The Challenge: Fragmented Intranet Data Creates Blind Spots
When a global financial institution with 45,000 employees across 60 countries approached QueryNow, they faced a critical problem: their SharePoint intranet had become a black box. Despite investing millions in content creation and digital workplace initiatives, leadership had no visibility into how employees actually used the platform.
The challenges were clear:
- No Usage Insights: IT couldn't identify which departments accessed resources or where engagement was falling short
- Content Waste: Teams created content without knowing if anyone read it or found it valuable
- Search Failures: Employees complained about poor search results, but IT had no data to diagnose the root causes
- ROI Questions: Executives questioned the value of intranet investments without concrete metrics
The bank needed a comprehensive analytics solution that could transform raw usage data into actionable insights—helping them optimize content, improve employee experience, and demonstrate tangible business value.
Our Approach: Building Intelligence into SharePoint
QueryNow designed a custom analytics suite that transformed the bank's SharePoint environment from a static content repository into an intelligent, data-driven platform. Our solution integrated three key components:
1. Advanced Data Collection
We implemented sophisticated tracking across the entire SharePoint environment:
- Page views and engagement metrics for every intranet page
- Search query analysis including successful and failed searches
- Document download and collaboration patterns
- Application usage across integrated Microsoft 365 tools
- User journey mapping to understand navigation paths
2. Real-Time Analytics Dashboard
Using Microsoft Power BI, we created executive dashboards that displayed:
- Live engagement metrics by department, region, and content type
- Search effectiveness scores and common query patterns
- Content performance rankings and orphaned page identification
- Employee satisfaction trends based on usage patterns
- Comparative analytics across business units
3. AI-Powered Recommendations
We integrated Azure AI services to provide predictive insights:
- Content recommendations based on user behavior
- Automated alerts for declining engagement
- Predictive analytics for content lifecycle management
- Intelligent search query suggestions
Implementation: From Concept to Production in 12 Weeks
We executed the project in three focused phases:
Phase 1 - Foundation (Weeks 1-4): Deployed data collection infrastructure across pilot departments. Established baseline metrics and validated data accuracy.
Phase 2 - Analytics Build (Weeks 5-8): Developed Power BI dashboards, integrated with existing systems, and conducted user acceptance testing with communications teams.
Phase 3 - Enterprise Rollout (Weeks 9-12): Scaled to all 45,000 employees globally, trained content owners and executives, and established ongoing support processes.
Results: Transforming Engagement Through Data
The analytics suite delivered immediate impact across multiple dimensions:
Search Experience Improvements:
- 45% increase in search satisfaction scores
- 60% reduction in failed search queries
- 35% faster time-to-information for employees
Content Optimization:
- Identified and archived 30% of unused content, improving findability
- Increased content engagement by 40% through data-driven optimization
- Reduced content creation costs by 25% by focusing on high-impact areas
Application Adoption:
- 30% increase in usage of integrated Microsoft 365 applications
- Improved collaboration tool adoption by 50%
- Accelerated onboarding through better resource discovery
Business Impact:
- $3.2M annual savings from content optimization and reduced support costs
- 15% improvement in employee productivity related to information discovery
- ROI achieved in 8 months
Key Features That Made the Difference
Several capabilities proved especially valuable:
Departmental Insights: Business unit leaders could see exactly how their teams used the intranet, enabling targeted improvement initiatives.
Search Intelligence: Understanding failed searches allowed IT to improve metadata, navigation, and search algorithms systematically.
Content Lifecycle Management: Automated identification of stale or low-performing content helped keep the intranet fresh and relevant.
Executive Reporting: Monthly scorecards demonstrated intranet value to leadership, securing ongoing investment.
Technical Architecture
The solution leveraged Microsoft's enterprise-grade technology stack:
- Data Collection: Custom SharePoint event receivers and Microsoft Graph API integration
- Data Storage: Azure SQL Database for structured analytics data
- Processing: Azure Functions for real-time data transformation
- Visualization: Power BI Premium for scalable, enterprise analytics
- Security: Azure Active Directory integration ensuring data privacy and compliance
Lessons Learned
This project reinforced several critical success factors for intranet analytics:
Privacy First: We designed the system to respect employee privacy while providing actionable insights—anonymizing individual user data while enabling aggregate analysis.
Actionable Metrics: Rather than overwhelming stakeholders with data, we focused on metrics directly tied to business outcomes.
Change Management: We helped content owners understand how to interpret analytics and make data-driven decisions about their content strategy.
Continuous Improvement: The analytics revealed opportunities we hadn't anticipated, leading to ongoing optimization initiatives.
Beyond Analytics: Building a Learning Organization
The analytics suite did more than just measure usage—it fundamentally changed how the organization approached internal communications and knowledge management. Content teams shifted from publishing on instinct to making evidence-based decisions. IT moved from reactive support to proactive optimization.
Building on this success, we're now helping the client implement:
- Personalized content delivery using AI and machine learning
- Chatbot integration for intelligent self-service
- Advanced workflow automation with Power Automate
- Mobile experience optimization based on usage patterns
Conclusion: Turning Data into Competitive Advantage
In today's digital workplace, intuition isn't enough. Organizations need concrete data to understand how employees interact with technology and information. This analytics suite transformed a major financial institution's intranet from a cost center into a strategic asset—one that demonstrably improves productivity, reduces costs, and enhances employee experience.
Ready to unlock insights from your SharePoint environment? Contact QueryNow to learn how our Analytics Suite can transform your digital workplace into a data-driven engine for productivity.
