JD Group Launches JD Now with Blink

Turning work into play

The partnership introduces a new Blink gamification framework — designed to help large enterprises boost engagement, motivation, and learning across distributed teams.

The first product of the collaboration, Blink Bonanza, is a live playable game experience that showcases how fast, fun, and habit-forming interactions can drive adoption with your employee experience platform and meaningful engagement. The game, unveiled at the Blink stand at Workday Rising EMEA, will soon be available to play on Blink’s website.

“Work is changing — and so are the people doing it,” said Lauren Burns, chief operating officer at Blink. “For younger generations, play isn’t a distraction; it’s a key way they learn, connect, and stay engaged. Together with Livewall, we’re harnessing that instinct to make frontline work more motivating and rewarding — while powering better operations across the workforce.”

Gamification that drives performance

Rooted in behavioral science, the Blink × Livewall partnership brings proven game mechanics — from competition and achievement systems to progress tracking and peer recognition — into the flow of everyday work.

“Gamification isn’t fluff — it’s neuroscience,” said Brock de Wolde, product strategy lead at Livewall. “The same dopamine feedback loops that keep us playing games can also reinforce the right workplace behaviors. Blink’s platform allows us to apply that science at scale.”

McDonald’s, who pride themselves on their service, was able to reimagine engagement with a game that was adopted by 90,000 employees and played an average of 6.5 times per gamer. This activation allowed them to deliver change in a fresh, engaging way — and build hype around their workforce.

Next up: "The science of gamification" webinar

Blink and Livewall will co-host a live webinar, “The power of play: Engaging the next generation of workers,” on December 3, 2025. The session will explore the neuroscience and strategy behind gamification and feature guest insights from McDonald’s.

About Blink

Blink is the mobile-first employee experience platform built for the frontline and desk-based teams alike. Used by global organizations in retail, logistics, healthcare, and hospitality, Blink brings communication, learning, and recognition into one simple, mobile platform — empowering every employee to feel informed, connected, and valued.
www.joinblink.com

About Livewall

Livewall is a creative technology agency based in the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK. Specialising in gamified loyalty and engagement gamification, Livewall helps brands and employers drive engagement through innovative, behavior-driven experiences. www.livewall.co

Media contacts:

For Blink:
Georgie Scott— Marketing Director
📧 press@joinblink.com

For Livewall:
Brock de Wolde — Head of Product Strategy
📧 press@livewall.co

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Satnavs. Facial recognition. The Cloud. FinTech.

We slip words like these into conversations with ease. New technology has become part of our bread-and-butter vocabulary, without quotation (or question) marks.

Healthtech, on the other hand – that feels a bit more niche. Or it did, until Covid-19 made us sit up and pay attention. 

24 months into the pandemic, nobody needs a lecture on the importance of healthtech; it’s staring us in the face. But health tech didn’t emerge on-the-fly in response to the Covid crisis. It’s been around for a long time.

And it’s big business. In 2017, Forbes valued the digital healthcare industry at an astounding $25 billion globally. They believe that number will skyrocket above $379 billion by 2024. 

We all know that healthtech helps predict the spread of diseases, track pandemic outbreaks, and contain them. But there are other new developments in the future of healthcare that will change the way we live.

What is healthtech?

Right now, healthtech (also known as digital health) is the fastest-growing verticle in healthcare. It refers to any product or service that's enabled, or revolutionized by, technology. So far, so Sci-Fi. But healthtech is all around us already...

Wearables

Yep, you’ve already got this one. Fitness trackers (like FitBits) are health wearables. We like knowing we've put in my 10.000 steps. But other types of knowledge about what’s happening in our bodies can be more vital. For some people, it’s their heart rate; for others, their blood pressure, or their oxygen supply. 

Continuously measuring these things makes a huge difference for people with chronic conditions. And these wearables don’t just make the invisible visible; they also act as a kind of coach. They empower wearers to become active participants in managing their health condition. Immediate feedback from a wearable can change habits; habits can change health; and health saves lives. 

Wearables are particularly relevant in the time of Covid-19. But they will continue to be so well beyond it, as part of a bigger drive towards preventative or pro-active health care. 

3D-printed prototypes

3D-printing technology still sounds far-fetched. But it’s here, and it’s a quiet revolution in healthcare. Technology like this can create everything from personalized prosthetics to bio-tissues and blood vessels, at a fraction of the past cost. It transforms organ transplants and tissue repair. It can even produce realistic skin grafts for burn victims. 

In 2020, researchers at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, managed to develop a method for printing 3D-print living skin, along with blood vessels.

Blockchain for electronic healthcare records

Blockchain and the future of healthcare? Not obvious at first. But think of electronic health records, and how important it is to keep those accurate and safe. 

Blockchain technology can play a key role in ensuring that medical records are 100% accurate. It also makes them significantly harder to hack. Conflicting information is automatically detected, thanks to a decentralised network of computers. And blockchain not only helps prevent data breaches; it also cuts costs. 

So it’s no wonder that many health and pharmaceutical companies are investing in blockchain technology.  A recent report put the blockchain health market at $890.5 million by 2023.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a key driver in health tech. We already see it in chatbots and virtual health assistants that act as diagnostic tools, and even as therapists. 

But the real power of AI becomes clear in areas like precision medicine. In the past, many cancer patients received cookie-cutter treatments with high failure rates. Because of AI, we now have more personalised treatments, based on individual genetics and lifestyle factors, amongst other things.

