Definition
A CMS intranet is a content management system (CMS) that is specifically designed to be used within an organization’s internal network, or intranet. It allows for the creation, management, and distribution of digital content, improving collaboration and communication among employees and departments within the organization.
Importance and significance of a CMS intranet
A CMS intranet, or intranet content management system, enhances communication, collaboration, and productivity within an organization—even at scale. It provides a centralized platform where employees can access and share important information, documents, and resources. It also streamlines internal processes by automating tasks such as document management, workflow management, and project tracking, for increased efficiency and cost savings.
At the same time, a CMS intranet promotes employee engagement and motivation by providing a user-friendly, personalized interface that allows employees to easily access relevant information and participate in organizational activities. This can play a vital role in fostering a connected and efficient workforce, ultimately contributing to the success and growth of an organization.
What's the difference between a CMS intranet and a knowledge base?
A knowledge base is a centralized repository of information—it merely stores and organizes knowledge within an organization. It may contain product documentation, technical guides, solutions to common problems, or answers to frequently asked questions. A knowledge base is designed to be easily searchable and accessible to employees, helping them find the information they need quickly and efficiently.
A CMS intranet, on the other hand, is a platform that employees can use to access and share a wide range of internal company information and resources. It provides a central hub for communication, collaboration, and document management. A CMS intranet typically includes features such as employee directories, news and announcements, project management tools, and document storage.
While both a CMS intranet and a knowledge base serve as information repositories, the main difference lies in their focus and functionality.
A CMS intranet is a broader platform that encompasses a broad range of communication and collaboration tools. It tends to be more dynamic and more complete, allowing information to be “crowd-sourced” across many experts throughout the company. A knowledge base is specifically geared toward knowledge management, providing employees with a centralized source of information. It tends to be more static and less complete, counting on a small group of people to maintain it.
Is an intranet a CMS?
An intranet and a content management system (CMS) are not the same thing, although an intranet can contain a CMS.
An intranet is a private network that is accessible only to authorized individuals within an organization. It is used to share information, collaborate on projects, and streamline internal communication. A CMS is a software platform that is used to create, manage, and publish digital content.
Modern intranets need to include a powerful CMS to help manage internal content at scale, but they are distinct concepts.
Benefits of a CMS intranet
Organizations enjoy a wide range of benefits from a CMS intranet.
- Easy content management: A CMS intranet allows for easy creation, editing, and updating of content, making it simple for employees to share information and collaborate.
- Centralized information: All important documents, resources, and data can be stored in one centralized location, making it easily accessible for employees in a single source of truth.
- Improved communication: With a specialized platform for effective communication, employees can easily share information, ideas, and feedback.
- More collaborative work environment: Employees can collaborate on projects and tasks more efficiently, as they can easily access and edit shared documents and files.
- Improved operational efficiency: A CMS intranet automates and streamlines document approvals, task assignments, and project tracking for increased productivity.
- Increased employee engagement: A CMS intranet also fosters a sense of involvement and engagement among employees, providing a platform where they can participate in discussions, contribute ideas, and access important information.
- Improved knowledge sharing: Employees can use a CMS intranet to share their knowledge and expertise across the organization, facilitating wide-scale learning and professional growth.
Better document control: A CMS intranet ensures better document control with version control, document tracking, and permissions management, reducing the risk of outdated or unauthorized information being circulated.
How a CMS intranet works
A CMS intranet starts with a centralized platform for organizing, managing, and delivering content within an organization’s internal network. It helps employees access and share information, collaborate on projects, and communicate effectively.
However, today’s employee intranet solutions can do much more.
Key functionalities of CMS intranet
A CMS intranet typically includes features such as:
- Document management
- Task management
- Employee directories
- Calendars
- Forums
- News feeds
Advanced features of a modern intranet may include:
- Native video
- AI-driven personalized feeds
- Automatic author reminders for aging content
- Passive listening to surface employee sentiment in real time
- Clear onboarding paths
- Personalized dashboards with news and to-do lists
- Integrations with multiple platforms for communication, data management, project management, human resources management, and more
The working mechanism of a CMS intranet
A corporate intranet simplifies the process of creating, editing, and publishing content while ensuring that the content is easily accessible and searchable for employees.
Basic mechanisms map to basic functionality. Employees can publish content, look up other employees, update calendar events, and communicate on forums.
Advanced mechanisms map to more advanced features. A modern intranet that integrates the power of AI can learn the content preferences of each employee to surface the news they care about and improve engagement. It can also remind content authors of pieces that were published more than a given number of months prior to see if that content should be updated or even deleted. It can even serve up employee satisfaction or employee engagement surveys, and it can analyze internal communication to gauge employee sentiment. All of these features work together to enhance the employee experience
With advanced features, the working mechanisms of a CMS intranet become much more complex—and much more powerful.
Uses of a CMS intranet
There are many important uses for a CMS intranet that can streamline a wide variety of operations, especially across a large enterprise organization.
