Why Microsoft 365 isn’t your intranet (and what to do instead)

If your organization relies on Microsoft 365 every day, the idea of using it as your intranet may seem like a no–brainer. But what sounds logical often runs into real-world friction: frustrated users, hidden costs, and tech that feels disjointed, not connected.

So let’s unpack why “just using Microsoft 365” rarely works long-term – and what to consider instead.

Things feel simple, until they don’t

You’ve seen it before:

An internal comms lead posts an announcement in SharePoint, only for employees to say they missed it because it didn’t land in Teams.
A deskless employee asks, “Where’s that policy again?” because files are scattered across SharePoint hubs, Teams folders, and unread email chains.
Your IT team spends hours tweaking navigation, permissions, and templates, instead of publishing content or improving engagement.

On paper, building an intranet with Microsoft 365 feels efficient. In reality, you’re stitching together tools that were never designed to function as one cohesive employee experience.

And yet, when you ask leaders why everyone defaults to Microsoft, the answer is the same: “Everyone already has it, and it feels cost-effective.”

The tools are undeniably powerful, but expecting them to magically click into place as a working intranet is wishful thinking. Here’s why:

1. Hidden costs

The misleading price tag of “free”

SharePoint may come included in your Microsoft 365 license, but the real costs show up in the hours, expertise, and complexity needed to make it work.

What looks “included” often requires extra development, integration, and training. Analytics may mean Power BI Pro licenses; UX fixes often need custom development. Governance requires documentation, ownership models, and regular audits. Someone has to maintain it all.

Gartner actually estimates that users could spend €6–€9 for every €1 they spend on the license fee.

And those costs aren’t just financial. There’s opportunity cost. Every hour IT spends fixing navigation or troubleshooting permissions is an hour not spent on security improvements or strategic innovation. Every hour comms spends explaining where to find information is an hour not spent crafting meaningful content.

What looks “free” in your contract can cost tens of thousands – if not more – when you account for ongoing configuration, governance, and training.

2. Fragmentation

The fragmentation headache nobody asked for

At its core, Microsoft 365 isn’t an intranet—it’s a suite of siloed tools under one roof. That means users often jump between Teams, SharePoint, Viva Engage, and Outlook—and lose track of where things live.

Some real consequences:

Teams, SharePoint, and Viva each use different navigation logic. Breadcrumbs don’t translate across apps.
Search results vary depending on where you search from.
Branding and tone shift subtly from tool to tool.

For a knowledge worker at a desk, that’s inconvenient. For a frontline employee on mobile, it’s often a dealbreaker.

Out-of-the-box SharePoint UX is often generic and confusing, especially for non-desk employees. Recent digital workplace benchmarks show that while a large majority of employees (93%) access their intranet during work periods, time spent on intranet platforms tends to be very brief — averaging under six minutes per day. This highlights how critical it is for an intranet to deliver clear, easy-to-find content quickly, or users will leave before finding what they need.

Without a clear single entry point, employees create workarounds: bookmarked folders, saved links, or simply asking colleagues.

That’s not a digital workplace. That’s survival mode.

It’s one thing to work in Microsoft for documents and chat. It’s another to expect an intranet with Microsoft 365 to deliver a cohesive, branded, people-first experience.

3. Usability

Employees get lost, or just give up

If employees can’t find the latest policy, don’t expect them to keep asking. They’ll just shrug, ask a colleague, or ignore it altogether. That’s disengagement, not adoption.

Some eye-openers from research and experience:

Stale or irrelevant content turns intranets into graveyards instead of living hubs. Employees stop trusting and stop logging in.
Most intranet visitors use mobile, but SharePoint’s mobile experience is often clunky or inconsistent across sites.
Poor UX means employees struggle with basic tasks – like finding a doc or opening a page – and often fail completely.

