If you still think using SharePoint as a standalone intranet in 2024 is the best approach, it might be time to reconsider. While SharePoint offers strong document management and Microsoft 365 connectivity, many organizations discover that relying on it alone for the full intranet experience can create challenges over time.

When building a modern digital workplace, you need modern intranet tools working together. The right software and the right integrations. SharePoint can play an important role in the ecosystem, but organizations often benefit from layering a purpose-built intranet platform like Intranet Connections (IC) on top of their existing Microsoft environment.

Here’s where SharePoint alone can fall short — and where a dedicated intranet platform can help fill the gaps.

Limited Customization Options

SharePoint’s customization capabilities can be limiting for businesses that need a platform tailored to their specific operations and employee experience goals. While it provides templates and foundational functionality, many organizations find it difficult to create an intranet that truly reflects their culture, workflows, and communication needs without significant development effort.

This is where platforms like Intranet Connections complement SharePoint well — giving organizations more flexibility to create engaging, branded experiences while still leveraging their Microsoft ecosystem.

High Costs and Resource Requirements

SharePoint can become expensive to implement and maintain, not just in licensing costs but in the resources required to run it effectively. Companies often find themselves needing SharePoint specialists for setup, governance, customization, and troubleshooting. In many cases, internal IT teams are left managing a time-consuming platform instead of focusing on strategic initiatives.

A dedicated intranet platform can reduce that burden by providing a more turnkey employee experience layer while still integrating with SharePoint and Microsoft 365 tools behind the scenes.

Challenges Integrating Beyond the Microsoft Ecosystem

Many businesses rely on a diverse mix of software solutions, and SharePoint does not always integrate seamlessly outside the Microsoft ecosystem. This can create inefficiencies and disconnected workflows for employees.

For example, syncing issues between SharePoint, OneDrive, and File Explorer can lead to frustration and reduced productivity. Organizations often look for intranet platforms that unify communication, resources, and integrations more cohesively across the digital workplace.

Limited Employee Engagement Features

One of the biggest limitations of relying solely on SharePoint as an intranet is the employee engagement experience. Modern intranets are expected to support communication, culture, recognition, collaboration, and knowledge sharing in intuitive ways.

While SharePoint offers collaboration capabilities, many organizations find its social and engagement tools too limited to drive meaningful adoption and interaction across the company. Platforms like Intranet Connections are designed specifically to create more engaging employee experiences layered alongside existing Microsoft tools.

Scalability Challenges

As businesses grow, so do their communication needs, governance requirements, and content complexity. SharePoint may work well as a foundational platform, but scaling it into a fully functional intranet experience often requires increasing administrative oversight, customization, and support.

Organizations looking for long-term scalability frequently pair SharePoint with a dedicated intranet solution that can simplify communication and employee access while still leveraging Microsoft infrastructure underneath.

Security and Governance Considerations

Security and compliance are critical considerations for every organization. Microsoft provides strong enterprise-grade security capabilities, but because SharePoint is part of such a large ecosystem, governance and configuration can quickly become complex.

Organizations in regulated industries often require additional governance, content targeting, and communication controls that purpose-built intranet platforms are designed to support more directly.

Mobile Experience Expectations

Today’s workforce expects seamless access across devices. While SharePoint offers mobile functionality, the employee experience can sometimes feel inconsistent or difficult to navigate compared to platforms designed specifically for internal communications and employee engagement.

A dedicated intranet platform can provide a more streamlined mobile experience while still connecting employees to SharePoint-hosted content and resources.

Slow Innovation and Updates

In the tech world, standing still is moving backwards. SharePoint’s innovation cycle can be slow, leaving you steps behind the latest trends and tools. It’s like using last year’s smartphone; it works, but you’re missing out on the latest features that could make a real difference in efficiency and productivity.

Performance Issues with Large File Volumes

Managing massive amounts of files with SharePoint can prove to be challenging. Users are hitting a wall with nearly 300k files clogging the workflow. The result? It’s more than just a nuisance; it’s a productivity nightmare. Crashes, endless “Looking for changes” loops that leaves employees watching spinning wheels instead of completing tasks. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a serious impediment to the daily operations of any business, and it’s a clear-cut case of a tool that isn’t up to the task at hand.

Challenges in Permission Management

In a setup where access needs to be meticulously defined across various levels and groups, SharePoint can become overwhelming. The complexities multiply when you’re trying to implement a structure that’s both granular and broad, providing tailored access through a cascade of group memberships. It’s not just about setting permissions; it’s about foreseeing how these permissions interact and overlap. 

Complex and Unintuitive Site Management

For those new to the platform, the experience can feel overwhelming. Ideally, a newly created site should be easy to find and access. However, these sites tend to blend into the background of SharePoint’s complex structure, making them difficult to spot. One might think that being the owner of a site would mean it’s readily accessible, but that’s not the case. 

These sites don’t just pop up in your SharePoint list; you have to actively search for them. Finding a new site often means hunting down the correct URL, a frustrating endeavor that can make even the toughest IT veteran feel lost.

Inefficient Permission Setting and Group Management

SharePoint’s insistence on using its own Office 365 groups throws you off course. It’s a tug-of-war between the familiar, structured world of AD groups and the new terrain of Office 365 groups that SharePoint champions. 

Even when you navigate to the advanced security settings—the compass by which you hope to chart your course—you’re met with a baffling scenario: groups that disappear or are mislabeled, settings that don’t stick the first, second, or even third time they’re applied. It’s a dance of adding, refreshing, and re-adding that