A centralized “front door” for a modern corporate tech stack
A key function of CMS intranet software is to provide a dashboard for each employee that offers a centralized source of relevant content, including corporate news, HR information (such as paychecks and vacation time), employee interactions, and calendared events. It can also act as a portal into the many other applications that employees need to do their jobs.
Simple presentation of to-do lists and tasks for new employees
In today’s distributed workforces, employee onboarding can be a significant challenge. Who should each employee meet? What training do they need to perform their job functions, and where can they find that training? A CMS intranet can itemize and organize employee onboarding, getting new hires up to speed with greater efficiency.
Ongoing training and career development
For ongoing training, a CMS intranet can make sure that training and career development opportunities are presented to the right employees at the right times. If the CMS intranet includes native video functionality, training can be hosted and presented within the intranet itself. This also lets training managers take advantage of auto-governance, in which the CMS can automatically notify them when it is time to review and update training content.
Streamlining work and collaboration
By organizing both documents and workflows in one place, a CMS intranet makes it easy for employees to stay on top of assignments and deadlines. Plus, with multiple communication channels, a CMS intranet streamlines the collaboration process. With tasks, deadlines, communication, and processes organized in a single dashboard, employees spend far less time hunting for what they need and more time working efficiently and effectively.
Corporate culture and company engagement
Today’s distributed organizations can struggle to maintain a cohesive corporate culture, especially when fully remote employees feel isolated from their teams. Built-in systems for employee recognition, engagement surveys, and internal interactions that mimic popular social media platforms help employees to feel more connected, ensuring a stronger culture and higher levels of engagement.
Role of CMS intranet in organizational management
For upper management as well as human resources professionals, an advanced CMS intranet adds enhanced capabilities that are invaluable for managing today’s massively distributed workforces.
With built-in surveys, personalized newsfeeds, multiple communication channels, social networks, human resources integrations, and much more, a modern CMS intranet can help enterprise organizations maintain a strong company culture and a vibrant, engaged employee community, even around the globe.
Comparing traditional to modern intranet platforms
The uses that a CMS intranet can fulfill within an organization depend on how advanced the intranet is. Traditional CMS intranets are often limited by relatively static interfaces and fewer features. The invention of the traditional intranet was a key advancement for internal communications at the dawn of the information age, but today’s AI-powered technologies are opening the door to new uses for CMS intranets at an accelerated rate.
Traditional CMS intranet applications
- Updating an internal knowledge base
- Searching for an employee phone number
- Adding a calendar event
- Distributing a pre-generated, static employee newsletter
Diversified applications of a modern CMS intranet
- Crowd-sourcing knowledge across a global enterprise organization
- Forging new employee collaborations based on role or education
- Disseminating knowledge and training with native video seminars
- Distributing dynamic company news based on messaging priority as well as individual
Types of CMS intranets
There are many different types of CMS intranets, built for various uses and applications. For the purpose of a general discussion, they can be classified in at least five different categories. Keep in mind that a single CMS intranet can easily fall into multiple categories. For example, a cloud-based CMS intranet might also be an open-source CMS intranet.
Classification and varieties of CMS intranets
- Traditional CMS intranets represent the earliest type of internal network for an organization. They were generally limited in interface design—the content that these systems stored could change, but the presentation of that content usually did not. Traditional CMS intranets were typically stored on internal servers that had to be maintained by the organization’s IT department. Typical features included document storage, employee directories, forum-based communication, knowledge bases, and basic productivity tools.
- Headless CMS intranets separate the front-end presentation layer from the back-end content storage and management. In other words, content can now be stored and managed centrally while being displayed in many different places and ways. This allows for greater flexibility and customization. Content can be delivered to various devices and interfaces while maintaining a uniform and centralized content management system. The term “headless” refers to the absence of a dedicated front-end, allowing the content to be consumed by any front-end technology or application.
- Cloud-based CMS intranets are hosted on cloud servers. These intranets allow for the storage, management, and sharing of digital content and documents among employees or members of a specific group no matter where they might be located. The cloud-based nature of these intranets enables easy access to information from any device with an internet connection, facilitating seamless collaboration and efficient information dissemination across any workforce—traditional, distributed, hybrid, or fully remote.
- Open-source CMS intranets are based on open-source software that is freely available to be modified or customized. This gives developers a head start in creating a custom intranet system for an organization, but any intranet developed in this way will need to be updated and maintained internally.
- Proprietary CMS intranets are specifically designed and owned by a particular organization or company. These “one-off” intranets may be based on open-source software or built from the ground up. They are tailored to meet specific needs and requirements, but they come at a tremendous cost for both initial development and ongoing maintenance.
- Modern CMS intranet platforms are built by specialized tech companies for purchase and use by other organizations. They incorporate the best that today’s intranets have to offer—such as AI, machine learning, integrations, and cloud-based access—without the need for internal maintenance of the software itself. Companies simply configure the software for their own needs and preferences and receive regular software updates automatically. Tools designed to automate and simplify the process of managing internal content are also built into these platforms.
