Microsoft 365 Intranet Comparison: Evaluating SharePoint and Viva Connections

Download this free guide to understand how well Microsoft 365 tools support essential intranet capabilities. Learn how SharePoint and Viva Connections stack up against real-world intranet needs, including:

✔ Branding and Customization: Evaluate how much flexibility you have in tailoring your intranet’s appearance to reflect your company identity.

✔ News Management: Understand the capabilities for creating, distributing, and managing company news and updates.​

✔ Navigation and Search: Evaluate the ease of navigating content and the effectiveness of search functionalities.​

✔ Content Targeting and Personalization: Examine how well the platform delivers relevant content to different user groups.​

✔ Templating and Consistency: Explore options for creating consistent page layouts and templates.​

✔ Mobile Accessibility: Determine the quality of the mobile experience for users on various devices.

By understanding these aspects, you can make an informed decision about whether Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Viva Connections suffice as your intranet solution or if supplementary intranet software is required to meet your organization's unique needs.

This Microsoft 365 intranet comparison guide helps you:​

✔ Identify Potential Gaps: Identify Microsoft 365 intranet limitations that may affect your long-term success

✔ Explore Enhancement Options: Explore options for enhancing SharePoint and Viva Connections with additional intranet software

✔ Align with Organizational Goals: Align your digital workplace platform with strategic goals for engagement, compliance, and usability

Download your free copy and take the next step toward optimizing your intranet solution. This guide is designed for organizations seeking to evaluate their intranet platform options thoroughly.​ 

While Microsoft 365 is a robust digital workplace platform, it has notable limitations when used as a stand-alone intranet solution. Many organizations struggle to meet practical requirements using only SharePoint and Viva Connections. Below are ten of the most common Microsoft 365 intranet limitations experienced by IT, Communications, and HR teams:

✔ Branding & Governance: Limited support for consistent branding and centralized templates.

✔ Navigation & Search: No centralized navigation or unified search across the platform.

✔ News & Targeting: Basic content targeting and lack of filtering/subscription options.

✔ User Experience: Inconsistent UI across Microsoft 365 apps and complex editing tools.

✔ Personalization & Recognition: Minimal content personalization and no built-in recognition features.

✔ Onboarding & Preboarding: No structured onboarding or automation support.

✔ Analytics & Reporting: Short data retention, no integrated dashboards.

✔ Permissions Management: Complex site-level permissions and governance gaps.

✔ Mobile Optimization: Incomplete mobile experience for frontline or remote workers.

✔ Digital Signage: No built-in tools for screen-based or non-desktop communication.

For organizations that prioritize personalization, governance, and long-term scalability, enhancing Microsoft 365 with a specialized intranet solution—like Omnia—can close these gaps and deliver a complete digital workplace experience.

This guide is for anyone involved in evaluating, selecting, or managing an intranet platform—whether you're in IT, internal communications, HR, or digital workplace roles. It's especially useful for organizations currently using Microsoft 365 and looking to understand how SharePoint and Viva Connections measure up to real intranet requirements. The guide breaks down how Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Viva Connections support—or fall short of—common intranet needs. It provides decision-makers with the insight they need to evaluate whether additional software is necessary.

Microsoft 365 offers essential tools for collaboration and communication; however, it may have limitations in areas like centralized news management, advanced customization, and delivering personalized content experiences. Organizations often seek additional intranet solutions to address these shortcomings and better align with their specific requirements.

Omnia is an intranet-in-a-box solution that integrates with Microsoft 365 to provide enhanced features such as personalized content delivery, seamless mobile access, and optimized search functionalities. It addresses the limitations of Microsoft 365, enabling organizations to create a more engaging and efficient intranet experience. ​

The necessity for additional intranet software depends on your organization's specific requirements. If Microsoft 365 and its components like SharePoint and Viva Connections meet all your intranet needs, additional software may not be necessary. However, for advanced features such as enhanced branding, sophisticated content targeting, rich analytics, mobile support, comprehensive governance, and more a supplementary intranet product can be beneficial.

While SharePoint provides a robust foundation for intranet development, organizations with complex needs may find it lacking in areas such as advanced content management, personalization, and user engagement features. In such cases, integrating additional intranet software can help bridge these gaps and deliver a more comprehensive solution. ​

Microsoft Viva Connections is a customizable app within Microsoft Teams that serves as a gateway to your organization's intranet. It integrates seamlessly with SharePoint, allowing users to access company news, resources, and personalized content directly within Teams. This integration enhances the employee experience by consolidating communication and collaboration tools in a single interface. ​