How to choose the best intranet: A deep evaluation of use cases & analyst insights
In a market teeming with options, choosing the best intranet platform to meet the unique needs of your business can be challenging. How do you identify the solution that best matches your requirements today and as you evolve in the future? What are the most critical capabilities a modern intranet should offer?
According to the State of the Workplace report [Global Summary], 77% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work:
23% engaged
62% not engaged
15% actively disengaged
The same report found that this lack of engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion.
Industry leaders increasingly understand the relationship between a high-quality digital employee experience and overall engagement levels. As the digital home for a thriving employee experience, your company intranet is a critical piece of the engagement puzzle.
This guide will be your companion as you sift through the noise to find all the important clarity on the right solution for your business. We’ve distilled the crucial elements into four steps you should take on your journey to finding the optimal intranet for your needs.
First thing’s first, what is an intranet or an Employee Experience Platform (EXP)?
Intranet packaged solution (IPS): “A software product that organizations use to create and deploy an internal website or network of websites, portals, hubs, mobile apps and other digital experiences supporting business-to-employee needs. An IPS is delivered as an integrated assembly of capabilities geared specifically for intranet use cases, including employee communications and engagement, employee service and self-service, application access and knowledge services. “Packaged” signifies a holistic and fit-for-purpose approach. In contrast, a custom-built or developed approach would leverage a platform or array of products not specifically designed to support intranet use cases.”
Intranet: “A trusted digital source of corporate communication and content designed to educate and empower employees and improve their workplace experiences”
Intelligent digital workspace: “A well-organized system of tools working together to enhance end users’ overall productivity and experiences. This system integrates intentional design, engineering, and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide a customized and seamless view of tools for user tasks. It ensures secure access to resources from any location or device and enables IT and security professionals with complete oversight.
Our definition:
An intranet or employee experience platform (EXP) is a centralized digital space to connect people, knowledge and technology from across an organization. Enterprise intranets enable organizations to increase their velocity through greater agility, engagement, and productivity.
Key characteristics include; governed AI that’s seamlessly woven across the workplace, a hierarchical information architecture, an extensibility framework, sophisticated personalization, and adaptive employee experiences that can be delivered across all modalities.
Don’t be fooled, not all intranets or EXPs are the same. We can group EXPs or intranets (or some claiming to be), into 3 buckets:
- Large, complex vendors with competing priorities beyond EX.
- Point solutions who have a track record working with small, mid-market companies. These are often employee comms apps masquerading as intranets.
- A unified EX Platform built for specifically for large, complex enterprises.
Why is it important to choose the best platform?
Cost & return on investment — Implementing the right platform can deliver up to 385% ROI. But on the flip side, implementing or trying to build a custom solution can become a huge drain on costs from training, development, support, and more.
Adoption & project success – Picture 6 months down the line when employees love their new intranet because it’s modern, easy to use, and fast to access and manage knowledge. They feel connected to their colleagues, and it’s transformed the pace at which they can find tools, knowledge, and people. The alternative is a failed intranet that becomes just another platform that users struggle to get to know, and that they inevitably lose interest in.
Future-proofing – A decision isn’t just for today. A successful platform needs to be fully integrated into your tech ecosystem. It’s not a tool that you’ll want to implement today and switch out tomorrow so it’s essential to know that the platform will stay ahead of future innovations and won’t become an underdeveloped platform if a vendor’s priorities change (such as in the case of Workplace by Meta).
Deliver organizational velocity – The best intranets will surpass simply delivering engagement uplifts. Most large companies struggle to shape-shift their workforce to adapt, change, and stay ahead of market needs. But an enterprise-grade intranet will break down silos, drive up productivity, and empower employees to exceed the pace of change.
5 critical steps for choosing the best intranet
1. Explore Leaders across the top three analyst reports Forrester, IDC, and Gartner
The first place that most enterprises look when evaluating possible solutions are analyst reports. However, the employee experience technology space is relatively new and still quite loosely defined.
Gartner brought out their first intranet Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions in December 2024, which marked a pivotal moment for the industry. Gartner’s Intranet Packaged Solution report, however, is just one piece of the Employee Experience Platform equation. When finding the best intranet platform, you should factor in the other two analyst reports – IDC MarketScape for Experience Centric Digital Workplace Solutions (2024), and the Forrester Wave for Intranet Platforms (2024).
The best intranet platforms perform well across all three reports and prove their ability to deliver impact for the comprehensive needs of large enterprises. Access all three reports in a handy bundle here:
The only intranet triple leader
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions, 2024
In Gartner’s critically acclaimed Magic Quadrant report, the analyst compares 15 solutions across the Intranet Packaged Solutions (IPS) landscape.