AI also plays a big role in the discovery of new drugs and the development of vaccines. That’s a Bigger Deal Than Ever Before in the Covid pandemic. 

And finally, two of the things AI is exceptionally good at is Pattern Recognition and optical character recognition. That means it can analyse large amounts of cancer images that help recognise and diagnose cancer. One famous example of this is Google’s DeepMind, which created an AI for breast cancer analysis. The algorithm outperformed human radiologists on pre-selected data sets to identify breast cancer, on average by 11.5%.

The market value of AI for future of healthcare worldwide? $34 billion by 2025.

VR/AR

Most of us are already familiar with this technology. Immersing yourself in a simulated environment is fun. But it can also be a therapeutic tool. For instance, VR environments help train people to deal with mental health triggers safely. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bipolar Disorder. Covid-related Stress and Anxiety are now being treated this way.

The training potential of VR is – well, awesome. Take surgeons, for instance. A recent Harvard Business Review study showed that VR-trained surgeons had a 230% boost in their overall performance.

Compared to their traditionally-trained counterparts, they were both faster and more accurate. At Case Western Reserve University, students learn via a VR-based HoloAnatomy app. This offers detailed and precise experience without the need for real bodies.

Top 4 emerging healthtech trends for 2022

In light of the Covid pandemic and rapid growth in remote work, safeguarding your workers has become a mandatory part of doing business. This means you’re now also looked upon to bring in measures like: 

By making these types of smart technologies accessible to your workforce, you can give way to improved safety standards and early alerts that reduce the risk of contagious threats. Keep track of these trends to keep your employees safe in 2022 and beyond.

identify opportunities to leverage them for your organization going forward. 

Virtual care and remote medicine are on the rise

You drive to the doctor. You sit in a waiting area for ages until your name's called. When your appointment finally happens, it's a few questions, a prescription, and you're sent on your way. You wonder why you spent so long commuting for a matter of minutes.

Sound familiar?

That's why virtual care is replacing minor in-person appointments. The past two years have further accelerated this trend, leading to an increase in virtual visits or telephone consultations. 

According to a recent McKinsey study, the number of people using telehealth rose from 11 to 46% during the pandemic. It further predicts that telehealth would account for $250 billion — 20% of the US healthcare spending in near future.

Virtual care not only reduces the risk of spreading contagious diseases but allows healthcare professionals to fit more consultations into their daily schedules. This is a vital factor for highly populated nations facing a shortage of medical professionals, such as India and China.   

Genomics and gene editing lead to further breakthroughs 

Before you get all excited — no, we haven’t figured out how a spider’s bite can turn a normal kid into spiderman.

But the good news is that there've been significant breakthroughs in gene editing, accelerating the development of different types of "precision medicine."

This means drugs can be tailored to the genetic profile of each patient, enhancing their effectiveness and minimizing side effects.

Precision medicine is already used in many ways, one of which is 'lab on a chip' — a technology that allows fast detection of Covid. It’s a hand-held device that can detect if someone is infected with better accuracy than conventional signals such as fever and coughing. So, it can go a long way in getting our lives back to normal. 

Data and AI drives shift to fairer healthcare insurance and coverage 

With all the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has put on our healthcare resources, you’d think it must have grown the bottom line too. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. In the US, healthcare revenues fell by 50%  as patients avoided surgeries and hospitals. 

But the silver lining in midst of all this is the revelation that people are willing to share their personal data when it’s a matter of their health. This is evident from how much people have engaged with track-and-trace systems. 

The more data people share with health services, mobile apps, and online systems powered by AI, the more accurate picture healthcare providers will have of their well-being, along with a sense of when they should intervene. Not just that, it helps healthcare providers forecast the most efficient way to deliver their services.  

This also matters from a financial perspective because other entities such as insurance companies can use advanced predictive technologies to measure risk and set premiums more accurately. 

AI, IoT, and Smart Cities improve our ability to detect and respond to future outbreaks 

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we were embarrassingly unprepared to deal with an outbreak. And we should have a collective, predetermined strategy if something similar happens in the future.

A key part of this strategy is the concept of “Smart Cities," powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT). According to Statista, global revenue from smart city projects is estimated to reach $129 billion in 2021. 

The idea of a smart city is based on incorporating digital connectivity and data-driven decision-making at our respective locations. And its applications extend to many areas such as: 

• Energy distribution
• Public transportation networks
• Refuse collection
• Environmental health initiatives

It’s not just the organizations that are becoming health-care oriented, but also city planners and municipal authorities. These government bodies are now allocating resources to develop technologies that can help us predict, detect and prevent pandemics. 

Another major focus is environmental health. Tech-driven initiatives are being put in place to reduce air pollution and build resilience to the effects of climate change, including the rise in sea level and temperature..

Conclusion

Even if most of your workers are remote, don’t think for a second that your health concerns are over. They now require even more attention because you don’t have the luxury of regular, face-to-face contact. It’ll be hard for you to tell when your employees are burning the candle at both ends. So you still need to support the mental health of employees as they perform their duties in the field, or from home. 

That’s where the healthcare technology trends we outlined can help. There are several health apps available for professionals to monitor physical activity, practice meditation, set reminders for breaks, water and exercise, and so on. 

