Fall in love with communication

Valo’s Low-maintenance, User-friendly Intranet Proves the Smart Choice for Lab Provider

US laboratory provider SmartLabs needed a low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet that would reflect their fast-growing business and provide a communication and collaboration hub for employees.

Starting Point

Although SmartLabs were already using the Microsoft 365 collaboration suite, including SharePoint, they weren’t using it at full capacity. They had documents in different locations, from shared drives to desktops, and no central hub for communication and collaboration.

The team needed a solution which would allow them to make the most of their existing software, creating a low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet with an on-brand look and feel.

Solution

The SmartLabs team were keen to use their existing Microsoft 365 suite of tools, yet it soon became clear that custom coding SharePoint was not going to provide the exciting user experience that the company wanted.

It has been recommended using Valo Intranet as its customizable templates could produce this on-brand look and feel, as well as the low-maintenance, user-friendly intranet that SmartLabs were looking for.

Benefits

• Built on top of SharePoint
• Customizable templates for on-brand look and feel
• Low maintenance, easy-to-use intranet
• Central hub for communication and collaboration
• Valo Fresh subscription for peace of mind

A collaboration hub for a growing business.

Valo has helped SmartLabs create an inspiring intranet that looks and feels on brand.

Valo Intranet’s customizable templates have allowed them to do this, creating a dynamic collaboration hub where colleagues can come together, share documents and discover company news in a “familiar” branded space.

One of SmartLab’s key requirements for their intranet was for each department to own their own content with minimal input from the IT department. This has been achieved due to Valo’s user-friendly templates and toolbox.

But SmartLab’s Valo Intranet isn’t just easy to update, it’s also easy to use and has quickly become the communication and collaboration hub that the company intended. Since the intranet launched, user adoption has increased, not least during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite much of the team working remotely, they know exactly where to access information rather than having to ask colleagues to send documents via email, or saving them to local drives.

On-premises Intranet On SharePoint for One of America’s Best Hospitals

University Health System needed to replace its ageing intranet with a modern on-premises intranet on SharePoint.

Starting Point:

University Health System was using an old intranet on SharePoint 2010 with no interactivity. On top of this its search function didn’t work effectively because the metadata, key words and documents had not been kept up-to-date.

So, University Health System wanted to upgrade to a more modern, interactive platform. They wanted it to be a destination for staff as opposed to a difficult tool they had to try and use. This need became even more critical at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Solution:

University Health System wanted a new interactive intranet built on SharePoint 2019. The system needed to be robust enough to handle more than 11,000 client connections. The platform had to remain on premises, but it still needed to have the features of a world-class content management system.

It also had to be customizable and be a low/no-code solution for content so business units didn’t have to rely on University Health System IT staff for day-to-day content updates.

Benefits:

• The news feature allows for stories to be promoted to hero element on the home page
• The events feature allows each content editor to add, amend or update events, which has been vital during the lockdown period
• The video element allows the user to embed from YouTube or Vimeo, which can be frequently updated
• They love the look and feel of the People Finder feature
• Content is made easy with pre-built templates’ drag and drop function

University Health System is one of the largest employers in Bexar County, with nearly 10,000 employees, 1,200 plus physicians and resident physicians, and an operating budget of $2 billion in 2020.

It has a network of more than two dozen outpatient primary care, speciality, preventive health and school-based health centers. In addition, it was the first health organization in South Texas to earn Magnet status from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, granted to only about six percent of US hospitals.

As a health system with one hospital but more than 30 clinics spread across Bexar County and San Antonio, Texas, communication is multi-layered and has to reach a wide audience. This includes physicians and physician partners, nursing and clinical staff members, administrative and IT, as well as front-line staff such as environmental services, facilities management and nutrition services.

As a communication platform, their old intranet was outdated. Staff disliked using the old intranet as it was incredibly hard to navigate or search. Therefore, University Health System began looking to upgrade to a modern on-premises intranet on SharePoint.

Valo Intranet Creates A Digital Space to Centralize Information and Corporate Communication

Nutrien Ag Solutions' wanted to create a digital space that would centralize all the information colleagues and content creators needed in three Agro-centers: Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Valo Intranet was put in place within one month.

Starting Point

Nutrien Ag Solutions‘ former intranet platform was not user-friendly. It was difficult to maintain and complex to publish content. Plus, Nutrien Ag Solutions wanted to move their communications and file sharing away from e-mail, shared files, and file servers.

Nutrien Ag Solutions were therefore looking for a new intranet that would not only enable accurate, efficient, and friendly centralized communication, the platform should also allow for easy information sharing amongst three Agro-centers.

Solution

To solve their need, they worked together with a local Valo Partner, who recommended and installed Valo Intranet. They customized Valo according to Nutrien Ag Solutions’ requirements and branding.