Offering an authoritative view, Gartner provides a graphical competitive positioning, an in-depth evaluation of each vendor’s capabilities, and an assessment of the latest market trends alongside advice for organizations looking to evaluate IPS vendors.
Much like other analyst reports, vendors are placed in three categories: Leaders, Visionaries, Niche Players, Challengers.
Who is this report for?
Gartner aims to help decision-makers across HR, Comms, IT, Digital Transformation, and other teams who are looking to improve employee engagement and drive productivity through an Intranet Packaged Solution. The most recently published Magic Quadrant for Intranet Packaged Solutions (IPS) will be a key source for any IPS buyer seeking to make an informed decision.
Unily named a leader in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Intranet Packaged Solutions
Unily’s performance
Gartner® named Unily a Leader in the Magic Quadrant, placing us joint furthest on Completeness of Vision. We also scored highest across all six use cases in the 2024 Gartner® Critical Capabilities for Intranet Packaged Solutions. Gartner praised Unily’s strengths across these areas:
- Personalization and the ability to deliver unique experiences
- Large-scale deployments and trusted ability to manage complexity
- Content management including creation and administration
Unily ranks first in all Use Cases in the 2024 Gartner® Critical Capabilities™ for Intranet Packaged Solutions.
Forrester Wave for Intranet Platforms, 2024
The Forrester Wave™: Intranet Platforms report is an essential guide for enterprises developing their digital workplace strategies and assessing intranet platforms. The 13 vendors are assessed using a 28-criterion evaluation and placed into four categories; Challenges, Contenders, Strong Performers, Leaders.
Who is this report for?
Forrester is one of the world’s most influential research and advisory firms. This report is designed to help internal communications, HR, and IT peers stay ahead of key market trends and select the right intranet software provider for their success.
Unily’s performance
Following rigorous analysis of the 13 most significant intranet platform providers, Unily’s Employee Experience Platform (EXP) has been recognized as a Leader by Forrester. Unily has the strongest current offering and received the maximum score in 13 categories – more than any other vendor.
According to Unily’s vendor profile, the report finds that Unily’s strengths include:
- A well-resourced roadmap that its customers influence.
- Broad application integrations.
- Strong capabilities including dashboards/reporting for internal communication leaders and technical platform owners.
- Enhanced automation in areas like content governance, repeatable employee journeys, and communication campaign automation.
- Flexibility in delegating its design, scheduling, and administration tools across sites/subsites.
- High satisfaction with customers with contentment across customer success services, search, and overall content creation and management.
Unily named a leader in the 2024 Forrester Wave™ Report
IDC MarketScape for Experience-Centric Intelligent Digital Workplaces, 2024
The latest IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Experience-Centric Intelligent Digital Workspaces 2024 Vendor Assessment report provides a comprehensive overview of intelligent digital workspaces. Vendors were evaluated on their ability to provide the full spectrum of employee segments with a focus on:
- Experience
- Intelligence
- Digital capabilities
- Strategy
- Growth
Who is this report for?
Like the Forrester and Gartner reports, the IDC MarketScape helps organizations to evaluate vendors in a given market.
Unily’s performance
IDC placed Unily as a Leader. IDC praised Unily’s configurability, experience-centricity, robust feature-set, and catering for both desk and deskless workers earned Unily the leading position.
Unily named a Leader in IDC MarketScape
2. If they look after their employees they’ll look after their customers: Consider Glassdoor ratings
Employee experience and customer experience are inextricably linked. Organizations who look after their own employees will look after you and will help you look after your employees. Glassdoor ratings provide an honest look at how much a company values its stakeholders. Check out Unily’s and other vendors’ Glassdoor scores.
3. Experience with other similar organizations: Can they showcase previous experience working with enterprises of similar size and complexity to yours?
Lots of intranet solutions talk the talk but can they walk the walk? Do they actually work with large complex enterprises? Are they focused on the product and services needs of large enterprises, or are they spread too thin trying to cover companies of all sizes?
The needs of large, heavily matrixed organizations often vary from medium-sized enterprises which require more surface-level capabilities.
Here are a few methods for cutting through the noise:
- See how they position themselves in analyst reports or even on their website. Are they specifically calling out large enterprises? Or, within analyst reports, are they trying to cater for businesses of all sizes? You’re looking for a partner specifically focused on similar organizations to yours.
- Evaluate their customer stories; are they mostly from similar-sized organizations to yours?