The only way to avoid setbacks that can take you by surprise is to stay on top of the latest trends and innovations. The faster you can respond to relevant changes in your industry, the better for your organization.

Once upon a time, a company intranet that worked off a server in your office was enough to keep internal communication on track. But today, company needs have changed. And so have employee expectations.

We’ve entered the era of the digital workplace. Employees use a variety of different devices. Teams work remotely, across multiple locations. And beyond the world of work, everyone is now accustomed to intuitive, convenient, and personalized digital experiences.

Digital change has come quickly. And workplace software  — like the intranet — hasn’t always kept pace. Traditional intranets feel old and clunky today. They’re affecting employee experience (EX) - and they could be doing more harm than good.

Around a fifth of workers don’t or no longer use their company intranet. And (importantly for frontline organizations) 52% of frontline workers say they’d quit their jobs because of poor tech tools. 

Thankfully, a new breed of intranet is now emerging. It’s fresher and more relevant to today’s workforce. It’s also built with digital workplace challenges front of mind.

A modern intranet holds the key to two-way communication and collaboration, better employee engagement, and an enhanced digital employee experience (DEX). And it could be a game changer for your organization.

Here, we’re going to take a look at the changing face of the company intranet and examine the features and benefits of a new and improved modern intranet.

Contents

• Intranets: then and now
• Why you need a modern intranet
• Features of a modern intranet
• How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience
• Choosing the right modern intranet
• Conclusion

Intranets: then and now

The company intranet has come a long way since it was first introduced back in the 1990s. Adapting to advances in technology and changing workplace trends, it’s taken on a variety of different forms over the years.

When talking about the modern intranet, it’s useful to compare the most cutting-edge intranet software to what has come before. So let’s step back in time and revisit each stage of intranet evolution.

Early intranets

Closed private networks were the first intranets to hit the office. They used local servers to host static web pages, meaning only computers based within the same geographical location could access them.

These early intranets provided limited interactivity and functionality. They were a place to share company directories, policies, and other documents. But because the setup and maintenance of early intranets required a lot of technical expertise, information was often outdated and badly organized.

Web-based intranets

As the internet went mainstream, web-based intranets made their way onto the market. These intranets were accessible via standard web browsers and had basic search functions, which helped users find what they were looking for. But these new intranets still had their drawbacks.

Internal communication remained one-way, with information traveling from the top of an organization down. Content was often poorly maintained because updates were complex. And there was very little opportunity for companies to provide personalized employee experiences.

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Social intranets

Social intranets were the first intranets to go mobile. Remote servers meant geography mattered less — and everyone within an organization, regardless of their location, could access the same information.

Inspired by social media platforms, social intranets prioritized communication, with features like user profiles and user-generated content. They were also designed to support team collaboration and productivity, with personnel services and project management tools built in.

Modern intranets

Modern intranets take the social intranet concept to the next level. They are a mobile-first solution with a focus on user experience (UX), designed to meet the expectations of today’s digital workforce.

Content creation is democratized in modern intranets. All members of an organization can access information and tools easily. And team leaders get the analytics and data-driven insights they need to improve employee engagement.

Interested in seeing a modern intranet in action? Preview Blink today with a short 2-minute video. 

Why your frontline organization needs a modern intranet

So why should your frontline organization ditch its traditional intranet and adopt a modern software solution instead? There are several very good reasons.

Older intranet software can cause friction and frustration. Perhaps your intranet has become a dumping ground for outdated information. Or it simply fails to provide the intuitive, user-friendly, productivity-boosting features we’ve all come to expect.

We know that traditional intranets fail to live up to employee expectations. 67% of workers say that digital experiences in their personal lives are better than the digital experiences they get at work.

Many traditional intranets are built around the needs of desk-based teams, so they do your frontline workers a disservice. Frontline workers miss out on the communication and resources available to their desk-based peers.   

A modern intranet, in contrast, helps you meet all of the following challenges head-on.

1. Employee engagement

According to Gallup’s State of the Workplace Report for 2023, just 23% of employees are engaged at work. But organizations should try to do better. That’s because high levels of employee engagement lead to happier employees, improved productivity, and lower rates of attrition.

Employee engagement is always a challenge. But engaging employees in a frontline organization can be particularly tricky. When your workers are deskless, how do you give them the connection, coaching, and support they need to thrive within your organization?

A modern intranet gives you all of the tools you need to engage your employees, regardless of where they work. You can count on a social feed, a content hub, employee recognition tools, surveys, and more.

With analytics too, you can see what is engaging your employees — and what isn’t — so you can improve your efforts going forward.

2. Communication

Open communication within a workplace is vital. It helps you inform, motivate, and engage your employees, while fostering an inclusive and supportive work environment. It involves top-down, bottom-up, and peer-to-peer communication, so everyone has a voice. 

For frontline teams, maintaining open channels of communication within teams who don’t work face-to-face requires tailored solutions.

A modern intranet helps you build internal communication links between every member of your workforce — whether they’re based in the office, on the shop floor, or out in the field.

You don’t need to rely on emails or a company noticeboard. Instead, all types of internal communication are supported via your intranet app.  

With better communication, you bring your teams together and you may find it easier to grow your company too. A Forbes study found that companies who involve 75% of their frontline in internal comms, achieved more than 20% growth over a year.

3. Digital access

Older intranet software is built around an outdated version of the workplace. It doesn’t prioritize the mobile experience and instead works best for employees who sit at a desk on a computer for the majority of each working day.

