Wafa B. • Are you interested in Open Source solutions? eXo Platform for example http://exoplatform.com
I can help you with this part (contact me by email wafa.besbes@exoplatform.com)

Dana L. • No, sorry. We won't be implementing any open source solutions. But thank you for the suggestion.

Alex M. • Hi Dana,

Have you got a good idea of what specific features you need and their use cases/scenarios, an understanding of their complexity, interfaces etc? Comparing spec sheets is not necessarily the best way to decide if a platform is right. Also beware that SharePoint is typically coupled with a bunch of other tools to make it strong in any one area. I.e. Newsgator is frequently used to augment the still pretty average social features in SP2010.

Dan L. • We are using Sitefinity CMS for our Intranet. The Telerik RadTools are installed, so we used the RadDock to create our customizable homepage to expose various data, forms, etc.

Nigel W. • Hi Dana,

We use Interact and it is superb, takes very little bespoking and on their on going support is excellent. It's an all in one solution so takes out any interoperability issues a lot of companies suffer from.

Lucy S. • Hi Dana
Funnily enough I am running a similar thread in our IBF LinkedIn and Yammer groups. I found a blog post this morning from Andrew Wright, Worldwide Intranet Challenge @ http://bit.ly/kpRBHc which makes an interesting read. The article includes a list of suggested alternative intranet platforms.

Pierrick G. • I am currently looking at both SharePoint 2010 and Oracle Web Center
=>leveraging the "out of the box" as much as we can, the easiness of creating API for standard interactions with DB and SAP is the priority
=>regarding the templates and/or web parts, SP2010 has already demonstated great capabilities without customization required... :)

Alex M. • Pierrick, I have to say I find it an odd concept when people look to leverage SharePoint 'out of the box'. It's pretty average out of the box, choosing it can't be a cost thing because it's about one of the most expensive platforms per user, and it's really not that feasible to keep it 'vanilla' for long.... but, lots of people still go for it. :-)

Nigel W. • I agree with Alex, I've met far more disgruntled SharePoint Intranet Managers than most other platforms. Typically it is a solution which seems to have been bought by IT because it is a Microsoft product - cue the age old adage "you can't be sacked for buying Microsoft". However I've seen a few sites on SharePoint which look excellent, typically though these have been bespoked to the nth degee and certainly weren't fresh from the box.

I guess the other challenge we face as Intranet workers when looking for a new solution is it doesn't matter how fancy your technology is, if the culture isn't there within your business to use it to its potential it will sit there gathering dust as a glorified Employee Directory and lunch menu.

Magnus Alexander B. • Totally agree with both Alex and Nigel. Creating amazing intranets demands full support from senior management in every department and is more about culture than IT. I believe the worst intranets I've seen are based on out-of-the-box products that are based on top-down structures making the lunch menu and employee directory the only visited parts.

We work mainly with EPiServer, it is based on .NET technology.
By using the Relate package, that contain both CMS and quite sophisticated Community functionality, you make the intranet social. Then most needs can be specified individually, just like a community that is bottom-up driven. If your business rely heavily on document management there are also plugins for interacting with pretty much all Sharepoint functionality.

Andrew W. • I have written a blog post that lists a few alternatives to SharePoint. It also references another LinkedIn discussion where many people provided comments about their intranet technology.

What alternatives are there to Sharepoint for an intranet?
http://cibasolutions.typepad.com/wic/2011/06/what-alternatives-are-there-to-sharepoint-for-an-intranet.html

Pierrick G. • @Nigel/AlexMagnus: thansk for your input ... fully agree, the main point on intranet is not the technology but the users (their IT skills) and the culture they have
=>in my case, we do not have a proper "content management solution" yet, and the organization is not yet educated tagging content - SharePoint has proliferated in past years and we now look at total strategy to structure the information architecture...

Nigel W. • It can be like herding kittens sometimes Pierrick when trying to get everything in place but well worth it when you get there. Good luck, I guess the challenge is bigger than most given the size of P&G.

Lars P. • Hi Dana
When you say "We won't be implementing any Open Source solutions" what is the rationale behind it? E.g. 1) You don't believe in the business model 2) You focus on a specific platform 3) You have considerations about solution providers 4) Bad experiences from prior projects...

Would you consider an Open Source product with a Closed Source option?

Karyn P. • You may want to consider Newsgator which is a managed service that sits on top of Sharepoint. It's got a great UI and really address the social features that Sharepoint is missing.

Lucy S. • Hi Dana I think researching the CMS options is straightforward enough. I would say that your choice will be influenced by:

- Budget
- Intranet teams previous experience
- IT proficiency of your content contributors
- Existing contracts (it may be an upgrade rather than replacement)
- Operating environment (browser version, security settings, hardware...)
- Business relationships (your CEO might have a vendor buddy)

In the past I have:
- Researched a maximum of 6
- Built a requirements matrix (list of features; following intranet survey, user testing, senior interviews, feedback etc)
- Asked each vendor to come in to pitch
- Asked each vendor to set up a test environment for me (4 - 6 weeks)
- Spent time testing each product
- Reduced my list of options, involving my publishing community and IT with detailed testing.

It takes time but helps to sell the benefits and ensure you chose the right product.

Alex M. • This is a great list, Lucy, and if this is straightforward, I'd hate to see what you thought was complex. :-)

John H. • We are using Plone. Any thoughts?

Lars P. • Plone is (a great) Open Source WCMS for some types of Intranet, but apparently Open Source WCMS is NOT an option (?)

Matt H. • John: We have implemented Plone as an intranet for a number of large organisations and it really does work out very well. Its key strengths are flexibility and its authentication (it is also a very easy system for end users to use). I have to admit none of those deployments have been 'out of the box' as such, as the true value is really integrating further into the business. For instance we have built for one client a very industry-specific system for cataloguing all of their radio and tv advertising worldwide.