Creation of an intranet or extranet

A well-designed intranet or extranet is not just a “private mini website”.
It is single entry point to your organisation's critical information, tools and processes:

• employees (intranet),
• customers, partners, distributors, franchisees (extranet),
• networks, subsidiaries, business ecosystems.

Evolurise designs and develops customised intranet and extranet portals based on:

• robust CMSs (WordPress, Drupal),
• specific developments (PHP/JS, business web applications),
• secure architecture (SSO, granular rights management, managed hosting).

Objective: centralise, secure and simplify access to your key resources and processes.

Typical context: what does it look like before the project?

In most of the “intranet/extranet” projects we launch, we encounter the same landscape:

• Scattered documents (file servers, emails, unstructured shared spaces).
• Internal information distributed by email, difficult to find after a few weeks.
• Multiple business tools (CRM, ERP, ticketing, HR tools, etc.) without a unified entry point.
• Partner access managed “manually” (sending documents, shared links, conflicting versions).

Result:

• waste of time to retrieve the information,
• uncertainty on “the correct version” of a document,
• unprofessional experience for partners/customers on the extranet,
• security risks related to unauthorised sharing.

The objective of the project: overturn this logic and set up a clear, secure, scalable portal.

Intranet, extranet: what are the challenges for businesses?

A customised intranet or extranet must address several challenges simultaneously:

For employees (intranet)

• Quickly access key information : news, procedures, HR, everyday tools.
• Easily find documents, templates, and internal contacts.
• Engage teams through a collaborative portal : news, polls, team spaces.

For partners/customers/networks (extranet)

• Have a up-to-date resource base (catalogues, technical documents, prices, marketing materials, etc.).
• Having a single point of access for requests, orders, tickets, reporting.
• Share information in a way that secure, with specific rights per profile.

For management & IT

• Better govern access (SSO, directory, roles, scopes).
• Reduce the reliance on email communication.
• Capitalise on data: know who is using what, what content is being viewed, and which workflows are causing bottlenecks.

Our response: an intranet/extranet portal designed as a product, not just a simple “private website”.”

Rather than delivering a static intranet, Evolurise designs your portal as a digital product in their own right.

Typical functional bricks

Depending on the context, we combine:

• Personalised welcome (by profile):
  • relevant news,
  • shortcuts to the tools used,
  • business indicators or widgets.
• Structured document database :
  • document libraries,
  • advanced search,
  • version management,
  • access rights by file/type.
• Directory & photo directory :
  • employee records,
  • services/departments,
  • simplified organisational chart.
• Internal forms and workflows :
  • HR, IT, purchasing, validation requests,
  • approval circuits,
  • automatic notifications.
• Dedicated extranet area (if required) :
  • partner portals, customers, distributors,
  • provision of customised media,
  • tracking requests, orders, incidents.
• Connect to your existing tools :
  • CRM, ERP, HR tools, ticketing, BI, etc.
  • deep links, integrations, web services, APIs.

Optionally, we can integrate AI layers (internal assistant, augmented search, intelligent FAQ) when the project is mature enough.

Technical architecture: WordPress, Drupal or business application?

The technological choice depends on:

• the level of complexity of your user profiles and rights,
• volumes (number of users, types of content),
• IT integration requirements.

We mainly use:

WordPress (fast and structured intranets/extranets)

• Suitable for intranets and extranets content & communication-oriented, with moderate requirements for complex business logic.
• Easily extendable via plugins, with specific developments when necessary.
• Can be integrated with third-party tools (SSO, CRM, etc.).

Drupal (business portals with complex rights)

• Ideal for intranets/extranets with detailed access rules, numerous types of content, multi-site or multi-language structure.
• Very robust for model business entities and complex workflows.

Business web applications (PHP/JS, Laravel or other)

• When the intranet/extranet is primarily a business application (advanced workflows, specific data logic, deep connectors to an existing IS), we can move towards developing a dedicated application, while maintaining an “editorial” intranet alongside it if necessary.

In all cases, portals are deployed on a managed architecture (dev/pre-production/production environments, monitoring, backups, SLAs) managed by us if you wish.

Security, SSO & access management

A serious intranet or extranet requires exemplary access management:

• Authentication :
  • internal accounts,
  • or SSO integration (SAML, OpenID Connect, Azure AD, etc.).
• Authorisations :
  • roles (employee, manager, director, partner, customer, etc.),
  • detailed rights by category, content type, workflow.
• Traceability & compliance :
  • access logging,
  • authorisation management (creation, modification, deletion),
  • alignment with your internal requirements (security, GDPR, etc.).

Evolurise brings its expertise to bear here. DevOps & IT outsourcing to ensure:

• the regular update the bricks used,
• of reliable backups,
• performance and availability monitoring.

Example project scenario: creation of a unified intranet/extranet

A typical case we encounter:

A company wants a employee intranet and one partner extranet resting on the same base.

Step 1 – Framing

• Workshops with HR, communications, IT, sales, support, management.
• Inventory of content to be centralised (documents, news, procedures).
• Clear definition of profiles: employees, managers, partners, etc.
• Identification of tools to be integrated (CRM, support tool, EDM, etc.).

Step 2 – UX design/navigation

• Overall tree structure: intranet, extranet, any sub-portals.
• Wireframes for key pages: intranet home page, extranet home page, document files, forms, dashboards.
• Definition of routes:
  • “I am a new employee, where can I find what I need?”
  • “I am a partner. How can I access my resources and submit a request?”

Step 3 – Construction & integrations

• Setting up the foundation (WordPress or Drupal, as required).
• Development of specific features (directory, filters, business forms, workflows, connections).
• SSO integration if desired, configuration of roles and permissions.

Step 4 – Revenue & pilots

• Tests with a panel of employees/partners.
• Ergonomic adjustments and corrections.
• Finalisation of content and training of internal administrators.

Step 5 – Deployment & support

• Gradual rollout (service by service, or big bang depending on strategy).
• Internal/external communication plan for the launch.
• Implementation of a maintenance contract & SLA for monitoring (corrections, developments).

Measurable benefits of a well-designed intranet/extranet

After setting up a structured intranet or extranet, our clients generally notice:

• Fewer internal emails for recurring topics (procedures, documents, announcements).
• Time saving to find information (search, knowledge base, clear tree structure).
• Standardisation of practices (all services refer to the same versions).
• Best picture with partners/customers (professional extranet, up to date, consistent).
• Better utilisation of existing tools (CRM, ERP, HR tools) through the integration and centralisation of access links.

And above all: your intranet/extranet becomes a lever for efficiency and communication, not a constraint.

Why entrust your intranet/extranet to Evolurise?

• Advanced CMS expertise (WordPress, Drupal) and business web applications.
• Experiment on structured B2B projects : extranet, business portals, customer areas.
• Culture DevOps & IT outsourcing : environments, security, performance, SLA.
• Ability to connect the portal to your other building blocks:
  • website creation,
  • e-commerce,
  • automation & AI,
  • internal systems (CRM, ERP, HR, etc.).
• Oriented approach usage & governance We talk about “users, processes, rights, data”, not just “web pages”.

Let's clarify the scope of your future intranet/extranet

Are you considering creating an intranet or extranet, or revamping an existing system that no longer fulfils its purpose?

Explain to us:

• who needs to access the portal (profiles, volumes),
• what types of content and services you want to centralise,
• which tools need to be connected,
• your level of requirements in terms of security and availability.

We will then be able to offer you a structured project for creating an intranet/extranet :
functional scope, technical architecture, roadmap, and support system (UX, development, hosting, SLA & maintenance).