Newer intranets understand that the world of work has changed. Digital tools are a workplace essential. And frontline, hybrid, and remote teams should have equal access to the information and interaction that these tools provide.

That’s why the best modern intranets have a mobile-first design. Employees can access them as easily on a small smartphone screen as on a desktop computer. All workers across an organization are engaged and empowered, so no one misses out.

4. Collaboration

Traditional intranets are known for being slow and difficult to use, with low rates of user adoption. In fact, 57% of employees say they see no purpose in their company intranet.

This impacts collaboration. When employees avoid your intranet — because it isn’t intuitive to use or data is hard to find — knowledge sharing suffers and you risk creating organizational silos.

For frontline teams, this exacerbates an existing risk. Frontline workers spend time away from HQ, working different shift patterns, and managing a high workload. These factors already get in the way of team collaboration.

Luckily, this is another frontline challenge that a modern intranet can solve. The intranet allows people across your organization to share ideas and objectives via an easy-to-use interface.

Everyone can contribute, even those who work remotely, making your organization more productive, more innovative, and better able to solve problems.

Features of a modern intranet

We’ve touched on what makes a modern intranet different from the other intranet software available. But now we’re going to delve into the details. Here are features you can expect from the newest intranets  and how they stand to benefit your business.   

A central hub

A modern intranet acts as the gateway to your business. It’s the go-to location for company communication and knowledge sharing.

With a single, searchable hub, it’s easy for employees to find what they’re looking for, whether that’s essential documents, a directory of co-workers, or a list of the latest company events.

Importantly, information is stored logically and consistently. And the advanced search functionality of a modern intranet — thanks to keyword suggestions and content tagging — means it’s always clear what information is and isn’t available.

User friendly interfaces

Modern intranets are familiar to their users. That’s partly because they can be customized with employer branding. But it’s also because they have an intuitive, user friendly interface that mirrors many of the digital tools employees already feel comfortable using.

Employees don’t need a company email address to sign in. They can get notifications whenever important information is posted. And it’s easy to download intranet apps from the App Store. This means very little training is required.

Personalized experiences

Personalization makes the modern intranet even more engaging for users. Employees can personalize their dashboard and see content tailored to their role and department.

You can also program your intranet so it presents different information depending on where an employee is at in their career and how much time they’ve spent with the company. Someone who started working for you last week will get different intranet content to someone who has been working for you for years.

Communication tools

Managers can share important news and announcements. Teams can share ideas. An employee can wish a coworker a happy birthday. With a variety of communication tools based within the same intranet software, meaningful communication becomes second nature.

Employees don’t have to switch between different platforms for informal co-worker chat, essential C-suite comms, and knowledge sharing resources. They can easily find communications, and contribute to them too, all within the same interface.

It’s also easy for managers to highlight need-to-know information.Push notifications and mandatory reads ensure essential information never goes unread.  

Real-time communication

Asynchronous communication is important for teams who work across different time zones or shift patterns. But real-time communication is also crucial for your organization. It allows employees to communicate as if they were in the same physical location — even when they’re not.

This allows for faster decision-making, improved problem-solving, and better collaboration. It also helps employees to feel more connected to one another — because real-time communication mirrors face-to-face communication in a way that an email thread just can’t.

Employee recognition

Employee recognition isn’t always easy when employees work disparately. Managers have to be intentional about praise and recognition because they get few informal opportunities to show their appreciation.

With built-in employee recognition features, a modern intranet makes it easy for you to motivate and incentivize your team.

Managers are prompted to recognize employee anniversaries and milestones. Peers can celebrate coworker wins. And some intranet software even provides recognition leaderboards and real-life rewards as further incentive for hard work.

Collaboration tools

The modern intranet makes collaboration a priority. It provides features that support collaboration for teams who don’t necessarily work in the same office.

From shared calendars to real-time chat, document sharing to task allocation, a modern intranet helps teams work together, even when they’re physically apart.

Mobile compatibility

Workers no longer have to be chained to their desktop computers in order to get the most from the intranet experience. Modern intranets are mobile responsive. They offer the same user experience and the same great features whichever device employees have access to during their workday.

This means frontline, remote, and hybrid workers enjoy the same intranet experience as their desk-based peers. And you create a joined-up organization in which all workers are treated equally.

Integration capabilities

Modern intranet software integrates with the digital tools and data sources you already use within your organization. It creates a seamless experience for employees.

They don’t need to log in to multiple platforms and deal with repetitive or conflicting information. Everything is available via the same intranet hub.

For your management team, integration makes everything more efficient. You don’t need to duplicate work over different tools, which means you improve data accuracy too.

Feedback functions

Good internal communication goes both ways. And with modern intranet feedback functions, it’s easy to find out what your employees are thinking and feeling at any given moment.

Surveys and forms are delivered in a user friendly format so a higher proportion of your employees is likely to respond. And with accurate insight into employee sentiment, you can create better employee experiences, making informed decisions based on what your workforce really wants and needs.

Security

When you opt for a modern intranet, security comes as standard. The best providers work by recognized cybersecurity guidelines.

They provide data encryption and data backup. Regular penetration testing ensures the system always provides a strong defense against cyber-attack. And access controls mean admin teams can choose with members of your organization can see sensitive information.

Analytics to optimize and measure

The best modern intranets offer analytics too, meaning you get real-time data on employee engagement and the employee experience.

