According to Gallup, the global economy loses $7.8 trillion each year from a lack of productivity due to employee disengagement and poor workplace experiences. 

That’s why, even when budgets are tight and the economy is uncertain, enterprise companies are choosing to invest in software that supports the employee experience. 

With the enterprise workforce being dispersed — be it in-office, remote, or deskless workers — employees need a system that fosters inclusion, engagement, and productivity. 

While these software investments may feel significant, CIOs and other IT leaders still need to weigh them against the cost of decreased productivity, burnout, and turnover. The cost of a poor digital work experience per employee can be tangible and (over time) quite significant. 

Therefore, investment in an employee experience platform (EXP) that can be accessed via the web or a mobile app is not just a wise decision, but a strategic one.

Do you need an intranet or something more? The case for an EXP

In-office, remote, hybrid, and deskless employees need more than just an static intranet that manages content, delivers messages, and helps develop online communities. 

Static intranets were originally designed to only support top-down communication, and were typically only accessible while on the company VPN or intranet. With 80% of today’s workforce working on the frontlines or deskless (like construction, health care workers, restaurant employees, and more), the intranet of today must be accessible from anywhere and any device. 

Simply put: traditional intranet functions don’t deliver the immersive, highly-personalized experiences the modern workforce craves.

Employee experience platforms (or EXPs), on the other hand, are designed for two-way communication and community building. An EXP connects cutting-edge features like AI, hyper-personalization, video broadcasting, and extensive integrations directly in your tech stack. It’s these features that engage, enable, and empower all employees — ultimately leading to long-term retention.

The best part about employee experience platforms is that they are a customizable solution, so C-Suites can opt for a packaged turnkey solution, integrate a system to augment the features of their existing tech stack, or build a fully-customized one from the ground up. 

This leaves enterprise tech teams with a pertinent question to grapple with: Should we build our own EXP, buy a ready-made solution, or add elements to our existing tech stack? 

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, from the size of your company and the industry you operate in, to the IT personnel you have on staff. 

If you’re looking to invest in employee experience, your leadership team should be shopping for the following features: 

• Connect all employees (desk workers, frontliners, and deskless workers) regardless of their location, language, or role and find the right tool to engage, align, and retain them
• Create digital spaces for employees to express themselves, share best practices, and foster the level of collaboration and productivity necessary to break company silos
• Target and reach employees with media-rich communications to reduce background “noise” while keeping your team informed, aligned, and engaged
• Orchestrate the highly-personalized employee journeys necessary to quickly get new hires up-and-running and help retain talent long-term
• Provide a consistent stream of data and actionable insights, allowing for the creation and iteration of distinct employee experience personas
• Integrate with the existing tech stack and IT infrastructure to boost engagement, adoption, and productivity

Unfortunately, for most enterprise companies, the prospect of custom-building an employee experience platform that offers these features is out of the question. The IT labor shortage and reliance on third-party consultants — not to mention the expanded timeline — means costs can easily balloon out of control. 

This guide aims to help answer that “build or buy” question by exploring the time, cost, functionality, and ownership aspects of both scenarios, and then offering a third, integrated option. We’ll also discuss how a leading EXP like LumApps helps meet the exact needs of your enterprise with both turnkey and integrated solutions. 

Everything You Need to Know About Building vs. Buying an Enterprise EXP

The question of whether to build or buy a software system is nothing new. Over a decade ago, the Harvard Business Review discussed how IT project costs overrun. 

Enterprise IT builds are like an iceberg: the cost of a feature set and user interface, the tip, appears small. But hiding below the surface is the much larger cost of iterative development, IT human hours, and consultant and 3rd-party support. An example of this iceberg effect in action, an HBR study of over 1,400 IT projects found that the average cost for a custom build was 27% over budget.

While the development of APIs, low- and no-code technology, and cloud technology are making enterprise-level IT projects easier than the intranets of a decade ago, companies still run the risk of incurring significant costs if they don’t take the right approach to developing digital infrastructure. 

The reason why enterprises spend significantly more money on builds is a tendency to underestimate the scope and complexity of the feature sets the end product requires. This is no more evident than the case of employee experience platforms, which are much more feature-rich than traditional enterprise intranets. 

‍

‍

4 Key Factors to Consider

Whether you choose to buy a pre-packaged solution, build a custom version to your exact needs, or use a blend of both to create an integrated solution, there are some key factors you need to consider: time, cost, functionality, and ownership.

1. Time

Like adding any new platform to the enterprise tech stack, both options will involve a lengthy change management and training process. However, buying has a clear edge over building  in terms of time to functionality. The solution is already packaged and doesn’t require long-term investment of IT resources for development.

