Innovation is not merely the result of financial incentives or the brilliant breakthroughs of a few individuals. It is born where there is a favorable environment for ideas to grow. When people have access to knowledge, the necessary tools, and the ability to collaborate effectively, their ideas evolve, expand, and transform into truly groundbreaking solutions. This is why corporate culture, internal communication, and the environment that enable employees to generate and realize their ideas play such a crucial role. Behind every innovation stand people – experts who bring cutting-edge solutions to life. With this understanding, BAKOTECH invests not only in expanding its solution portfolio but also in its team and in creating optimal conditions for productive work. This, in turn, enables the company to deliver the highest level of service to its partners. The implementation of the SmartPoint Intranet solution has become another strategic step toward strengthening BAKOTECH’s human capital. So how exactly did the launch of the corporate portal help the company enhance its communication processes and boost the efficiency of its HR department? Read the full story in this new case study from SMART business!
How Processes Worked Before Implementation – and What Factors Triggered the Need for a New Solution
The company’s active growth, expansion into new markets, and the scaling of cross-functional teams became key factors that called for a more streamlined approach to BAKOTECH’s internal communications and HR processes. Existing tools such as Outlook, Teams, and other Microsoft products performed their roles well – both when the team had fewer than 100 employees and during the phase of rapid growth. However, relying solely on these tools made it increasingly difficult to keep everyone informed about important updates, quickly find necessary documents and corporate information, conduct comprehensive onboarding for new hires, and cover the broader range of tasks handled by the HR department. All of this pointed out the need for additional tools. When the company grew to over 200 employees, the old approach required reinforcement to meet key needs, specifically:
- The need for a centralized platform that would provide quick access to corporate information and company resources.
- Expanding the capabilities for automation and personalization of processes such as onboarding or familiarization with company policies – of which BAKOTECH has more than 150, spanning nine countries. Each of these jurisdictions has its own specific policies and regulations governing employee activities and internal procedures, which require a thoughtful approach to data organization and structuring. This called for the creation of a single platform that would enable efficient management of large volumes of information and grant easy access to employees across different countries.
- The ability to seamlessly integrate communication and HR processes within a single digital environment, eliminating the constant need to switch between different programs and systems.
The company was looking for a solution that would enhance our onboarding process, ensure effective introduction of employees to our company structure, policies, corporate culture, management, and other essential aspects of BAKOTECH’s operations. We chose SMART business and the SmartPoint Intranet solution, as it fully met these requirements
Since the company was already actively using Microsoft tools, choosing SmartPoint Intranet was a natural next step. This software solution is built on Microsoft 365, allowing the customer to smoothly integrate it into their familiar ecosystem. At the same time, SmartPoint Intranet enabled the company to quickly establish a unified digital communication environment thanks to a wide range of additional corporate portal components. The features that became a priority for BAKOTECH included:
- Personal Dashboard with a Knowledge Base
- Organizational Structure of the Company
- Employee Directory
- News Feed
- Q&A Section
- Photo and Video Gallery Module
How the SmartPoint Intranet Implementation Went: Challenges, Tasks, and the Vendor’s Role in Solving Them
The implementation of SmartPoint Intranet at BAKOTECH followed a classic scenario: the company deployed an out-of-the-box version of the solution, which offered the advantage of having all the essential modules already available within the intranet, along with the ability to quickly launch the system and further customize it as needed.
As part of the implementation project, SMART business configured the system’s integration with Microsoft Entra ID to automatically retrieve employee and department data. This approach offered a number of benefits:
- Keeping the data in the Organizational Structure and Employee Directory up to date – when a new employee joins the company, an existing employee’s position changes, or someone transfers to another department, these changes are automatically reflected in the internal portal.
- Reducing the workload for HR and IT departments – there is no need to manually create or update employee profiles in SmartPoint Intranet, which saves HR and IT specialists time on system administration.
Additionally, during the implementation, the solution was fine-tuned to adjust the display of employee names and surnames in the web parts of the HR module, taking into account the way this data was entered by the customer in Microsoft Entra ID.
Particular attention was also paid by both the vendor and the customer to organizing the Knowledge Base. BAKOTECH developed its own approach by dividing the Knowledge Base into regional pages for each country where the company operates. Since each jurisdiction has its own specific policies and regulations, it was crucial to implement an access control system. SMART business helped configure this logic so that each country would have its own set of policies, and employees would only have access to the documents relevant to them. This setup ensured that:
- Policies and internal regulatory documents are displayed only to employees for whom they are applicable.
- Employees working in Ukraine see Ukrainian policies, while their colleagues in Poland, for example, see Polish ones.
- The system takes into account the legislative and corporate standards of each country to ensure compliance with local requirements.
- Document access is configured based on roles and access rights, preventing employees from viewing information that is not intended for them.
Our Knowledge Base in SmartPoint Intranet has grown to an impressive scale: 9 countries, over 150 policies – and each policy is a separate page. Yet everything is well organized, intuitive, and convenient to use. We filled the system from scratch – it was a labor-intensive process, but we accepted the challenge because we aimed to create a unified digital environment where all our specialists could interact comfortably. As a result, we’ve built a valuable resource for all our colleagues, which is a major achievement for an international company with such a wide geographic reach
Thus, SmartPoint Intranet allowed the company to streamline its work with corporate documentation – making the documents personalized while ensuring the storage environment remained secure.