You can track a variety of metrics — things like user activity, co-worker interactions, likes, searches, and downloads. And then you can view these results in a visual, easy-to-digest format.

Along with surveys and feedback forms, intranet analytics gives insight into how employees use the software and how it impacts their overall experience of the workplace. This empowers you to make data-driven improvements.

How modern intranets impact the digital employee experience

The digital employee experience (DEX) is how employees feel about the digital tools they use within the workplace. For optimal DEX, you need digital tools that support and streamline every employee workflow, without creating points of friction.  

DEX comes under the umbrella of employee experience (EX). But we’d argue that, in a digital workplace, DEX isn’t just part of the EX picture. It’s integral to it. In fact, we can relate DEX to nearly all of the nine EX elements identified by McKinsey.

Source: McKinsey

Digital tools affect:

• social relationships in the workplace
• an employee’s sense of belonging
• an employee’s sense of growth, purpose, and motivation
• how employees feel about their productivity and efficiency

The company intranet is inevitably a big part of employees’ digital experience. And when you replace a traditional intranet with modern software, designed to meet the expectations and needs of today’s employees, you impact DEX in all of the following ways. 

Enhanced communication

These days, we rely on digital communication tools to connect frontline, hybrid, and remote working teams. It’s important to EX that teams get the same level of connection and knowledge sharing, and the same sense of belonging, that they’d get working face-to-face.

Modern intranet software is built with team communication at its core. It understands that, in a digital workplace, informal water cooler chats aren’t always possible.

So it provides teams with communication tools that create a sense of physical togetherness, even when teams work disparately.

With Blink Chat, for example, employees can message each other in real-time. They can chat one-on-one or set up Group Chats for multiple team members. Within chats, employees can send messages, send documents, and even start online voice or video meetings, straight from the app.

But the modern intranet doesn’t just facilitate peer-to-peer communication. It also gives managers the communication tools they need to enhance the employee experience.

This is where the Blink Feed comes in. Via a familiar, social media-style feed, leadership can post company-wide communications. They can guide company culture and broadcast important news, motivating and informing employees in the process.

Employee techquity

Employee techquity is achieved when frontline workers have equal access to the digital tools, resources, and people they need to succeed. Older intranet systems tend to leave frontline and remote workers behind. They fail to address many of the key challenges faced by frontline teams.

This means frontline and remote employees miss out on the opportunities afforded to desk-based staff. They find it harder to advance in their careers, they don’t always have access to the same tools, tech, and training, and they can end up feeling disconnected from company HQ.

A modern, mobile-first intranet helps to create a fairer working environment. All employees get to use exactly the same functions and features, whether they access the platform via a desktop computer or a smartphone device.

A modern intranet is easy to use, so frontline workers can dip into internal comms during a busy work day. It also acknowledges the fact that many frontline workers don’t have a company email address, so provides alternative login methods.

By providing an equal digital experience for all workers within your organization, everyone gets the tools they need to do their job — and everyone enjoys a sense of connection and belonging.

Learn more: Download our ebook, Achieving Employee Techquity 

The right resources

Employees enjoy a better workplace experience when they feel they’re working to the best of their ability.

In a digital workplace, this means having the right information, along with the right collaboration and productivity tools. And this is another area of DEX that a modern intranet can help with.

A modern intranet acts as a content hub for your organization. But unlike old intranet software, this new style of content management system is well-organized and user friendly. It’s easy to find and read policy documents and to collaborate on files with co-workers.

Just take a look at the Blink Hub. It’s a content management system that puts policies, training materials, and manuals in one convenient, easy-to-access location. 

A drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add content. And because the Blink Hub is available via desktop and mobile apps, every member of your organization can access it.

A modern intranet can also provide self-service functions, another big plus for the digital employee experience. 

When employees can book shifts, request annual leave, register for a training course, and access pay stubs all from the same platform, work admin becomes much less of a headache.

Employee engagement

Engaged workers feel emotionally connected to their work and co-workers. They feel aligned with company values and empowered to work productively.

A poor digital employee experience gets in the way of engagement. But there are lots of ways that a positive DEX — supported by a modern intranet — can enhance it.

The social features of a cutting-edge intranet — like social feeds, discussion forums, and employee profiles — help employees build meaningful connections with people at all levels of your organization.

Employee recognition and reward functions within the intranet also boost engagement. Employees understand their goals and how these goals relate to the overarching company mission. A culture of recognition and rewards — made easy with intranet tools — then incentivizes them to meet their objectives.

Another way that your intranet can improve employee engagement is with employee personalization.

Workers get to personalize the platform dashboard to make it more relevant and engaging. Admins can adapt content too, tailoring it to the needs of workers at each stage in the employee lifecycle.

Analytics and feedback

Modern intranets make it easy for you to gather information on the digital employee experience. You can launch surveys, send out forms, and dive into the analytics provided by your platform.

This is a huge bonus to your DEX strategy. Because you don’t need to stab in the dark. You have all the data you need to make targeted EX improvements.  

View data on employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention. See what content performs best to improve your content management strategy. Understand how your teams interact, identifying co-worker relationships that need a little TLC.

A tool like Blink Analytics allows you to really drill down into the data. You can segment it based on team or location. So you understand exactly how your digital workplace is working for each member of your organization. 