- When you are in commercial conversations, request to speak to their customers to dig a little deeper.
4. Use-case approach: Are they best-placed to deliver the enterprise use cases that you need?
Never-ending lists of features and functions make it hard to discern differences between different platforms. Use cases are a great method for working out what capabilities you need to reach your goals. Does the solution you’re evaluating have a library of use cases that can be delivered? Do these align your specific goals?
If you don’t know which use cases should be prioritized, an enterprise-grade vendor will work with you to create a plan that aligns use cases to your organizational goals. This way, you’ll experience a quicker time to value, clear demonstration of return on investment, and fewer sleepless nights. We’ve looked at the scoring across key analyst reports from Gartner, Forrester, and IDC to showcase the best intranet for each use case. Let’s take a look at the detail below.
Employee Communications and Engagement
A common use case for the best intranet solutions is employee comms and engagement. This describes two-way interactions between an enterprise and its employees, shaping culture, building community, attracting and retaining talent, and fostering productivity.
Forrester highlighted the importance that good intranets have capabilities suited to the unique needs of disparate, matrixed workforces. They also spoke to the high worth of enterprise-ready content governance features well suited to supporting distributed teams.
IDC emphasized the value of commitment to employee-centricity and praised intelligent ecosystem of engagement solutions wrapped up in a single, unified place. IDC highlighted in particular Unily’s ability to enable users to curate, publish, and deliver editorial, image, rich media and communications to employees.
When assessing the use case of employee communications and engagement, Gartner scored Unily highest of all vendors. Gartner highlighted Unily’s targeted experiences, ability to shape culture and build community, personalized content options, and centralized broadcast center for multichannel campaigns and comms.
Based on the analyst’s market research, the best intranets for this space are as follows:
- Unily
- Workvivo
- Akumina
Overall, when considering the best intranet for employee services, the ability to provide one-click access to both enterprise served and self-serve modalities is vital. An omnipresent and reliable search experience should also be prioritized alongside intuitive access to a comprehensive tool suite for getting work done.
Application Portals
In the age of digital noise, employees need some clarity to guide their precious attention. They need easy, unified and personalized access to streamlined tooling. This access should be thoughtfully orchestrated by the enterprise, and an intranet or EXP is a wonderful way to achieve this – when done correctly.
When it comes to application portals, Forrester highlighted that the best intranets have a broad application integrations and characterised them as being well-suited to large enterprises with global, complex workforces. When assessing Unily, they spotlighted our ability to guide employee attention with enhanced automation across content governance, highly repeatable employee journeys, and content campaigns.
IDC spoke the need for strong integration capabilities when it comes to application portals, calling out Microsoft 365, Google workspace, Slack, Salesforce, and ServiceNow as just a few of our integration options. IDC went on to praise the flexibility of Unily’s Feature Store without the need for technical skills. Embedding of video rich media in real-time was also highlighted alongside the intuitive community feed and ideation portal with many interactivity options.
The key capabilities of targeted apps powered by the unique audience builder as well as user’s ability to personalize their apps and tools experience. Orchestrated access to business systems and processes using Unily’s rich integrations framework and market-leading developer tools for extensibility give Unily the edge in this use case.
Based on the analyst’s assessment of the market, the best intranets for this space are as follows:
- Unily
- Akumina
- Lumapps
In summary, the vendor you choose to best address the application portals use case should act as a salve to silence digital noise. The best intranets are designed to combat the repercussions of this ever-growing din, which can be disastrous for organizational velocity and alignment.
When woven across the end-to-end digital workplace, one-click integrations and application portals can supercharge productivity and give your intranet that ‘feel-good’ factor for the working day. If targeting and personalization are provided in tandem, the potential for efficiencies and return on investment is immense.
Knowledge Services
Knowledge services are the cornerstone of an effective enterprise intranet solution, particularly when the goal is to drive organizational velocity. By seamlessly integrating content management, knowledge-sharing platforms, and advanced search capabilities, knowledge services ensure that employees can access accurate, up-to-date information when and where they need it. This fosters informed decision-making, accelerates project timelines and will foster trust in your people’s intranet experience.
Forrester stressed the need for a robust knowledge services capability including reporting on content performance for improvement over time, and the importance of strong dashboards for internal communications leaders and technical platform owners alike. They also called out Unily’s comprehensive enterprise search functionality and its ability to intuitively group results for relevancy.
Similarly, IDC highlighted that great intranets have a solid search capability including out-of-the-box templates for various knowledge bases. In their research, IDC backed Unily’s ability to aggregate results from multiple data sources, including third-party content repositories, with filters and relevancy settings was reported to be a key strength. The templates Unily provides for knowledge management, as showcased in our exclusive customer portal – Universe, was noted as a unique quality in the market.