Estimates for implementation time for bought, built, and integrated EXPs are as follows:

• Building: 1— 1.5 years
• Buying: 1 — 3 months
• Integrated: 3 — 6 months

Of course, these timelines will change based on the technical capabilities of your organization’s IT department, your budget, and the use of third party consultants. In addition to the time actually spent on building, implementing, or integrating a solution, companies often waste valuable time in the decision-making process. 

Generally speaking, buying is the best solution for companies that need to immediately improve employee experience to prevent burnout and turnover. 

2. Cost

Cost is usually the primary concern among the rest of the C-suite during large-scale digital transformation. IT spending at the enterprise level takes up a large portion of operating budgets, but this is out of necessity — the digital work experience is a key factor in not only operation success, but also an employee’s decision to stay with a company. 

Although the up-front costs of buying a turn-key EXP are typically more substantial than the build or integrated options, it’s important to consider other factors like:

Initial costs: Weigh the cost of developing a custom intranet and outsourcing or hiring additional IT personnel versus the up-front cost of purchasing a pre-built one. 

Maintenance costs: Compare the ongoing costs of maintaining and updating a custom-built intranet versus purchasing one that comes with IT support.

Training costs: Assess the cost of training employees on using the new intranet. Will you hire a consultancy or can you use the customer support team of your purchased solution?

Infrastructure costs: Factor in the expenses associated with server hardware, software licenses,and cloud services.

3. Functionality

The functionality and user experience of your EXP will determine how quickly you can recoup your investment. Even if your IT department has the skills, personnel, and resources to build or integrate essential features — like accessibility for deskless and on-the-go employees and multi-tenant, multi-platform configurations that break down organizational silos — you still need to consider other relevant factors like: 

Customizability: Determining if a custom-built intranet can provide the features and company branding to empower your staff and create a sense of community within your organization.

Integration: Evaluating the ability of the intranet solution to integrate with existing systems and software, like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace collaborative suites, and mission-critical or ‘backbone’ apps like SAP SuccessFactors and Workday.

Scalability: Considering if the intranet can easily accommodate future growth and expansion of your enterprise into the next 6 to 7 years. This is particularly important for companies considering an M&A who may need to quickly integrate a large cohort of new staff. 

Feature updates: Assessing if your IT team has the capacity to regularly monitor and update features. If you decide to build in-house, you will likely need a team dedicated to maintaining the system long-term. This is not simply a one-time build project, but you will need a team that can support it long term. For instance, rapidly-expanding enterprises may need to quickly, securely roll out multi-tenant authentication and mobile app access.

Building an EXP allows you to customize the platform to your exact needs, but it also means you need to constantly monitor, maintain, and update it as time goes on. It also means your in-house IT team, or expensive 3rd party contractors, will be charged with scaling features as your business grows and brings on more employees. 

Alternatively, buying a packaged EXP solution like LumApps gives you a fully-functional, easy-to-use digital workplace that can be customized to your specifications. 

4. Ownership and Oversight

The last major factor to consider during your build vs. buy assessment is who will actually own and oversee the project long term. Is IT going to continue to own the entire project past the implementation stage, will the Communications or HR team take over, or will other lines of business and support teams want autonomy over their respective spaces?

In any case, building or buying, you need an EXP with the flexibility to meet the specific needs of each department while still upholding key components of governance:

Data security: Assessing the security measures of both custom-built and purchased intranet options, ensuring they meet the organization's standards.

Compliance: Ensuring the intranet has the guardrails to help your dispersed workforce engage with one another in a productive, safe way.

No-code: Streamlining the content management process while safeguarding platform functionality by empowering non-tech staff (such as Internal communicators, HR professionals, or LOB managers) to use, configure, and manage pages, sites, and content 

Vendor support: Evaluating the level of support provided by a purchased intranet's vendor, including customer service and technical assistance.

Internal IT support: Determining the organization's ability to provide ongoing support for a custom-built intranet or manage a purchased one.

The 3 Options for Employee Experience Platforms

Now that you know how time, cost, functionality, and ownership factor into the implementation of a new employee experience platform, let’s look at the options that are actually available to you: building, buying, or integrating an EXP.

1. Building a Custom Intranet or EXP

As you know, building an intranet or EXP involves using your IT resources and external teams to develop a custom platform.

This can be a good option for small companies that are only concerned with top-down communications. 

It could also be a good option for enterprise companies that have a large in-house IT team, unique needs not catered to by current vendors, and different teams with different wants/needs who may want control over their intranet spaces. This route is best suited for those who have a longer timeline for development, troubleshooting, and implementation.