Recent engagement studies indicate that intranet adoption rates vary widely: some organisations see active usage as high as ~87%, while others don’t surpass ~40% engagement. Adoption improves substantially when the intranet experience is tailored, intuitive, and integrated into daily workflows — something a basic intranet with Microsoft 365 often fails to deliver on its own.

Multiply that across hundreds or thousands of employees. The productivity loss becomes enormous.

But the bigger issue is cultural. When communication feels hard to access, leadership feels distant. When updates feel scattered, strategy feels unclear. The intranet isn’t just a tool—it shapes how connected people feel to the organization.

If that’s your reality, you know the outcome: disengaged teams, missed updates, and intranet fatigue across the organization.

When does Microsoft 365 work as an intranet?

To be fair, there are times when Microsoft 365 works:

If you have a strong IT team and strict governance, basic communication can work via SharePoint + Teams + Outlook setup.
The tools are familiar to most staff, and licensing feels straightforward.
Security, compliance, and ecosystem alignment are Microsoft-grade, especially vital in regulated industries.

For small organizations with simple needs, this may be enough.

But the advantages are technical. For real engagement, you need something that feels built for people. Built to engage, not just share.

What employee engagement really looks like

Here’s how to tell when you’ve created something better:

That’s the kind of everyday experience you want, and it’s surprisingly rare in Microsoft-only builds.

Final thoughts for IT and comms teams

There’s no shame in using what you already have. But you do need to know what you’re really signing up for.

If your purely Microsoft intranet feels heavy, fragmented, or just… uninspiring, that’s not failure. It’s just that your ambitions go further.

An intranet should reduce complexity, not mirror it. It should bring clarity, not replicate silos. And it should meet employees where they are, not expect them to navigate a maze of tools.

FAQs on your intranet with Microsoft 365

1. Can Microsoft 365 be used as an intranet?

Yes — but with limitations. You can build an intranet with Microsoft 365 using SharePoint, Teams, and Viva. The challenge isn’t capability; it’s cohesion. These tools weren’t designed as one unified employee experience. Without strong governance, custom development, and ongoing maintenance, things quickly become fragmented. For basic document storage and announcements, it may work. For engagement, clarity, and ease of use across the whole workforce, it often falls short.

2. Why do employees struggle with an intranet built on Microsoft 365?

Most issues come down to fragmentation and usability. Content lives in different places. Navigation changes between tools. Search results vary depending on where you start. For desk-based staff, that’s frustrating. For frontline or mobile workers, it’s often a dealbreaker. If employees can’t quickly find what they need, they stop trying — and adoption drops. An intranet with Microsoft 365 requires careful structuring to avoid becoming a maze.

3. Is using Microsoft 365 as an intranet really cost-effective?

It can look that way at first. Licensing is already in place, and SharePoint feels “included.” But the real costs show up in customization, governance, analytics add-ons, training, and IT time. Many organizations underestimate the internal resources needed to maintain it long term. What starts as a budget-friendly solution can become expensive when you factor in hidden complexity and lost productivity.

4. What’s the alternative to a Microsoft-only intranet?

For many organizations, the sweet spot is keeping Microsoft 365 as the infrastructure — but adding a dedicated intranet platform on top. That way, you maintain security and ecosystem alignment while creating a unified, engaging experience employees actually want to use. Instead of replacing Microsoft, you enhance it with a solution built specifically for communication, usability, and engagement.

How can Haiilo help?

Haiilo combines intranet, advocacy, and insights into one effortless experience, helping you to strengthen teams, get more done, and build a digital workplace where people stay and succeed.

That means…

It also means:

• One clear entry point for communication

• Seamless Microsoft integration without the fragmentation

• Mobile-first access for every employee

• Built-in analytics without extra licensing

• Governance that supports comms instead of slowing it down

Microsoft 365 remains your backbone. Haiilo becomes the experience layer that turns it into something people actually want to use.

And that’s the difference between having tools… and having an intranet that truly works.

Because when your workplace is connected, great things happen.

💡Read: How Haiilo delivers real business impact