Severn Trent Plc
Using Lightspeed365 to update and upgrade an existing SharePoint intranet aimed at knowledge and frontline staff
Severn Trent Plc is a UK-based water company providing water to over 4.5 million households. It has around 8,500 staff including a high number of frontline staff working out in the field.
Content Formula had previously helped Severn Trent implement an intranet based on an in-a-box product that worked alongside SharePoint.
Unfortunately, the intranet product had reached end-of-life and was now no longer fully supported. The team were keen to upgrade.
Upgrading an intranet reaching end of life
Severn Trent engaged us to implement a brand new, modern SharePoint intranet that could do everything their old intranet did, but with a significant uptick in user experience and several additional capabilities.
The team needed a cost-effective solution and considered using SharePoint Online out of the box
We performed a gap analysis comparing their requirements and what was possible just using SharePoint; it was clear that there way too many gaps and relying on SharePoint alone would be a significant step backwards.
Lightspeed365 extends the power of SharePoint
We suggested using Lightspeed365 which would not only replicate all they were able to achieve with their old solution but add a superior look and feel as well as new core features.
Lightspeed365 also ticked the boxes on cost. It was much cheaper than a full intranet “in-a-box” product, and ensured the team weren’t paying twice for features that were already covered within their Microsoft 365 license.
A complex content migration
The team were happy with the content on the old intranet and wished to migrate it all over. Working closely with the client, we planned and executed an automated content migration that was smooth and seamless, saving huge amounts of time.
The migration had some challenges to overcome; for example, we wrote some custom script to migrate news items from an old “Noticeboard” feature in the old solution directly into SharePoint news.
An intranet that reaches the frontline
Previously an intranet mobile app enabled Severn Trent’s field workers to access news and information through a variety of themed channels, while push notifications were used to elevate critical or important news posts.
In the new Lightspeed365-powered intranet, the team now has the ability to push notifications to different channels in the mobile Teams app, which can be displayed on a lock screen, reaching frontline workers with essential updates.
Frontline staff are also highly active in multiple Viva Engage communities, and on the new intranet these are embedded into pages through community feeds, helping sustain adoption.
Improved polling to engage employees
To engage employees and to get a sense of how they are feeling, the intranet team regularly run polls on the intranet homepage. Polling on the old intranet was cumbersome and inefficient, relying on Microsoft Forms to register votes and creating image files to publish poll results.
Noting the client’s requirement to transform their polling process, we brought forward a future roadmap commitment to create a beautiful Lightspeed365 polling feature.
Now deployed, the team can easily publish polls while employees can instantly see the results once they place their votes, supporting engagement and pulse checks.
Keeping on top of collaboration
In the old intranet users could view a dynamic list of SharePoint sites that they had permission to visit, helping employees to collaborate and carry out project work.
The Lightspeed365 Site Index feature not only delivers a list of SharePoint sites for each user, but also adds Viva Engage communities and Teams spaces, allowing users to better access their workspaces, sites and communities.
The one source of truth for getting things done
The intranet team were keen to migrate an extensive library of “How Do I” pages which provide information on how to complete key tasks.
This essential corporate knowledge bank has been significantly improved, using Lightspeed365’s Handbook feature, creating a user-friendly, searchable and filterable interface from one place for all of the “How Do I” content.
Each “How Do I” page also now inclludes Lightspeed365’s Floating Search feature, enabling a search across the entire database from anywhere on a page.
The improved findability and presentation of this knowledge base is already increasing adoption and enabling quick and successful task completion.
An intranet that is at last accessible from Teams
Severn Trent’s intranet had previously not been accessible in Microsoft Teams, mainly because the team did not wish to implement Viva Connections
With Lightspeed365’s Teams app, the new intranet can at last be fully accessed within Teams from the left-hand global menu, allowing employees to conveniently view intranet content more directly in the flow of work.
A Lightspeed365 intranet set up for the future
Severn Trent Water’s intranet is already well-adopted with the new features well received by employees.
With the Lightspeed365 set of features continually expanding and always in tight alignment with the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the team are able to add additional new Lightspeed365 features when they wish, setting themselves up for the future through a process of continual improvement.
We’re thrilled with the opportunity to continue to support Severn Trent after several years and can’t wait to see how the intranet evolves in the future!