Gartner scored Unily as having the strongest capability for knowledge services in the market. Powerful search, search targeting, intelligent content review lifecycle, and an agent agnostic approach to AI assistants were deemed to be very important factors for an effective intranet. Gartner praised Unily’s ability to provide targeted search ensuring employees see only relevant content, and that which respects security permissions. With an intelligent content review lifecycle, the solution supports a single source of truth through automated reminders, enhancing content governance - a feature recognized by Gartner in their 2024 report. Additionally, the flexibility to bring your own AI assistants ensures freedom from vendor lock-in, fostering adaptability and personalized experiences.
Based on the analyst’s assessment of the market, the best intranets for this space are as follows:
- Unily
- Interact
- Microsoft
Ultimately, a robust knowledge service framework transforms the intranet from a static repository into a dynamic enabler of agility, efficiency, and strategic alignment, empowering organizations to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing business environment. It’s a crucial use case to prioritize for empowering the organization, enabling streamlined access to knowledge, and offering integrated data from multiple sources like Microsoft and Google suites, CRM systems such as Salesforce, and platforms like ServiceNow or Box.
Work Management
Work management tooling is a critical use case for an enterprise intranet solution designed to drive organizational velocity. These tools provide a centralized platform for planning, tracking, and executing tasks, enabling teams to align seamlessly with organizational priorities.
When assessing this use case, Forrester highlighted the need for application integrations and easy-to-use workplace tools. By intuitively integrating workflows, project management, and collaboration features, work management tooling eliminates bottlenecks, improves transparency, and ensures accountability. Forrester evaluated application integration across both enterprise and productivity apps.
IDC evaluated the use case of work management by looking at key technologies used in digital experience applications, workspace infrastructure, and connected devices. In their report, they ranked Unily highly for an integrated user experience to facilitate the flow of work, highlighting our integrations capability as being key for delivering tailored workspaces.
Looking at the market, Gartner called out aptitude for large-scale deployment as a key strength, highlighting Unily’s ability to handle secure extranet-like scenarios – where internal and external stakeholders can manage work and collaborate in real-time. They also praised the best intranets for their unique employee experiences, with work management tooling included in the personalization offering so that users can optimize their flow of work.
The top three vendors assessed for work management were as follows:
- Unily
- MangoApps
- Firstup
The ability to provide real-time updates or dashboards keep stakeholders informed and offer automation to streamline repetitive tasks is a game-changer for better work management. These tools foster cross-functional collaboration, empower teams to adapt quickly to changing business demands, and facilitate sharper pivots. A well-implemented work management system transforms the intranet into a dynamic hub for productivity, innovation, and accelerated outcomes.
Frontline Worker Support
Frontline employees are often the first point of contact with customers or operations, making their engagement and efficiency critical to overall business success. An intranet tailored to the use case of frontline worker support ensures seamless access to essential information, training, and tools, even on mobile or low-bandwidth devices.
When assessing the use case of frontline worker support, Forrester considered the breadth of user interfaces available and their capability. The latest IDC MarketScape report found that intranets were well-suited for desk based and deskless workers alike, when frontline workers have a single, centralized full-featured platform.
Gartner ranked Unily the highest for frontline worker support, defining frontline workers as those who primarily spend their time performing client-facing activities. Gartner highlighted Unily’s strong ability to offer resources to task workers, who primarily spend their time performing operational activities in the field, in warehouses, on plant floors or other “deskless” environments.
The top three vendors assessed for frontline worker support were as follows:
- Unily
- Staffbase
- Workvivo
By empowering frontline employees with intuitive, accessible technology, businesses can enhance productivity, reduce errors, and foster a culture of inclusivity. This alignment not only accelerates operational workflows but also strengthens the connection between frontline teams and the broader enterprise strategy.
5. Role of AI across the best intranets
What is Governed AI?
Governed AI is artificial intelligence that operates within a structured framework of policies, regulations, and ethical guidelines to ensure its responsible and transparent use. Aiming to balance innovation with due diligence, it involves implementing governance mechanisms such as legal compliance, risk management, accountability, and oversight to prevent biases, ensure fairness, and protect user privacy.
By embedding governance within the intranet, organizations can ensure AI-driven processes remain transparent, reliable, and aligned with business objectives while mitigating risks associated with automation and decision-making. Taking this approach is particularly crucial for handling sensitive internal data and maintaining trust across the organization. The best intranets have seamless performance that’s partnered with security as a non-negotiable.