Simplicity

Some organizations have approached the challenge of digital transformation by acquiring tech tools for every business function. But this isn’t an effective way of doing things.

Gartner research shows that application sprawl (when workers are expected to use multiple digital tools) turns up the volume without improving communication.

When workers use multiple apps, it affects productivity too. Workers could save up to 10 hours per week simply by reducing the number of tech tools and apps they use.

Simplifying and streamlining the technology you use can therefore have a huge impact on the digital employee experience.

When workers have a single, go-to platform, there’s less friction. Employees aren’t constantly pinged with notifications from multiple apps. They don’t have to familiarize themselves with different interfaces. And it’s easy to find the information and tools they need.

Choosing the right modern intranet

We’ve covered all of the reasons that a modern intranet might benefit your organization. But with numerous intranet options out there, how do you choose the right one for your business?

Let’s take a look at a couple of questions you can ask when looking for intranet software that meets the needs of your organization and employees.  

Is the software built to scale?

An intranet is a big investment of time and money. It also quickly becomes a central part of your company operations. So you don’t want to be changing it in a hurry.

When choosing an intranet, look for a solution that can grow with your business. Consider whether an intranet contender will continue to meet your needs if you experience a period of rapid growth and need to take on lots more staff.

Scalable intranets offer bespoke pricing for enterprise clients (per-user pricing can become unaffordable as your team grows). They’re also cloud-based, so you don’t have to rely on on-premise infrastructure when you need to expand capability. 

Some other considerations to bear in mind? You need access controls suited to large teams, the option to create communication channels for each team or department, and the right level of security and support for a bigger organization.  

Is mobile access a priority?

If you have any workers who don’t spend their workday sitting behind a desk, then a mobile-first intranet is the only logical choice.

On-premise solutions aren’t always accessible via mobile devices. You may even find that remote desk workers, using a laptop or desktop computer, have to jump through VPN hoops to access intranet content.

A mobile-first intranet is designed to work well — and provide the same features — over any device and from any location. So it’s particularly useful for frontline teams who need to access internal info on the go, using their smartphone.

Does the solution provide analytics?

The best intranet solutions give you the analytics and reporting features you need to measure the success of your new platform.

They provide data on employee engagement, content performance, user behavior, employee retention, and employee satisfaction. With real insight, you can identify areas for improvement and make targeted changes. 

Only shortlist solutions that offer robust analytics functions. They should be able to provide data on a wide range of metrics, allow you to segment data by a variety of user groups, and provide real-time data. They should also present all data in a visual, easy to understand way.  

Does the intranet integrate with your existing technology?

One of the key benefits of a modern intranet is its simplicity. It brings all of the communication and collaboration tools your digital workplace needs into the same platform.

The ideal intranet will meet your business needs in terms of two-way communication, content management, and collaboration. But it should also integrate with any of the tech tools you already use.  

You need to know that any payroll, project management, or customer service software can integrate seamlessly with your intranet. And that these tools will continue to work just as well as before.

A new intranet shouldn’t negatively impact the adoption of your current tools. Instead, streamlining your digital tools should actually improve uptake.

Is the intranet user friendly?

An intranet only benefits your company (in all of the ways listed above) if your employees actually use it. So you need a solution that is intuitive and easy to learn, even if your team isn’t super tech-savvy.

Look for an intranet with a user friendly interface. It should feel familiar even if you’ve never used it before. Also, ensure it includes all of the self-service and search functions that make life easy for your teams.

User friendliness is particularly important for frontline teams. Working away from a desk, often with limited time for company comms, your intranet needs to be so easy and engaging that these remote, time-poor workers choose to open the app and check in.

When conducting your software search, it can be helpful to look at adoption and intranet usage stats. If other organizations, with a similar structure to yours, have managed to persuade their workers to use a particular intranet solution, then the platform will probably work well for you too.

Want to head straight to the best of the bunch? Then start your intranet journey by comparing the 16 top intranet software providers.

Conclusion

Ever since its introduction in the 1990s, the intranet has been an integral part of company operations. But today, organizations are moving away from older intranet versions to embrace a newer, slicker, more effective modern intranet.

A modern intranet supports the creation of a truly digital workplace. It gives frontline, remote, and office-based teams everything they need to work happily and productively. Because it provides a beautiful interface, designed to meet the needs of digital workers, employees actually enjoy using it too.  

Choose the right modern intranet and you’ll improve the way your teams communicate and collaborate. You’ll improve DEX and employee engagement, so employee retention gets easier.

You’ll also avoid some of the pitfalls of digital transformation, preventing application sprawl by making all tech tools available via the same user friendly dashboard. 

For frontline organizations, the modern intranet really comes into its own. Mobile-first, intuitive design with a real-time communication focus, ensures everyone – whether they work on the frontline or in an office – has access to the tools and information they need.

If you’re ready to benefit your employees and your organization by adopting a cutting-edge intranet solution, take a look at Blink —– a platform designed specifically for frontline teams. Blink does everything a modern intranet does, and more.

Employees get a social feed and a content hub. They can access self-service functions, make their voice heard via company-wide surveys, and receive recognition for a job well done.

As an organization, you can count on analytics and top-notch security. Blink also integrates with many of the most popular workplace apps out there, so it fits seamlessly into your workflow.

Blink has all the tools you need to make your frontline organization more connected, collaborative, and successful. So why not book a demo to see Blink in action?