Benefits

By establishing the intranet system, Nutrien was able to centralize its communications and align its teams in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, with the following benefits:

• Simplified access to information for all collaborators
• A trustworthy environment where all company communications are hosted
• Reduced reliance on e-mails
• Expanded the engagement of collaborators with the brand
• Shared their training and newsletters dedicated to the teams in a centralized digital space
• Generated greater interaction between employees

From decentralized to centralized communications

Nutrien Ag Solutions employs 20,000 people globally, generating operations and investments in 14 countries. On top of that, Nutrien has Agro-centers in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay with 600 employees. One of Nutrien Ag Solutions’ key priorities was to offer everyone in the Agro-Centers a centralized communications platform that they could access from anywhere, with the aim of aligning communication between the three South American countries. Not only did they want to consolidate information and centralize communications, they wanted to move away from using e-mail, shared files, and file servers.

After analyzing several alternatives, they opted for Valo Intranet due to its integration with Microsoft 365.

Self-Service Intranet Cures Hospital’s Digital Transformation Ailments

St Luke’s Care was looking to begin its digital transformation with a self-service intranet that would improve internal communications and access to key information.

Starting Point

Staff at Sydney-based St Luke’s Care were almost entirely reliant on meetings and print outs for their internal communications and information sharing. There was also a disconnect between information available to desk-based staff and those on the front line.

The not-for-profit organization was looking to start its digital transformation journey with an intranet that would remove this disconnect, improving internal communications and access to information for all employees.

The organization was also keen to achieve this in a user-friendly way that wouldn’t require a lot of training or input from IT, creating a self-service intranet for both content creators and users.

Solution

The local Valo Partner recommended Valo Intranet because its user-friendly interface, built on top of SharePoint, would offer the self-service intranet that St Luke’s Care was looking for. The Valo Mobile app would also allow frontline staff easy, instant access to information and updates.

Plus, as a not-for-profit organisation, St Luke’s Care (SLC) was eligible for Valo’s discount pricing, which made Valo Intranet very affordable.

Benefits

• Fresh on-brand look and feel
• Built on SharePoint and compatible with Microsoft 365 collaboration suite
• Easy-to-use self-service intranet
• Centralized access to news and information 
• Valo’s charity pricing for non-profits

Previously, internal communications and policy documents had been largely paper-based. So one of the key objectives for St Luke’s Care was to create a central place for company news, updates and policies that could be accessed by all employees.

Before Valo, if employees needed access to policy documents, they would have to speak to the HR department to arrange for a printout. Also, team meetings used to be the main way that company news was communicated, which relied on employees being present.

The new Valo Intranet has proved extremely timesaving for all employees. Key company news is now accessible directly from the homepage and notifications also alert employees to new content.

Quick to Deploy Intranet-in-a-box on SharePoint Key for Supporting Company Rebrand 

Finnish energy solutions company Alva was looking for an intranet-in-a-box on SharePoint that could be ready in time to support their company-wide rebrand. Key objectives were to improve internal communications and information management.

Starting Point

With a company rebrand under way, Alva needed a new intranet to reflect their new branding and fast. Due to changing requirements, their existing on-premises, custom intranet no longer served their needs. Therefore, the decision was taken to renew all internal communications channels and to transition using a third party tool called M-Files for information management.

Solution 

With their existing intranet based on SharePoint, Alva was looking for a solution that kept them within the Microsoft ecosystem.

It could be quickly and easily deployed, meeting the rebranding project’s tight deadline. Plus, Valo Intranet can be integrated with third party solutions such as M-Files.

The cloud-based Valo Intranet would also ensure accessibility for remote workers as well as site-based staff.

Once Valo Intranet was up and running, Valo Teamwork was later deployed to manage the organization’s group lifecycle and facilitate communication between project groups.

Benefits

• Intranet-in-a-box solution quick and easy to deploy
• Cloud-based solution for greater accessibility
• Customizable intranet reflects look and feel of new branding
• Compatible with Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams & third party tools
• User-friendly platform puts control in the hands of content creators

Reflecting the new branding was one of Alva’s key objectives in launching the new intranet. In fact, the new Valo Intranet launched on the same day as the new branding. This really helped communicate the change to employees, which in turn reinforced the new brand. 

Investment in Valo’s Easy-to-use Intranet Pays Off with Improved Internal Comms and Customer Service

Finnish Savings Bank OmaSp wanted an easy-to-use intranet to make information easier to find in customer service situations and content easier to create, so they invested in Valo.

Starting Point

When OmaSp began looking for a replacement for their clunky, inaccessible intranet they had two objectives. Firstly, they wanted a well-structured, easy-to-use intranet where information could be found quickly and easily by colleagues and when serving customers.

Secondly, they wanted content creation to be much quicker and easier for their team of content creators. Together, these objectives would make a huge difference to the whole team, as well as their customers.

Solution

With OmaSp’s existing intranet built on an older version of SharePoint, they were keen to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem by upgrading to a newer version of SharePoint. When Valo’s Finnish partner, Blue Meteorite, showed OmaSp a demo of Valo Intranet, they knew it was the right choice for them.

Benefits

• Compatible with Microsoft 365 collaboration suite, including SharePoint
• Highly-secure, cloud-based platform
• Easy-to-find information increases productivity
• Quick and easy content creation
• Improved internal communications leads to increased engagement

Quicker, easier content creation

OmaSp is a growing Finnish bank and the largest savings bank in Finland based on total assets. About 300 professionals provide nationwide services through OmaSp’s 32 branch offices and digital service channels to 140,000 private and corporate customers.

