Company Intranet

Copper Contributor

Our current company Intranet was built several years so by a consulting company that is no longer in business.  The sites were built with the Classic SharePoint Design and are highly customized.  We are looking to move the sites over to the new Modern SharePoint Templates and use out of the box features.

The problem we are facing is how to set up the architecture.  The request is to have 4 separate sites for each of our companies.  They all have their own unique branding, so I am unable to use Hub Sites for this project.

We are looking for any suggestions on how to structure these sites where we don’t have to touch all 4 sites when updates are needed.  Not all the companies will have the same updates, so it’s important for our Marketing SharePoint Administrators to be able to manage the content from one location rather than 4.

It was suggested to use Power Automate to create workflows that will populate these different sites but we are trying to keep it as out of the box as possible.  So at this time we are looking for other suggestions on what our options are to accomplish this goal.

Any suggestions are appreciated.  Thanks!

2 Replies

Based on your requirements, it sounds like you need to find a way to manage multiple SharePoint sites with unique branding and content from a single location. Here are some suggestions:

1. Create a Site Collection: One approach is to create a site collection for each company. Each site collection can have its own branding and can be managed independently. You can set up a global navigation menu that links to each site collection, making it easy for users to navigate between them. This approach can be managed from a single location, but requires separate administration for each site collection.

2. Use SharePoint Hub Sites: While you mentioned that you are unable to use Hub Sites due to unique branding requirements, it's worth noting that Hub Sites do offer the ability to manage multiple sites from a single location. You can apply a custom theme to each Hub Site to provide unique branding for each company. However, this approach may not meet your specific branding requirements.

3. Use Content Types and Site Columns: You can use Content Types and Site Columns to standardize the metadata and structure of your content across multiple sites. This allows you to manage content from a single location and ensures consistency across all sites. This approach does not provide unique branding for each company, but it can help streamline content management.

4. Use PowerShell or PnP PowerShell: PowerShell or PnP PowerShell can be used to automate the deployment of updates across multiple sites. This approach allows you to update all sites with a single script, which can save time and reduce errors. However, it requires a certain level of technical expertise to implement.

5. Use Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online: You can create separate teams for each company and connect them to their respective SharePoint sites. This approach provides a unified interface for content and communication management, but it may require additional licensing and training for your users.

Ultimately, the approach you choose will depend on your specific requirements and constraints. I recommend evaluating each option to determine which approach best meets your needs.

 

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@Abby_Gorman 

Content:
What kind of updates are you guys thinking of ? News?

If this is the case I would recommend you to look into Viva Amplify, with this you can manage news and content from a single point.

 

As for architecture:
So the structure is you create four Communication sites which you enable to be Hubsites.
One for each company and connect everything relevant to these sites, here recommend using Nested Hubsites for departments etc under each company.

 

This way you can have each company own branding which will follow each hubsites all the way down.

 

 

I Also recommend creating Site templates in SharePoint for each department and audiance target those templates. This way you can have them automatically connected to a hub, have branding following with etc.