Meet Lewis Tran, London-based Senior Front-End Engineer and one of the creative forces bringing Blink’s user experience to life.

Just over two years ago, Lewis joined the team with a passion for building intuitive, impactful products. Since then, he’s been at the forefront of developing features that land directly in the hands of our users — shaping the way thousands of frontline employees connect, communicate, and get work done.

We sat down with Lewis to talk about innovation, problem-solving, and what it’s like to craft products that make a real difference every day. Let’s dive in.

#1. What is your Blink background?

I am a Senior Front-end Engineer working out of the London office. I have been at Blink just about over 2 years.

#2. What initially attracted you to join Blink?

Initially, I didn’t know much about Blink. But I’d worked at a startup before and knew I wanted to be in a fast-paced environment again. It wasn’t until I started interviewing that I got to learn more about what Blink does and get a taste of the product. It was easy to see the potential of Blink platform, and as a front-end engineer who loves building product, I was excited to explore those opportunities.

#3. What’s a project you are proud of from your time at Blink?

One project I’m especially proud of isn’t the biggest or flashiest, but it means a lot to me — an AI feature we built that started from an internal hackathon. About a year ago, we held an AI hackathon where people pitched ideas for using AI internally or in the product. I designed a prototype for a feed post summary tool, where you could select multiple posts and quickly generate summaries with links back to the originals. The idea was to make it easier to highlight key content in busy feeds.

The day after I presented it, Lauren reached out to ask if we could actually build it into the product. At that point, it was just a prototype, but we developed it further, integrated it into the app, and eventually launched it as part of our Blink Assist AI feature. Going from idea to a released product in just a few weeks was a great experience.

#4. How would you describe the company culture at Blink in three words?

Passionate, dynamic, and supportive.

Everyone here is excited about building a great product and solving real problems. There’s never a dull day, and while challenges come up, people are always ready to help each other out. That level of support makes Blink a really great place to work.

#5. What’s one thing you’re excited about for the future of Blink?

There’s still so much untapped potential in the employee communications space. Our customers face real challenges, and we have the opportunity to solve them in ways that make a genuine difference to employees’ lives. As an engineer, that’s incredibly exciting — designing solutions, speaking with customers, and creating tools that have a tangible impact on companies and their people.

#6. Can you tell us about a recent initiative or program launched at Blink that you found particularly exciting?

We have an internal initiative called Adopt a Customer, which has been running since the beginning of the year. Once a week, someone at Blink presents one of the companies using our platform. It’s a great way to see the variety of organizations we work with — from large logistics companies to small gyms — and to understand the broad impact Blink has.

I might be biased, but I’m especially excited to present my adopted customer. They’re a fantastic company, and I think everyone at Blink should hear about them and learn how they’re using the product.

#7. Why do you work for Blink?

For me, it’s about solving interesting problems every day — problems that have a real impact on people’s lives. That’s a unique and privileged position to be in. As an engineer, you don’t always get to work on something you believe in or feel passionate about, but at Blink, the mission and the product are perfectly aligned for me.

That combination makes me want to keep building the best product possible and finding solutions to the challenges our customers face. It’s exciting, meaningful work — and Blink is the perfect place for that.

‍

Today marks the beginning of a new dawn in digital employee experience. In the next 12 months, 7 million workers will have to transfer from Workplace by Meta to another solution. This represents a fundamental opportunity for us to uplift the experience of 7 million workers, by migrating to a more modern, integrated digital platform for work. A platform that combines communications with broader connectivity to applications, information and workflow.

Workplace by Meta was a great product, but it hasn’t kept up with the developments in recent years as Meta prioritized and moved on to new projects. We’ve already helped many organizations migrate from Workplace to Blink, and they’ve experienced the benefits of our ‘super-app’ and integrated experience. This new approach appeals to all workers in a way ‘social at work’ never did, especially with deskless workers.

As a company, our priority right now is on the 7 million  Workplace users who will be losing access to technology over the next 12 months. Employees apps should never be “just about good enough" technology, they make the experience of being employed a simple and fulfilling one. Whether it’s communicating with peers, finding out news or accessing systems, these products, when built and implemented well, become indispensable to day to day working life, so to have that taken away will no doubt be disruptive for employees and employers alike.

My biggest disappointment in all of this though, is the decision to name a solitary preferred migration partner, which won’t meet the needs of many Workplace customers. Buying technology is a significant event for any business, and takes significant time and effort to choose what is right for you, and your people. So the decision for Meta to direct their users to a single platform on the mistaken assumption that it will meet their operational needs, is quite honestly baffling.  It’s made more baffling by the fact Blink and other vendors already have the proven capabilities to seamlessly migrate Workplace customers. And for many companies, the best solution for them won’t be the ‘default’ one.

One size fits all is never the correct approach in employee technology. You as leaders know your people and company, and likely spend weeks and months picking what you decided was best for you….to then wake up on a Tuesday morning in the middle of May and be told that you’ll be using a new platform next year? It just doesn’t feel right.  As leaders, you deserve the ability to choose what is right for you, and that feels like it’s being taken away. 

My advice to any leaders impacted by the closure of Workplace is to pause and take a look at the alternatives. This is an opportunity to upgrade your digital experience, not simply accept the like for like solution being offered. 

At Blink, we specialize in helping companies reach every worker - especially the hard to reach deskless workforce. Our in house, digital transformation consultants work with customers to ensure a frictionless move from one platform to another, and then partner with you to improve the metrics that matter to you, including engagement, retention and efficiency.