The BAKOTECH team involved both HR representatives and technical administrators in the project. A key success factor was the customer’s careful preparation of the content needed to populate the new system:
The customer approached the preparation of materials for implementation very responsibly and thoroughly, delivering a large volume of well-structured information on time – which significantly optimized the process. In many projects, one of the key challenges is the lack of ready-made content. But in BAKOTECH’s case, all the necessary data were provided even before the project officially started, which greatly contributed to smooth implementation
Moreover, the customer fully understood the importance of loading real data into the new system from day one. They prepared articles for the portal’s homepage, materials for the News section, and other content so the interface wouldn’t look “empty” immediately after the Go-Live.
BAKOTECH also highlighted the administrator training stage, conducted by SMART business experts as part of the implementation project. However, no matter how thoroughly the theory is covered or how detailed the system walkthroughs are during training, real-life scenarios often raise additional questions. For the customer, it was especially valuable that the implementation team remained available even after the project was officially completed. SMART business quickly provided extra free training hours once the administrators had some hands-on experience with the system, allowing them to address questions arising directly from real-world use. This post-project support helped boost the administrators’ confidence in using the corporate portal and minimized potential startup challenges.
The synergy between the two teams, regular productive meetings, the customer’s engagement, and the vendor’s ongoing support all contributed to effective communication and prompt resolution of both organizational and technical issues at every stage of the project. All these factors – combined with SMART business’s well-structured implementation plan – allowed the project to be completed on schedule within the planned 12 weeks.
The First Results of Using the Portal: How the Team Responded to the Change and Which Employee Engagement Methods Proved Most Effective
During the implementation of SmartPoint Intranet into BAKOTECH’s existing business processes, one of the key challenges for the customer was overcoming the team’s initial concerns about the new system. The company’s goal was to ensure an organic and stress-free introduction to the corporate portal, easing the typical anxieties that arise when adopting something new and unfamiliar. Like any company, BAKOTECH aimed to ensure both the return on investment and the system’s effectiveness.
To facilitate this, the company assembled a pilot group whose members acted as “internal testers”, carefully identifying any minor issues that needed adjustments. Feedback from this group allowed the portal to be even better tailored to the employees’ individual needs and preferences. Once the pilot phase was complete, communication was expanded to the entire company. To increase engagement and encourage exploration of the portal, BAKOTECH launched a special content series within SmartPoint Intranet. Each week, the team published bite-sized mini-news updates starting with: “Did you know that…”. These posts offered users quick and practical tips on how to use different components and tools of the new portal. For instance, one week would highlight the benefits of browsing the Organizational Structure, and another would focus on the Knowledge Base. This strategy proved highly effective, helping employees gradually adapt and integrate SmartPoint Intranet into their daily routines. One-on-one conversations also revealed that specialists often found more than just answers to their immediate questions — while browsing the portal, they would discover other useful resources, which encouraged deeper and more frequent use of the system.
Special attention was given to long-standing employees, as they were more accustomed to existing processes and naturally viewed change as a challenge. Interestingly, for new hires who joined the company after the portal’s launch, SmartPoint Intranet quickly became a standard, everyday tool – since new employees are granted access from their very first working day as part of the onboarding process.
The implementation of SmartPoint Intranet was a significant milestone for the HR department. Today, the portal serves as an effective onboarding tool, providing new employees with all the essential information about the company, their colleagues, office locations, corporate values, policies, and more. The solution helps make the onboarding process more autonomous, structured, and comfortable for everyone involved.
According to the customer, around 70% of employees have already used the portal at least once to browse specific materials. At the same time, the company continues to explore new initiatives to further increase employee engagement.
Additionally, BAKOTECH discussed plans to enhance analytics by using Microsoft’s free service, Microsoft Clarity. This tool offers features such as heatmaps, user journey tracking, and session recordings, which will enable the company to gather deeper insights into how employees interact with the portal.
We understand that in order to be a source of innovation for others, we must constantly evolve ourselves. That’s why we actively implement modern solutions within the company – to optimize workflows, improve communication, and boost team productivity. With SmartPoint Intranet, our company has gained a universal tool that enables seamless communication, easy access to essential policies, guidelines, and other corporate information – all in one place. Now, employees can quickly find what they need without wasting time searching across various systems or local files. The solution has significantly improved the onboarding process and reduced the workload on our HR specialists
Strategic employee engagement, attention to detail, combined with vendor expertise and ongoing support – these were the key factors that ensured the smooth and successful implementation of BAKOTECH’s corporate portal.
If your company is also aiming to strengthen its corporate culture, embrace modern tools for automating operational processes, and foster efficient internal communication, SMART business solutions can help you reach those goals. As a trendsetter in the world of innovation, the SMART business team believes modern technology helps free up valuable time and resources, enabling businesses to focus on generating new ideas, developing human capital, and strengthening their competitive edge. SmartPoint Intranet is more than just a portal – it’s a reliable assistant designed to structure your workflows, safeguard important information, and create a digital space for seamless collaboration. Curious to see if SmartPoint Intranet is the right fit for your business needs? Request a free demo, and SMART business experts will help you unlock the solution’s full potential for your company!
