Our old intranet was no longer cutting it

The features of the social intranet suit Boom’s mission. ‘We strive for high-quality information provision. To achieve this goal, our internal information provision must be up to par’, says project manager Michiel de Jong. ‘Reason enough to go in search of a new, modern, and more importantly, social platform.’

For Boom’s old intranet, hierarchy and one-way information traffic were central. The intranet had standard functionalities, like an electronic phone book, a corporate news function, and simple document management. The platform was only used by the employees at the Meppel location. This needed to change. With Viadesk, Boom found the social intranet that connected people in a low-threshold way, for better collaboration and optimal knowledge-sharing.

Beyond walls, projects and work groups

Michiel de Jong: ‘The social intranet must essentially be inviting and enticing. It must be accessible and easily used by all. At three levels:

1. From the holding, for everyone
2. From and for the operating companies and departments
3. Beyond interrelations and departmental boundaries

Based on this criteria and based on a comprehensive Request for Proposal, Boom sought and found the perfect partner for its new social intranet, in Viadesk. ‘Our choice for Viadesk is based on many aspects, but perhaps the most important one is their exact understanding of what we wanted. Viadesk enabled us to experience what we had longed for, right away.’

Transparent and practical

‘The Viadesk social intranet is better than our old one, in so many ways,’ says De Jong. It is a platform that our employees enjoy using. Mostly because information has become relevant, documents are easy to find, and knowledge-sharing has truly become possible. No matter which location you work at, everyone has access, and anyone can create groups or publish information. This makes the organisation transparent: everyone is visible to everyone.

Synergy and solidarity

According to De Jong, Boom’s new social intranet is more than a mere platform for collaboration. ‘It brings synergy into the organisation and creates a sense of solidarity that goes beyond document-sharing and the posting of responses. It is all about the ”Boom people”, whether you work in Meppel or in Amsterdam. This brings about a new way of working which is simpler, low-threshold, and incredibly effective.’