One of OmaSp’s main objectives for their new intranet was to make content creation much easier for the team of 10-20 content creators. These content creators are based mainly across their communications, IT and business departments.

Where content creation had previously been slow and complicated, the team has noticed how much easier it is using Valo. In particular, the Valo Toolbox, an icon that follows you on every page, can be used to create and edit content quickly and easily.

Improved Employee Communication and Satisfaction with Valo

Dexcom is a continuous glucose monitoring company based on San Diego, California. They serve the diabetic community around the world. The driving force behind the new intranet project was the need for improved employee communication that connected all employees across the globe.

Dexcom is a rapidly growing company which recently opened new offices outside the US with numerous remote employees. With all that combined they needed to improve both employee communications and employee productivity to foster rapid growth.

Why Valo?

Valo provides a ready-to-go intranet solution built on SharePoint which enabled Dexcom to leverage their existing investment in SharePoint and achieve a quick return-on-investment.

Valo Intranet offers a full suite of features that enabled Dexcom to reach all employees around the world and on any device.

Also, the Valo People Finder makes it easy to find the right person by name or expertise and reduced the time it took to find that person; geographic barriers no longer matter.

Dexcom utilized the Valo Survey feature to incorporate feedback into their ongoing employee user experience testing after launching Valo. 

Dexcom received a great response from employees. Dexcom achieved a 25% reduction in the time it took employees to complete common tasks on the new Valo intranet, 23% reduction in the number of clicks to complete the employee task, and finally a 305 % improvement in employee satisfaction. 

Other significant advantages were easy to follow layout and design, things were easy to find, intranet works on mobile devices, and employees can quickly get to all their other Office 365 apps from the intranet.

Valo’s innovative intranet solution improves information sharing

Elevations Credit Union needed a brand-new intranet to support their company culture that embraces community, innovation, and collaboration.

Starting Point:

Colorado-based Elevations Credit Union wanted a new intranet to be an engaging, easy-to-update one-stop shop for documents, news, information, content, and social activity.

The challenge was to give their staff easy access to view and share information, as well as distribute most employee communications using a channel other than direct email.

Solution:

As Elevations Credit Union wanted an innovative intranet that would make sharing information and news much easier, Valo’s local Partner suggested Valo Intranet. It’s a modern, highly collaborative and social platform.

Benefits:

• Valo Intranet is now used for all low-urgency company-wide communications, reducing the number of stand-alone emails
• Staff can publish content easily and engage with others
• Past news articles and key dates can be found quickly
• Employees have their finger on the pulse of the company all the time – in one simple portal

From clunky to intuitive and innovative intranet

Headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, US with about 550 employees, Elevations Credit Union is a mission-focused organization with members, not customers.

Elevations believes in having a solid community and communication ethos; therefore, employee engagement is genuinely important to them.

Their old intranet was built more than 12 years ago on legacy technology and was literally a splash page with links, making it difficult to highlight or prioritize special content. As a result, they were relying heavily on email to communicate key internal messages.

They began looking for an innovative intranet tool to unify their 550+ workforce and make their working life more efficient. As they were already using SharePoint, and were due an Office 365 upgrade, Valo Intranet was the perfect choice. Staff did not have to learn an entirely new system, which meant keeping it simple and intuitive to use.

Valo’s self-service intranet reduces reliance on email and increases engagement

Gerald R. Ford International Airport, the largest commercial airport in the West Michigan region, US, needed a first-time intranet to reduce their over-reliance on email and to restore engagement among team members.

Starting Point:

Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GFIA) was looking to install an intranet that would help them move them away from using email as the main form of communication between colleagues.

Over the years, the volume of internal emails had increased dramatically. Shared documents were in varying locations.

With a staff of 115, they wanted to improve their internal communication in a cost-effective and efficient way.

Solution:

GFIA approached a Michigan-based Valo Partner, with a screenshot of what they wanted their intranet to look like.

Valo Intranet has been recommended as 90 per cent of what they were asking for was found in Valo’s capabilities.

Benefits:

• Cost effective intranet-in-a-box solution
• Quick and easy to deploy
• Reduced volume of emails being sent
• Self-service intranet put in the hands of content people instead of IT
• User-friendly Valo has engaged previously “off-line” colleagues

GFIA had recently migrated to Office 365 (O365) which had opened up the possibility of using SharePoint as an intranet.

However, their Marketing and HR teams didn’t really know how to get the most from these new systems without involving the IT department.

So, one of their main requirements for a new intranet solution was that it should allow colleagues to self-serve, to add content and maintain it on their own without technical support.

In addition, GFIA wanted to use an intranet to reduce the volume of emails being sent internally. They were looking for a better way to engage with their staff and share information important to them. Also this has been provided via Valo Intranet as it has a simple, easy to use, friendly interface, which is perfect for users looking to self-serve without the need for IT support.