Pros and cons of different CMS intranet types
The general pros and cons mentioned below are tailored to each category. For a CMS intranet that falls into multiple categories, the pros and cons of both categories may apply.
1. Traditional CMS intranets
Pros:
- Well-established and widely used
- Offer essential features and functionalities
- Provide some flexibility and customization options
Cons:
- Can be complex and require technical expertise to set up and maintain
- May have a steeper learning curve for non-technical users
- Can be expensive to license and maintain
2. Headless CMS intranets
Pros:
- Separate the front-end and back-end, allowing for greater flexibility and scalability
- Easier to integrate with different platforms and devices
- Provide quality content management capabilities
Cons:
- Requires additional development effort to build the front end
- Can be more complex for non-technical users to operate
- May not offer as many built-in features as traditional CMS intranets
3. Cloud-based CMS intranets
Pros:
- Offer easy access to content from anywhere with an internet connection
- Typically provide automatic updates and backups
- Reduce the need for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades
Cons:
- Data security and privacy may be a concern if the system is built and managed internally by non-specialized teams
- Reliance on internet connectivity can pose challenges in areas with poor or unreliable connections
4. Open-source CMS intranets
Pros:
- Typically free to use “as-is”
- Provide a large community for support and development
- Allow for customizations and flexibility
Cons:
- Lack of official support, especially for customized versions, can lead to security risks
- Often require significant technical expertise to set up and maintain
- Extensive customization requires extensive internal developer time and maintenance
5. Proprietary CMS intranets
Pros:
- Custom-tailored to the unique needs of the organization that designed and built it
Cons:
- Can be highly expensive in development and ongoing maintenance
- Product documentation and support resources may be limited
- Can be more challenging to integrate with third-party systems, especially given the regular updates of those external systems
6. Modern CMS intranet platforms
Pros:
- A singular focus on intranet design results in cutting-edge technology and features
- Leverage the efficiency of specialization and market competition for better, more cost-effective results
- Configuration and maintenance require minimal time and effort
- Top-notch product documentation and support
Cons:
- May have more features and scalability than is necessary for smaller companies
- Often provide a better ROI for larger organizations
Best practices for successful intranet implementation and management
The following best practices help ensure the effective implementation and long-term management of a CMS intranet.
- Define clear objectives: Before implementing a CMS intranet, clearly define the goals and objectives you want to achieve. This will help you make informed decisions throughout the process.
- Gather requirements: Assess the needs and requirements of your organization to ensure that the selected CMS intranet meets all necessary functionality and features.
- Choose the right CMS intranet: Select a system that is user friendly, customizable, and scalable. Consider factors such as ease of use, available plugins and extensions, and support options.
- Train and educate users: Decide how you want to introduce employees to all the features of your new CMS intranet. Streaming webinars? Onboarding videos? Consider a staged approach, letting employees explore a bit and then introducing specific use cases for maximum adoption and engagement.
- Implement a governance model: Establish clear guidelines and roles for content creation, approval, and maintenance. This helps maintain consistency, quality, and security within the intranet.
- Regularly update and maintain the intranet: Schedule routine maintenance and updates to ensure the CMS intranet remains secure and up to date. Make sure you have a system for monitoring performance and addressing user feedback.
- Foster user engagement: Encourage employees to actively participate and contribute to the intranet by providing valuable content, sharing knowledge, and engaging in discussions. This helps create a thriving and collaborative intranet community.
Continued evaluation and improvement
An organization’s intranet may be internal, but it exists within a modern framework of operating systems and cloud technologies that undergo constant updates. At the very least, companies need to make sure they have a system in place for staying on top of these continuous developments, so the intranet is always up to date and fully compatible with all external updates.
7 intranet CMS features that matter in choosing the right platform in 2023
In evaluating a modern intranet platform, here are some of the key features to look for and consider:
- Artificial intelligence: Does the system use AI to surface employee insights? What about automating and personalizing content as well as search preferences to drive engagement?
- Prescriptive analytics: Will the platform be able to show you what content is performing and what content isn’t in real time? Can you use it for quick, efficient feedback in continually improving your internal content strategy?
- Scalability: Can the platform deliver the flexibility and security needed for large enterprise organizations?
- Integrations: Does the platform offer out-of-the-box integrations with all the key software components of your tech stack?
- Ease of use: How easy is the system to dive into? Will employees be able to pick up the user interface intuitively, or will it require extensive training?
- Multiple communication channels: What channels does the platform support? Can teams use it with tools like Slack and Zoom? Could you send targeted push notifications to employee phones if there was a divisional or regional emergency?
- Auto-governance: Does the system have built-in tools to help you manage stale intranet content—so your CMS won’t become a dumping ground of outdated information?
Want a more complete list of intranet features and comparison points? See more here.