The Client:
The Client is a policy and action research organisation that promotes sustainable development to improve livelihoods and protect the environments on which these livelihoods are built. It specialises in linking local priorities to global challenges.
It is based in London and works in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific, with some of the world’s most vulnerable people.
The Challenge:
The Client had been paying for a hosted Microsoft SharePoint 2010 intranet solution and their license was due to expire in November 2015.
Having worked with Crimson’s IT solution consultancy on other Microsoft Dynamics CRM projects in the past, The Client approached Crimson in October 2015 to create a new intranet based on the latest Microsoft SharePoint Online technology.
The Client wanted the new intranet to be a hub for internal communication, a single source of data, and a portal for learning for staff. The Client wanted these features as it had teams of employees situated across the globe so it wanted all employees to be able to access and share information about their current projects.
User adoption was a concern for The Client because staff had been using their own bespoke systems and processes to store and manage their project information . Staff had been put off using an intranet due to the poorly designed SharePoint 2010 system they were used to.
The Client gave Crimson the deadline of December 2015 for completing this project and ensuring the platform worked smoothly on its network and with its standard PC configuration.
The Strategy:
Crimson began the project on 30 October 2015. They started by running a workshop to outline SharePoint Online’s new capabilities and worked with The Client to get ideas about how the new intranet should be structured to achieve its objectives. At this stage, Crimson SharePoint consultants also began working on a strategy for user engagement.
Dividing their time between The Client’s head office in London and Crimson’s headquarters in Birmingham, the SharePoint specialists built the intranet with a creative and cohesive design.
Once the new intranet was operational, Crimson set to work training two specific audiences within The Client’s organisation how to use the system. Firstly, Crimson’s team ran a workshop with stakeholders from each department, showing them how to create new content and how to collaborate using SharePoint. Then two technical SharePoint Administrators were taught how to maintain the intranet from a technical perspective.
The ROI
The Client’s new SharePoint Intranet went live at the beginning of December 2015, with Crimson delivering additional requested improvements and proactive advice during the early life of the intranet and over the course of the year.
The organisation now has a truly collaborative informative intranet, a single place to share news and resources across their diverse workforce around the globe.
The system that Crimson created has been nominated for the IntranetNow 2016 award.
The Client’s Words
The Client’s Intranet Manager said: “Having worked with Crimson in the past, we knew that their team had the energy and the knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint required to deliver this project within our timeframe . The intranet was successfully launched within the deadline and has been received enthusiastically by users.”
