Microsoft 365 Intranet Comparison: Evaluating SharePoint and Viva Against Your Requirements

Download this free guide to understand how well Microsoft 365 tools support essential intranet requirements in Microsoft 365. 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 mapping your Microsoft 365 intranet requirements against what SharePoint and Viva Connections provide, you can make an informed decision about whether Microsoft 365 suffices—or if supplementary intranet software is required to meet business goals.

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 requirements in Microsoft 365 thoroughly

While Microsoft 365 is a robust digital workplace platform, many organizations find gaps when relying on it as a stand-alone intranet. Common challenges when mapping intranet requirements to Microsoft 365 include:

✔ 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 governance, personalization, and long-term scalability, enhancing Microsoft 365 with a specialized intranet solution like Omnia closes these gaps and delivers a complete digital workplace.

This guide is for IT, HR, and internal communications professionals evaluating intranet platforms. It’s especially useful for organizations already using Microsoft 365 and looking to understand how SharePoint and Viva Connections align with real-world intranet requirements in Microsoft 365. It breaks down Microsoft 365 intranet strengths and gaps to help you decide if additional software is needed.

While Microsoft 365 provides core collaboration tools, many organizations find limitations in areas such as news management, customization, and content targeting. A Microsoft 365 intranet comparison reveals that additional intranet solutions are often required to fully meet organizational needs.

Omnia is an intranet-in-a-box solution that extends Microsoft 365 with enhanced personalization, governance, search, and mobile features. It addresses Microsoft 365 intranet requirements and limitations, ensuring your platform aligns with modern intranet needs and provides a more engaging employee experience.

Not necessarily. If SharePoint and Viva Connections meet your intranet requirements, you may not need additional software. However, organizations that need advanced features—like rich analytics, streamlined onboarding, or stronger governance—can benefit from supplementing Microsoft 365 with specialized intranet software.

​SharePoint offers a strong foundation but may not meet all intranet requirements in Microsoft 365 on its own, particularly for complex organizations. Adding an intranet solution like Omnia ensures consistency, personalization, and scalability across the digital workplace.

Microsoft Viva Connections is an app within Microsoft Teams that provides access to SharePoint-based intranet resources. It serves as a gateway to news, updates, and personalized content. While valuable, it should be evaluated in a Microsoft 365 intranet comparison to see if it fully meets your organization’s requirements.