Why Governed AI is an Imperative for Enterprises
The rise of shadow IT, and employees plugging the tech-stack gaps with unauthorized AI tools outside the company’s official channels, presents significant risks. In today’s borderless world, this can lead to data breaches, compliance violations, and inefficiencies that may undermine business objectives. Inaction in the face of these challenges could leave companies exposed to regulatory and operational risks.
By embedding governed AI into the heart of enterprise solutions, businesses can mitigate risks while harnessing the immense potential of AI. Governed AI helps organizations not only stay compliant but also enhance their ability to innovate, improve productivity, and foster a better workplace experience. The best intranet solutions will have governed AI fully woven across their every touchpoint.
The global AI landscape is shifting
Just when you think you understand the big players in AI, everything changes again. That couldn’t be truer when it comes to the entrance of DeepSeek onto the world’s stage. Referred to by Forbes as the “6 million dollar bombshell”, the arrival of DeepSeek shook Wall Street and reshaped AI leadership overnight.
It's not just DeepSeek’s innovation that shook Wall Street AI, Silicon Valley, and the global tech community, it’s the claims associated with it. Deepseek’s capability for enhanced reasoning, multilingual proficiency, and stronger code generation could drive productivity, automate complex tasks, and refine decision-making across intranet-based AI systems. However, its increased autonomy and potential for generating high-quality but unverifiable content heighten the need for robust AI governance.
The sudden rise of DeepSeek has set tongues wagging with many pondering whether its substance is more manipulation that it is innovation, and several countries have even started banning its use. Australia has banned the tech from government devices, the United States is exploring a bill that might send those who use DeepSeek to jail, and the UK is currently investigating the new AI tooling. China has a history of reporting AI advancements that later turn out to have been blown out of proportion, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens next.
But what does this mean for large enterprise? Businesses should err on the side of caution when it comes to tooling they don’t themselves govern. Now is the time to strengthen AI policies, access controls, and audit mechanisms to ensure insights remain accurate and compliant. Most importantly, enterprises should double-down on oversight to ensure their intellectual property, data, and most importantly people are safe.
AI-Assisted Work You Can Trust
Incorporating governed AI into your intranet solution will allow your enterprise to deliver AI-assisted work employees can trust. The ability to streamline workflows, reduce manual tasks, and ensure AI-generated insights align with compliance standards is all possible with well-governed AI.
With the right governance, AI can enhance employee satisfaction by predicting needs, improving decision-making, and offering personalized recommendations—creating a smoother, more responsive work environment. These improvements will in turn lead to better employee experiences, improved retention, and measurable business outcomes.
The Art of the Possible in a Day with Governed AI
Imagine a world where AI assistants within your digital workplace anticipate your people’s needs, offer clarity amidst the ever-swelling digital noise, and proactively solve problems before they arise. With enterprise-scalable, agnostic AI assistants, governed AI ensures these technologies work seamlessly across the digital landscape, removing the complexity and friction often associated with integrating new tooling.
Whether it’s automatically surfacing relevant information, or helping employees navigate complex processes, governed AI delivers real-time, actionable intelligence that drives organizational velocity across the enterprise. It’s not just about automating tasks—it’s about elevating the entire employee experience.
A Roadmap to Success: Embracing the Brave New Frontier
Adopting governed AI isn’t just about integrating a new technology—it’s about forging a path toward a smarter, more adaptive enterprise. The roadmap to success starts with embedding governed AI at its core. By understanding and addressing the risks upfront—be it privacy concerns, data integrity, or regulatory compliance—businesses can make progress with confidence.
As enterprises continue to embrace this new frontier, AI governance frameworks will evolve to ensure that AI deployment is always aligned with business priorities, ethical standards, and legal requirements. This helps businesses maintain agility without compromising security, ensuring that the power of AI remains both a competitive advantage and a safeguard against unforeseen risks.
Governed AI is an imperative for any intranet solution, but the best intranets will partner with you in shaping a future-ready, efficient, and dynamic digital workplace with this thinking at its core
The AI reality check
In Summary
Choosing the best intranet for your needs is not a trivial decision and making a poor choice stands to significantly drive down organizational velocity – a critical imperative for the modern enterprise. As the intranet rises in notoriety, the reputation of decision-makers charged with selecting the right technology increasingly hangs in the balance.
Trust in your vendor is critical. Choose a solution that you know will offer a long-standing partnership in delivering a successful, future-proofed EX strategy, and glowing business outcomes. Choose the best intranet.
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