Do you have an intranet or a Frankennet?

Why cobbled together solutions are killing productivity

Many organizations think they have an intranet when they actually have something far more dangerous: a Frankennet.

The term ‘Frankennet’ is a made-up term we use for a makeshift intranet, that’s really just a patchwork of systems. These makeshift digital workplaces emerge when companies layer Microsoft 365, Teams, email, and maybe a SharePoint site together, hoping they’ll somehow work as one cohesive system.

If your “intranet” is actually multiple disconnected tools held together with digital duct tape, you’re losing money and frustrating employees daily.

What defines a Frankennet:

• Microsoft 365 + Teams + email + scattered SharePoint sites instead of unified intranet

• Information exists in silos across multiple platforms with no single source of truth
  

The hidden costs and impact to your organization:

• Employees waste hours searching for information across disconnected systems

• Important updates get lost in email chains and forgotten chat threads

The solution: Create a purpose-built intranet designed to streamline internal communications, empower knowledge sharing, and support employee engagement, using a platform that goes beyond a file storage system.

What exactly is a Frankennet?

A Frankennet isn’t just a failed intranet – it’s the absence of one entirely. These pseudo intranets grow organically and unplanned, creating a ‘monster’ that’s functional enough to limp along but never truly effective.

Here’s how most Frankennets evolve:

Stage 1: The foundation Your organization starts with Microsoft 365 for file storage and email. Someone creates a SharePoint site for “important documents.” It seems reasonable.

Stage 2: The additions Teams gets layered on for “collaboration.” Departments start creating their own SharePoint sites. Email becomes the default for announcements. Still manageable, right?

Stage 3: The monster awakens Now you have dozens of SharePoint sites, countless Teams channels, overflowing email inboxes, and no one knows where anything lives. Congratulations, you’ve inadvertently built a Frankennet.

How to tell if you have a Frankennet

Multiple disconnected platforms

Your “intranet” consists of:

• Various departmental SharePoint sites with different designs and navigation
• Teams channels that duplicate (and contradict) information elsewhere
• Email for company announcements that get buried in busy inboxes
• Network drives that some people can access and others cannot
• Third party tools that don’t integrate with anything else

No central governance

Unlike strategic intranets with clear content guidelines and consistent user experience, Frankennets evolve without oversight. Different departments create their own solutions, leading to:

• Inconsistent branding and navigation across sites
• Duplicate content that becomes outdated at different rates
• No clear content ownership or update processes
• Security gaps where sensitive information isn’t properly protected

Organic, unplanned growth

When your digital workplace grows piecemeal without strategic planning, it creates:

• Scattered information that requires employees to know exactly where to look
• Broken internal links when someone moves or deletes content
• Search that only works within individual platforms, not across your entire digital workplace

Why Frankennets are more dangerous than no intranet at all

False sense of security

Leadership believes they have a digital workplace solution when they actually have a collection of disconnected tools. This prevents investment in real solutions because “we already have an intranet.”

Employee frustration builds over time

SWOOP Analytics’ benchmarking found employees spend only 18 seconds reading intranet news per day. With a makeshift intranet, that brief attention gets wasted as employees struggle to find relevant information.

Information becomes unreliable

When the same document exists in three different locations with different versions, employees stop trusting any central information source. They default to asking colleagues directly, creating communication bottlenecks.

IT resources get stretched thin

Instead of maintaining one strategic platform, IT teams juggle multiple systems, integrations that break regularly, and security concerns across disconnected tools.

How to assess whether you need a new intranet

Ask yourself these diagnostic questions:

Information architecture

• Do employees know exactly where to find your employee handbook?
• Can a new hire access all necessary resources from a single starting point?
• When you update company policies, how many places require manual updates?

Search and discovery

• Can employees search across all company information from one search box?
• Do search results include content from email, SharePoint, Teams, and other platforms?
• How often do employees ask colleagues for information that should be easily findable?

Collaboration patterns

• Where do cross departmental projects actually happen?
• Do important discussions get lost in email threads or buried in Teams channels?
• Can project stakeholders easily access shared resources and updates?

Content management

• Who owns updating different types of company information?
• How do you ensure outdated content gets removed or updated?
• Do departments duplicate each other’s content because they can’t find existing resources?

If these questions reveal gaps, you are likely in need of a new intranet.

How an intranet solves communication and knowledge management challenges

The solution isn’t to add more tools to your existing collection – it’s to consolidate into a purpose-built intranet platform. Here’s what a well-designed modern intranet will provide:

Single source of truth

Everything employees need lives in one place with consistent navigation, search, and user experience. 85% of respondents cited faster information access as a key intranet advantage.

Integrated workflows

Instead of jumping between platforms for different tasks, employees can complete project management, form submissions, and collaboration within the same environment where they access company information.

Centralized governance

Content ownership, update processes, and security policies apply consistently across your entire digital workplace instead of varying by platform or department.

Measurable engagement

Purpose-built intranets provide unified analytics to understand employee engagement, what’s working, and what needs improvement.

How to start planning for a new intranet

Step 1: Audit your current state Document every platform, site, and system employees use for work related information and collaboration. Map out information flows and identify duplications.

Step 2: Define requirements Based on how work actually happens in your organization, specify what your unified intranet needs to accomplish. Talk to various department and stakeholders, and include both technical requirements and user experience goals.

Step 3: Choose an intranet platform Select an intranet solution that consolidates your existing tools and content rather than adding another layer. The goal is simplification, not complexity. Working with an experienced intranet software company like ThoughtFarmer will give you peace of mind, as you can lean on their deep expertise and best practices to help you along in this whole process.

Step 4: Plan migration carefully Be sure to plan your launch and transition involving multiple departments and offices, and schedule training sessions to ensure everyone is well-versed on the new platform.

The bottom line

If your employees are frustrated with your “intranet,” struggling to find information, or defaulting to email for everything, you probably don’t have a true functional intranet at all.

A strategic intranet makes employee recognition, engagement, and productivity measurably better.

Ready to transform your digital workplace? Start by honestly assessing whether your current collection of tools truly serves employee needs, or if it’s time to invest in a platform that will better set your team up for success.

Discover the best intranet software for your organization, request a ThoughtFarmer demo today

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