Visit https://www.joinblink.com/workplace today to book a migration consultation with one of our team. We want to give you the power to make the right choice for you and your team.

Explore top platforms that deliver more than a SharePoint skin

Akumina positions itself as a digital workplace experience layer built on SharePoint—but for many organizations, it creates more complexity than it solves.

It’s highly customizable, yes—but that often comes with long implementation timelines, heavy IT lift, and limited employee engagement. If you're looking for a solution that’s easier to roll out, more intuitive to use, and built for actual adoption, you're not alone.

In this article, we break down the 12 best Akumina alternatives—modern intranet and employee experience platforms that go beyond SharePoint overlays to deliver real value for today’s hybrid, remote, and mobile workforces.

#1. Blink

Best all-in-one intranet and employee app

Blink is a modern employee platform that combines internal communications, essential tools, and content into one intuitive experience. Unlike Akumina, Blink doesn’t sit on top of SharePoint—it replaces it, offering native mobile and desktop apps that employees actually want to use.

Why Blink over Akumina:

• Lightning-fast deployment (no dev work required)
• Personalized, social-style feed
• Messaging, surveys, forms, and files all in one place
• Works beautifully on mobile and web

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#2. Interact

Best for structured intranets with strong comms features

Interact is a mature intranet platform that offers a blend of content governance and communication tools. It provides more flexibility and a better out-of-the-box experience than Akumina, especially for internal comms teams.

Key strengths:

• Smart content targeting
• Built-in comms features (surveys, likes, comments)
• Page templates and drag-and-drop tools

#3. Simpplr

Best for AI-powered content personalization

Simpplr is a polished, AI-driven intranet focused on employee engagement. It’s known for lifecycle communication (e.g. onboarding, transitions), and offers more automation than Akumina without the same technical setup burden.

Why it stands out:

• AI-powered content surfacing
• Smart search and recommendations
• Built-in templates for lifecycle moments

#4. Staffbase

Best for internal comms at enterprise scale

Staffbase shines when it comes to centralized, top-down communication. With a branded employee app and multi-channel messaging, it’s a better option than Akumina for organizations prioritizing reach and visibility.

Top features:

• Newsletter builder
• Campaign management
• Native mobile app with notifications

#5. LumApps

Best for global enterprise deployments

LumApps offers a broad, customizable employee experience platform with deeper integrations and personalization than Akumina—without being tied to SharePoint. It supports global rollouts and multi-language content delivery.

Why it’s better:

• Google & Microsoft integrations
• AI personalization
• Multilingual and regional content support

#6. Happeo

Best for Google Workspace users

If your organization uses Google Workspace, Happeo is a lightweight, user-friendly intranet that connects seamlessly with your tools. It’s far easier to deploy and use than Akumina, especially for remote teams.

Highlights:

• Tight Google integrations
• Social intranet features
• Customizable layouts

#7. ThoughtFarmer

Best for easy-to-manage intranets

ThoughtFarmer focuses on simplicity and people-first design. Unlike Akumina’s complex configurations, it offers a quick setup and low learning curve—perfect for organizations without large IT departments.

Notable features:

• People directory and profiles
• Easy content editing
• Micro-sites for teams and departments

#8. Igloo

Best for governance and compliance-heavy teams

Igloo is a solid Akumina alternative if your focus is structured content, document control, and knowledge management. It’s more rigid than Blink or Happeo, but ideal for finance, legal, and healthcare.

Strengths:

• Document versioning
• Access controls
• Policy and procedure hubs

#9. Jive

Best for community collaboration

Jive is ideal for organizations that value social collaboration and peer-to-peer interaction. While Akumina layers content, Jive fosters real-time engagement and employee communities.

Features:

• Social groups and forums
• Peer recognition
• Advanced analytics

#10. Haiilo (formerly Smarp)

Best for employee advocacy and engagement

Haiilo is a newer entry but a compelling Akumina alternative if you’re focused on culture, employee voice, and comms amplification. It goes beyond intranet basics into the territory of employee engagement and advocacy.

Why consider Haiilo:

• Omnichannel comms
• Employee-generated content
• Engagement analytics

#11. Noodle

Best for small companies wanting a turnkey intranet

Noodle is a lesser-known but solid option for SMBs. It’s easy to set up and includes standard intranet features without the need for SharePoint or heavy integrations.

Pros:

• Budget-friendly
• Core intranet tools (news, docs, chat)
• On-prem or cloud options

#12. Unily

Best for enterprise intranets with rich features

Unily is a well-known intranet solution with a robust feature set, polished UI, and strong Microsoft integrations. It’s a better alternative to Akumina if you want a full-featured, polished intranet with deep customization—without starting from scratch.

Why it’s a solid pick:

• Beautiful UX
• Strong multilingual and multi-brand support
• Flexible integrations with Microsoft 365 and beyond

Final thoughts: Choosing the right Akumina alternative

Akumina can work well for highly customized intranet needs—but that flexibility often comes at the cost of complexity, budget, and adoption.

Whether you want something faster, simpler, or more engaging, the 12 alternatives above offer modern options that fit different use cases and team types.

Want a platform that people will actually use?‍

Blink replaces legacy intranet headaches with an all-in-one, beautifully simple platform for communication, tools, and culture.