Creating a better employee experience with Microsoft

The importance of a company's intranet is often underestimated. But a leading biopharmaceutical company knew its intranet portal was a key place for employees to find information, view leaders' insights, and connect with colleagues. The company wanted the intranet to be easy to access, straightforward to navigate, and simple for owners to update, maintain, and fix.

Unfortunately, like many companies, the client's intranet portal needed an update.

The intranet was hosted on SharePoint using on-premise servers, the layout was rigid, and employees could only access it through a browser. To make even simple updates, owners would need help from internal developers. Plus, maintenance and support costs were impacting the company's budget, and the clunky experience led to low employee engagement.

The company wanted better for its employees. During a strategic planning session with Microsoft, the idea for a redesign of its intranet took shape, and the company turned to Genpact to help bring the idea to life. The plan was to deliver a redesigned, cloud-based intranet in less than six months – an ambitious turnaround for such a big job.

First, the team worked closely with the company on design sessions. The plan was to reduce resistance by showcasing proofs of concept to make sure everyone was supportive, happy with the proposed look and feel, and ready to adopt the solution.

Next, Genpact managed a complex content and functionality migration to the cloud. We arranged multiple demos and walkthrough sessions with country leaders to gain business confidence. With approximately 130,000 global users, the solution couldn't be launched in one go, so we tackled the rollout in stages for a smoother employee experience.

The redesigned intranet uses Microsoft's Viva Connections for a user-friendly interface and SharePoint Online as the core repository. On-premise servers were no longer needed, and the intranet can be accessed through multiple channels. Better still, the intranet is connected to other Microsoft tools like Teams and Amplify, which employees were already comfortable using as the company had invested heavily in Microsoft 365.

The new intranet was delivered on time and meets all the client's needs. Administrators can customize and edit content without support from developers, who can now focus on higher-value work. This makes the intranet about 70% cheaper to run compared to the on-premise version and has cut infrastructure and maintenance costs by about two-thirds.

For employees, it's much easier to access the site, keep up to date on company news, and discover company content across products, divisions, and locations quickly and simply.

Perhaps most importantly, the new intranet is now primed and ready to meet the changing needs of the company's business. For example, it can connect to other tools, including Microsoft's artificial intelligence application, Copilot.

As a company focused on innovation and creating exceptional experiences for its employees and customers, the transformation story won't end here.