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Today, we are here to attend to an unforgettable duel: the collaborative solutions. Yes, these tools have become essential to the daily life of employees. But which one to choose? Which one corresponds best to your needs? That's what we're going to see now with the terrible match of collaborative tools. Speaking of solutions, we have two to introduce to you:
On the left side of the ring, the dean of collaborative tools, I named the intranet.
On the other side of the ring, the little rookie who is becoming more and more powerful, I named the Enterprise Social Network (also nicknamed ESN)!
We offer you a fight at the top with participants ready to do anything to improve the daily life of their users. So, who will be the winner? Stay with us to know the outcome of the match 🥊
Participants’ Presentations
First, the intranet. It is the dean of collaborative tools and has already won many victories. If we wanted to define it, we would say that it is a digital place that brings together the employees of the company around information.
The intranet allows the collaborators of the same organization to obtain hot information and important documents in a single space. Often compared to the Internet, the intranet is a private and secure network where only users can access it.
The ESN is a young participant with great potential. It promotes collaborative work within a company. The ESN is, above all, a work tool that allows exchanges, the circulation of information, the management of projects and the creation of social links.
In short, it brings together employees of the same company around different functionalities and in the same place.
Now that the presentations are done, we can move on to the heart of the matter: the game!
The Intranet VS ESN match
Here we are, the match is about to start! And to decide between the two tools, we decided to base ourselves on 3 key criteria:
Personalization
Internal communication and collaboration
Productivity
Round n°1: Customization
The intranet is an ultra-customizable tool. From the organization of the pages to the colors, it is possible to choose each element which composes its intranet. Logo, governance, corporate identity, menu, wording, page construction: the intranet is the most customizable solution on the market.
It allows you to choose what your employees will discover every day on their homepage: hot information, reference documents, HR applications referenced by managers ... The intranet is customizable from A to Z, and without a line of code (at least for the Jamespot intranet).
On its side, even if it is possible to choose the main color and to put its logo, the ESN is less customizable than the intranet. It uses the codes of the general public social networks with a news feed on the home page.
This is fed by groups unique to each company and each person. So, two users from the same company will not have the same feed and the same information. But that's not all.
Around this flow, many applications can be added according to the needs of employees. Quizzes, surveys, calendars, document banks, tables: each organization can customize the functionalities that its employees will use.
Thus, it is the intranet that wins the customization point. Completely modular, it will be perfect if you want to build your collaborative tool from scratch.
Round n°2: Internal communication and collaboration
The intranet is an internal communication tool, entirely dedicated to hot information coming from the top management. Administrators share the news and documents they want. Same thing for applications.
The intranet centralizes all the necessary resources, gives employees access to all the company documentation and news. This facilitates data exchanges, exchanges between the players themselves and simplifies internal communication.
The ESN does not work like that at all. Collaboration is its main goal. The different applications, the Messenger and the group system have only one purpose: to allow employees to work better together.
Thus, on a ESN, and contrary to the intranet, there are 3 types of internal communication: one-to-one (in the messenger for example), group communication (through articles, documents or links in a dedicated group) and communication with all employees. The ESN therefore allows the voice of the employees to be heard, and not only the top management.
As you can see, it is the Enterprise Social Network that wins this second round. It brings the best of communication and collaboration and optimizes business uses.
Round n°3: Productivity
Regardless of the type of business, they all have the same goal: to be more productive. But which tool allows you to do this?
As we saw in the previous round, the intranet is only concerned with top-down internal communication. Applications and documents are common to all. Thus, the intranet advocates individual productivity.
Indeed, thanks to the intranet, employees have a better understanding of the company's initiatives and values, the information received is more accurate, and the speed of information circulation allows better decisions to be made in time.
The ESN encourages collective productivity. The collaboration allowed by the ESN helps all employees to work together better on a daily basis. They share, exchange, debate, and comment on all subjects. They work together to improve the company's productivity.
For this last round, there is no winner. Both tools offer better productivity. It just depends on what you are looking for.
Result of the match: And if they were complementary?
We counted the points. The blows were numerous and hard to take. But after these three rounds, we have come to the conclusion that there is no winner.
The two solutions each offer different features and benefits. On the one hand, the intranet, which is highly customizable, facilitates internal communication. It provides all employees with the necessary resources to work better.
The ESN, on the other hand, is more open and collaborative. Communicate yes, but with everyone. The Enterprise Social Network is a unique place where employees in the field and those in the office can work together through messaging, activity flow or groups specifically dedicated to this.
So, this match ends on a high note, without any bloodshed. But one question remains in our minds, is it possible to combine the two, to get the maximum advantage?
Jamespot's collaborative solutions
This fight was to decide between the intranet and the CSR. And since there is no solution better than the other, Jamespot offers you to discover both:
Fast Intranet, the ultra-customizable intranet: Fast Intranet gives meaning to your internal communication by offering simplified access to information (news, reference documents, key figures ...) and information systems of your organization (SIRH, GED, CRM ...). In addition, Fast Intranet allows you to build your personalized pages from A to Z, without a line of code.
Open Agora, the simple and effective Enterprise Social Network: our ESN centralizes all the internal communication of your organization on a single platform, secure and easy to use. Open Agora reinforces collaboration and cooperation thanks to features such as shared documents, project management boards, quizzes, or small messages of encouragement.
But that's not all. With Jamespot, it is quite possible to create intranet pages, while working with the activity flow and group system of the ESN. The best of Open Agora and Fast Intranet in one solution 😉
Ready to test? Start your free 30-day trial now and test all Jamespot's solutions. The only question you need to ask yourself is: are you more into ESN, intranet, or a bit of both?