Intranets are internal communication and data sharing, access, and editing solutions that help enterprises keep all the collaboration in-house and corporately private. This is why it is important to build and maintain a sturdy, well-protected intranet in order to avoid some major issues. Essentially, you need to stay in tune with technologies that allow achieving the most reliable intranet solution. And resorting to proprietary platforms like companies used to back in the day for intranet building purposes is a no-go.
Drupal offers a much more versatile, open-source approach that reduces costs dramatically, enables more flexible software structures, and significantly accelerates your intranet building project. In particular, with
Drupal put into the core of your intranet solution, you get:
No license fees - Drupal-based intranet development requires much lower costs;
Expandable user management - there is a variety of additional modules you can connect to the Drupal-based intranet that will help you expand management capabilities far and wide;
In-depth content management - thorough asset management comes as the out-of-the-box trait of the Drupal CMS, with a range of specialized modules that help simpliExpandable user management - there is a variety of additional modules you can connect to the Drupal-based intranet that will help you expand management capabilities far and wide;fy and diversify your usual content management routine;
Efficient collaborative opportunities - Drupal offers a selection of different communication channels, social networking modules, community powers, and more to help achieve the smoothest in-house collaboration possible.
Fast intranet deployment - the engine comes in more than handy when the top priority is the fastest launch of the system, allowing to set everything up and customize via required modules.
Intranet building challenges Drupal helps overcome
On top of all the above-mentioned benefits, Drupal also helps efficiently cope with some of the major challenges of building an intranet. These include:
Content duplication issue - user role refining tools coming with Drupal help optimize potential content duplication instances while simplified content publishing and in-depth search make all content manipulations much easier on all users.
Lack of content personalization opportunities - with Drupal, you get tools like location displaying, IP address-based user detection, bookmarking, and more features that help get more useful data.
Third-party integrations - the open-source nature of Drupal says it all - you may easily integrate with the widest range of third-party solutions.
Mobile optimization issues - Drupal offers mobile-first tools and features to make your intranet responsive and efficient when accessed from mobile.
Lack of social opportunities - out-of-the-box collaboration capacities are sufficient in establishing a sturdy social element in one’s enterprise or business.
And there is much more where all that came from. It’s all, basically, in modules - whether you need to boost intranet search capabilities or streamline content management, you can find multiple tools and features to help you achieve the goal and optimize.
More Drupal Intranet Opportunities to Consider
While we are all aware of Drupal's evident security and user-friendliness, there are a few additional aces up its sleeve in terms of functional opportunities to be mentioned, including the following:
Faster launch
Even if building your own intranet is a spur-of-the-moment decision, Drupal has you covered. In this instance, distributions are the best solution.
Drupal distributions like Open Social and Drupal Commons, in addition to a pre-configured installation with default Intranet features like groups, activity streams, comments, and a customizable user interface, are a wonderful method to easily establish an intranet for the enterprise.
Furthermore, because Drupal's design is built on the idea of "overrides," these Distributions may be further extended with new backend or frontend features without affecting the basic functionality. It would be very logical to kick off an Intranet application development with a Distribution.
Simpler management
Intranet systems are utilized to achieve collaboration capabilities in order to boost productivity by facilitating participation, accelerating CRM tools, and simplifying project management. There is a need for easier, in-depth customized processes because there will be a large number of individuals utilizing the intranet (inside a company).
To minimize any misunderstanding and turmoil, Drupal allows you to quickly specify "permission settings" by creating distinct user roles. The functionality may be improved by adding single sign-on capabilities utilizing a couple of modules, which provides an expanded user role and management criteria. Drupal also makes it easier to handle all the documentation and underlying data in terms of administration efforts.
Versatile integrations
With the primary goal of an intranet being to exchange data, procedures, and resources among employees and clients, the intranet system will require capabilities tailored closely to the project's requirements. Features that aren't available by default. So, what exactly do you do?
As previously stated, Drupal promotes cooperation and employs the notion of "overrides," in which a function may be expanded further through customization. Integration with handy readymade modules is a less time-consuming process than writing code from scratch. Drupal's versatility allows it to interact with a wide range of modules, custom scripts, existing software, and technologies such as the Account Management System, SharePoint, Google Docs, SAP, and SugarCRM among others.
The options for using Drupal to provide content through JSON and XML are nearly unlimited, mainly due to the API first approach. When it comes to third-party integrations, full and progressive decoupling not only allows apps to be integrated properly - Drupal also facilitates the process of customizing and theming.
Combining Drupal websites with intranet
You should have developed enough confidence in the Drupal intranet by now, but it is critical that your website built on Drupal extends the benefits of your intranet even further. Here's how it can be achieved:
Because all the involved resources are already “familiar” with Drupal, the integration process becomes a breeze.
The intranet's experience and performance may be maintained by using Drupal, and the procedures become more smooth for the users.
As the modules actively support and expand the capabilities of the main site, the user management possibilities multiply.
Final Thoughts
Why put Drupal in the foundation of your intranet? Because it is up-to-date, simple, and expansive. And modern tech power, facilitated management, and seamless scaling through specialized modules is exactly what you need if you are looking to achieve the smoothest-running intranet out there. Stay in tune for more updates!
And if you are looking for all of those beneficial opportunities implemented by reliable professionals - contact Alpha Web Group for seasoned Intranet building services offered by in-depth experienced specialists.