment. The interface connects to Teams and SharePoint, which lowers the threshold. Less explanation is needed, and you can see that in use.
Content management: grip for communication teams
The Biggest added value of Fresh is on the management and editorial side. With the Content Creation Wizard, administrators create template-driven pages.structure, metadata and layout are fixed. Colleagues without a communication background can also publish in this way, without fragmenting the quality.
Fresh also supports internal newsletters, including personalization. Analytics show who opens and clicks, broken down by department or location, for example. That helps to substantiate choices: what works, what doesn’t?
For urgent situations, there is crisis communication. Administrators can activate a banner or pop-up, targeting specific audiences. Employees receive an instant Teams notification. In practice, this is used for malfunctions, safety reports or acute organizational updates.
Data and interpretation
Fresh provides more comprehensive statistics than standard SharePoint. Organizations can decide for themselves over which period they view data. That makes it possible to track changes, such as a new homepage or Custom Navigation. Search terms without results also become transparent. That’s not a dashboard to show, but a tool to sharpen content.
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Foundations and integrations
Because Fresh runs entirely within Microsoft 365, the existing governance and security guidelines apply. Rights, compliance and data location remain where they are. That makes the platform manageable for IT.
Links with other systems are possible. Fresh cites AFAS as an example. According to the supplier, customization is therefore often not necessary, which limits the technical complexity.
Implementation and scale
Fresh focuses on a relatively short implementation. By working with standard components, organizations can often go live within a few months. The design is scalable: multiple target groups, locations or corporate identities are possible within one environment.
The licensing model is simple: one package with all the functionality. No separate modules, but additional costs for implementation and a service and support agreement.
These parts are constructed as follows:
The license fee depends on the size of the organization. For multi-year contracts (up to five years), the discount can be up to 27.5%, and a special rate applies to non-profit organizations.
The implementation costs depend, among other things, on the layout, the number of links and the guidance process. For maintenance, updates, support and minor changes there is a service & support agreement.
Short
Fresh Intranet shows how far you can get by not replacing SharePoint, but supplementing it in a targeted manner. The power lies less in individual functions and more in coherence: structure in content, better findability and practical support for communication and onboarding. Success, as with any intranet, depends on editorial choices and adoption. Fresh offers clear handles for this, but does not take the work off your hands.
Want to know more?
You can find more information about Fresh on the I4-you website.
Can you use independent advice when choosing a platform provider? Contact Peter Haan via peter@evolve.eu or +31 6 13 98 14 27. Or leave your details via the contact form:
