Servier: Breaking through silos with a unified communication platform fully integrated with Microsoft 365

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Servier is an independent international pharmaceutical company, governed by the Foundation Servier with headquarters in Suresnes, France. With a solid international presence in 150 countries and revenue of €4.6 billion in 2019, Servier employs 22,500 people worldwide. Fully independent, the Group invests an average of 25% of its revenues (excluding general activity) each year in Research and Development and uses all its profits for the benefit of its development.

Servier customer logo

+10 000 employees

Healthcare

Siloed Ecosystem

In the early 2010s, corporate communications was increasingly challenged by the rise of social networks and new modes of collaboration. Servier then embarked on its first internal communication strategy shift, with a large-scale corporate intranet and social network project. In 2014, the company introduced two new platforms.

These two platforms laid the foundation of Servier’s internal communication. However, after a few years, the company began to experience some difficulties like:

  • Problems maintaining a SharePoint intranet
  • Confusion between the tools
  • Cannibalization of both platforms
  • Acquisition of Jive by Aurea in 2017

In 2019, Servier decided to upgrade its two platforms.

2014 – Siloed Ecosystem

2019 – Unified Platform with LumApps

LumApps, the Jive alternative, fully integrated with Microsoft 365

It was at the same time that LumApps established a strong partnership with Microsoft. LumApps, now integrated with the Microsoft 365 suite, brought added value. LumApps’ expertise in Jive migrations and full Microsoft 365 integration made it a natural choice for Servier’s new project.

Key Success Factors

Rapid Jive Migration

Capitalizing on all of the knowledge held in Jive communities and being able to migrate content from one solution to another was one of the prerequisites of the project. The data storage switched to Microsoft, with the creation of one SharePoint site per community, while strict migration rules were defined to ensure that document access and sharing rights remained intact.

Smooth Transition 

The new project benefited from the strong acculturation of Servier’s employees to internal communications and particularly to how a corporate social network works. Despite this, change always generates a lot of upheavals and requires careful support to ensure user adoption. Prior to the launch, Servier implemented a support strategy for its employees, through community manager involvements, online training, proximity and providing a harmonious user experience.

“We designed this new space with and for our employees”

The evolution of our intranet was a new step towards the development, standardization and democratization of communication within the Group. We designed this new space with and for our employees, giving them the opportunity to find the essentials, while encouraging interaction
between the Group’s teams, units and countries.

–Sybille Billiard, Global Head of Communications at Servier

“Working in partnership with the IT department”

Working in partnership with the IT department has made this project a success. In record time, we were able to offer a new communication and work space to all employees of the Group. They can find corporate or local information, as well as access to their day-to-day work tools.

–Eugénie Alibert, Digital Communication Manager at Servier

A unified communication platform fully integrated with Microsoft 365

With LumApps, Servier was able to offer a new platform to its 22,500 employees, providing a simplified user experience. WIP’S and WIP’S IN have merged and now form a single digital workplace.

Profiling of business applications

More than 100 tools and business applications are used within the company. To facilitate employees’ daily life and improve their productivity, access to tools is personalized, as well as news, depending on personal profiles.

Product Catalog

Servier keeps a list of all its medications on a single page, in the form of product ID cards. For a quick search, users can filter by name or keywords.

Management Support

More than 3,000 of Servier’s managers come together within a dedicated community to share best practices and provide mutual support. This is a smooth and efficient way to support collaborators with their new roles.

Association & Sponsorship

Servier is supporting numerous sponsorship initiatives. To offer its employees the opportunity to get involved, a community is open to everyone and they can see what actions are being carried out.

LumApps Intranet with Servier

Key Figures

18,119

Active Users

 

~ 116

New pieces of content per month on average

221

Communities

 

~ 302

New community posts per month on average

Supporting the adoption of Microsoft 365 in times of crisis

During the COVID-19 health crisis, remote working became the norm for many companies. At the beginning of the lockdown, very few Servier employees were able to connect remotely and WIP’S became the only tool accessible online for a few days, making it the company’s unique communication channel.

To cope with this situation, the IT department accelerated the deployment of M365. Within two weeks, all employees were equipped with a new Microsoft license. The integration of M365 with LumApps made WIP’S an excellent vehicle for the adoption of Microsoft tools. This led the communication team and the IT department to work hand in hand and build a strong partnership.

Application Launcher

Located directly in the top bar and also on the home page, M365 tools are easily accessible to employees. The freedom to customize the application launcher makes it possible to display only certain tools and to manage their adoption.

Teams & Communities

The integration of Microsoft tools in LumApps enabled Servier to add Teams chat within its communities. Currently, team members mainly use it to alert and notify users of new posts that should not be missed, or as a support tool to answer questions from the community and to guide them to the right resources.

Conference Center

Servier provides access to all its conferences on a dedicated page of the intranet. Forming a real conference center, this page manages both live sessions, with Microsoft Stream, and recorded replays.

Servier's Intranet Microsoft Teams chat