US laboratory provider SmartLabs needed a low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet that would reflect their fast-growing business and provide a communication and collaboration hub for employees.
- Industry: Laboratory provider
- Country: United States
- Company Size: < 250 users
Starting Point
Although SmartLabs were already using the Microsoft 365 collaboration suite, including SharePoint, they weren’t using it at full capacity. They had documents in different locations, from shared drives to desktops, and no central hub for communication and collaboration.
The team needed a solution which would allow them to make the most of their existing software, creating a low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet with an on-brand look and feel.
Solution
The SmartLabs team were keen to use their existing Microsoft 365 suite of tools, yet it soon became clear that custom coding SharePoint was not going to provide the exciting user experience that the company wanted.
Valo Partner Optimum recommended Valo Intranet as they knew its customizable templates could produce this on-brand look and feel, as well as the low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet that SmartLabs were looking for.
Benefits
- Built on top of SharePoint
- Customizable templates for on-brand look and feel
- Low maintenance, easy-to-use intranet
- Central hub for communication and collaboration
- Valo Fresh subscription for peace of mind
A collaboration hub for a growing business
As an ambitious, growing business, one of SmartLabs’ key objectives when they reached out to Optimum was to create an exciting user experience that would really reflect the brand.
Whilst the company was initially looking to build the workspace within the Microsoft 365 environment, it soon became clear that there wasn’t enough flexibility to create the inspiring look and feel they were after.
Valo Intranet’s customizable templates have allowed them to do this, creating a dynamic collaboration hub where colleagues can come together, share documents and discover company news in a “familiar” branded space.
Minimal maintenance and Valo Fresh subscription for peace of mind
As well as the design restrictions of building within Microsoft 365, maintenance was also an issue. Whilst custom coding offered some scope for customization of the look and feel for SmartLabs, this would potentially have had to be fixed each time Microsoft issued an update.
Valo’s out-of-the-box intranet gave them a low-maintenance solution. Plus, with the Valo Fresh subscription, SmartLabs has the added peace of mind that they will benefit from all Valo’s new features and Microsoft updates.
User-friendly Valo takes pressure off IT
One of SmartLab’s key requirements for their intranet was for each department to own their own content with minimal input from the IT department. This has been achieved due to Valo’s user-friendly templates and toolbox.
Optimum arranged training for each department owner so they can add content and maintain their own pages independently.
But SmartLab’s Valo Intranet isn’t just easy to update, it’s also easy to use and has quickly become the communication and collaboration hub that the company intended. Since the intranet launched, user adoption has increased, not least during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite much of the team working remotely, they know exactly where to access information rather than having to ask colleagues to send documents via email, or saving them to local drives.
Valo Intranet speaks for itself
When Optimum began working with SmartLabs on their intranet solution, the project kicked-off with a thorough consultation process to ensure they clearly understood SmartLab’s requirements.
As part of the process, they were able to build a demo version of Valo’s quick-to-deploy solution. This meant the SmartLabs team could see for themselves how Valo’s low maintenance, user-friendly intranet could work for them.
Not only did this process convince SmartLabs that Valo was right for them, it also helped buy-in once the intranet was launched.
Training was also given to SmartLabs content owners, allowing them to make changes to custom templates and add new features without the need to involve IT, further enhancing their content-creating capabilities.
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Does your organization need a low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet to improve communication and collaboration in your workplace? Why not book yourself a demo so you can see for yourself what a bit of #ValoLove can do for you!