For instance, a company that is heavily reliant on Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Viva Connections might opt for building their own EXP. SharePoint is a legacy staple in terms of intranet solutions and leadership may want to leverage the content and communities that already exist in this space. 

However, building an EXP out of these Microsoft products that resembles the turnkey solutions available on the market requires extensive experience with each of these different technologies and any third-party tools, particularly with Viva. 

Pros and Cons of Building a Custom EXP

‍

2. Buying an EXP

Buying an intranet or EXP involves vetting multiple vendors, identifying the top option for your specific organizational structure, and working with the company to implement the turnkey employee experience platform. This is a good option for enterprise companies that have a smaller in-house IT department, major needs that are addressed by the packaged EXP, and a more pressing timeline for improving employee experiences, for example during a pandemic, corporate restructure, or M&A.

Buying a package EXP is also a great way to ensure that your organization has all the necessary features for improving employee experience and productivity: 

• A layer of employee data providing valuable intelligence on employee engagement, conduct, and feelings
• Social intranet characteristics such as a Content Management System (CMS), virtual spaces and communities, and multichannel campaigns
• Search functionality that crawls the organization’s knowledge base, giving employees access to all information via desktop or mobile devices
• Resources for maneuvering a digital workspace, encompassing search and metadata capabilities, video content, and access via mobile devices
• Features that enhance the user experience, such as curated employee paths and AI-powered digital assistants.

An example of a fully-packaged EXP is LumApps. It contains all the tools and features mentioned above, giving IC, IT, and HR leaders everything they need in one platform.

Pros and Cons of Buying an Off-the-Shelf EXP

3. Integrated Approach

The integrated EXP approach involves purchasing some components of your intranet/EXP system and then building others in-house or using existing solutions. This is a good option for enterprise companies that have specific needs that can be addressed by a packaged intranet or EXP, rely heavily on office suites from Microsoft or Google, and have an IT team that can help connect a packaged EXP with their custom solutions.

For instance, enterprise companies with teams or departments that require various Microsoft tools can connect 365 with LumApps to fill in some of the gaps. LumApps has powerful integrations that enhance the features of important tools like Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, Outlook, SharePoint, Azure, and others.

Likewise, companies that have already established tools like Google Drive, Calendar, Cloud, and Gmail as key components of the tech stack can integrate LumApps seamlessly into the everyday workflow. As the only employee experience platform recommended by Google, LumApps is the perfect option for companies that have implemented, or wish to use, Google Workspace.

Additionally, LumApps is able to handle organizations’ multi-tenant and multi-platform complex configurations, often issued from successive M&As.

Pros and Cons of the Integrated Option

‍

Why You Should Choose  LumApps for Your Ideal EXP Solution

As a hybrid solution, LumApps is the best option for meeting your enterprise EXP needs. The platform can be used in isolation as a turnkey EXP, or integrated with your existing collaboration suite like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. 

Here’s how LumApps stacks up against the custom built solutions outlined earlier: 

Time: We’ve launched in as little as 3 to 6 months, letting you recoup your ROI more quickly than custom built solutions

Cost: A lower overall cost than a custom built EXP thanks to savings on additional IT labor, training, or consultants. Our pricing adapts to your team needs – each package is tailored to company size and desired functionality. 

Features: Unlimited access, updates, and support to a suite of features for improving the experience and productivity of your workforce: 

• An employee data layer to serve as the foundational element for your hyper-targeting and personalization efforts
• Personalized, integrated journeys to support employees during key moments of employment and targeted campaigns to reach all employees with important messages
• Social intranet features like a CMS, digital spaces and communities, and omnichannel campaigns
• Tools for navigating a digital workspace, including search and metadata features, secure video handling, and mobile access
• Experience-driving features like orchestrated employee journeys, AI-powered digital assistants, and virtual companions 
• Out-of-the-box integrations with popular workplace apps 

Ownership: No-code features allowing internal comms and HR departments to oversee and manage daily  content and permissions without relying on the IT team. 

Creating a custom version of any one feature is a large lift for an internal enterprise IT team. But building them all and combining them with a user-friendly interface accessible via desktop and mobile is simply not feasible. 

As digital workplace experiences continue to lead the list of employee needs, it's clear that LumApps purchased or integrated EXP solution is the right option for enterprise companies.

‍

LumApps specializes in bringing organizations the systems necessary to keep employees thriving and engaged.

Book a demo with our team to learn more about how HR and IC leaders can use LumApps to build a truly supportive enterprise.