We’re excited to share that ClearBox, an independent UK-based business technology consulting firm, featured Axero in their Independent Intranet Report.
With over 200+ worldwide options for intranet products, ClearBox spent 400 hours of research on the report. Scores are based on actual business scenarios, not just features—which we all know can look the same after a while!
Additionally, ClearBox selected products from the report for their annual Intranet Choices publication, which highlights “products that we expect would often be on people’s shortlists.” Axero is proud to have been awarded the North America badge on this list. They note:
“Communifire (from Axero) is a well-developed, established intranet product, with a smooth and contemporary user experience. Navigation revolves around Spaces, which is an atypical approach but is done particularly well with a variety of tools and features included in each”.
We’re really proud of all that we’ve done with Axero Intranet, especially with our latest 8.0 release, and wanted to share with you how it works with some of the scenarios ClearBox looked at for this report.
User Experience and Visual Appeal
We were delighted to be recognized for user experience and visual appeal. ClearBox noted that our built-in interface for page building is incredibly simple to use and the site is clean and contemporary.
ClearBox found that not only was the experience great on desktop, but our mobile approach is also “excellent and highly customizable.”
Today’s employees expect a clean and functional intranet, and we’ve listened closely to our clients’ requests. One of the things we focused on in 8.0 was the mobile experience. A year ago, I couldn’t have imagined our mobile apps as a differentiator in the intranet space. Our apps were good, but they were not customizable, and they only provided a sliver of the functionality of the desktop version.
Today that is a very different story. We’ve invested heavily in our mobile apps. They’re just as customizable as the desktop version with the same drag-and-drop tools our clients love. We also expanded functionality to include all the features you need to stay connected, have conversations, share documents and files, and keep your employees informed.
So we couldn’t have been prouder of this recognition.
News and Publishing
ClearBox found that with Communifire by Axero, publishing content, no matter the format, is simple with a variety of options to choose from.
This is one area where we really shone above the competition, and it’s because we prioritize ease and simplicity.
“Unlike other products in this report, Communifire provides a consistent experience for users in the front and back end. Even though there are a lot of controls and options for admins, down to coding if that’s of interest, the experience is simple and clean”.
—ClearBox
We understand that regardless of whether you’re coding or not, the experience should be easy and beautiful. They also loved that after publication, Axero “works out how long it would take an average user to read the piece and applies this data for an end-user to see”.
Another component they highlighted is the ability to offer direct comparisons between different versions of content, which can be critical for fact-checking and version management.
Overall, ClearBox found that our content lifecycle and management capabilities were robust—and we agree. We designed the Axero Communifire platform with these capabilities because we deeply believe that internal communication drives culture, and culture impacts everything in your business. Simply put, relationships are foundational and your intranet solution should support and empower them.
A recent study from Deloitte supports this, too. It found that 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a “distinct workplace culture is important to business success.”
For us at Axero, it makes sense to cultivate culture with a robust toolset to navigate communication and content.
Table of Contents
Highlighted Features
Apart from business scenarios, ClearBox also highlighted a few features that they found particularly useful.
Here are two where Axero really stood apart from the competition:
Spaces
Spaces are virtual workspaces for any kind of group, and they allow you to cut clutter and streamline communication. Spaces can drive social engagement and collaboration at your organization. Each team, department, or even project can have its own virtual homebase. They are also great for governance, clubs, or affinity groups.
Beyond the value of having a dedicated space for something, the ability to @mention people, content and other spaces helps ensure nobody misses anything. Take a look at our product features page for different options for how to use Spaces.
With Axero, end-users also have access to the same WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) form as content owners, so comments can be rich—with video or emojis, for example. Gifs, emojis, and multimedia elements add personality and spark to communication—so why wouldn’t we include them as an option to boost employee engagement?
This brings us to our wildcard entry, which we submitted to ClearBox: gamification and employee recognition.
Employee Recognition and Gamification
Gamification helps keep employees engaged and motivated—whether it’s by celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, sending kudos, or showing appreciation, people love to earn points.
The admin sets the parameters, and has control over what badges people can earn and whether they’re Space-specific or organization-wide. For example, Challenge Badges can be timed to align with a specific campaign. And Kudos Badges come from peer recognition—employees can use them to say “Thank You” for help during a project, or to acknowledge someone’s skills that exceed their job description.
This built-in structure helps grow a community based on appreciation and relationships across organizations, avoiding silos and departments that are disconnected from everyone else.
Other Shoutouts
ClearBox highlighted a few other aspects of Communifire by Axero, including how easy it is to find information. One of the key benefits they point out is, “the search and browsing experience is one of the strongest we’ve seen.”
ClearBox also points out our integration with Elasticsearch. Information isn’t very useful if you can’t easily access it, so we made sure the integration was strong. They said, the Elasticsearch experience on Communifire is very good. Everything that you can find on Communifire is indexed, including PDF content, and results are returned weighted by relevancy. Users can then apply filters to drill down to what they want, such as author, Space, or publication period.”
Finally, ClearBox recognized our customer service, which was mentioned specifically by Axero clients. Clients told ClearBox that “they (Axero) were ‘great, very helpful’ and ‘always willing to find a solution’.” Another described Axero as “outstanding and beyond” adding “they go out of their way to assist.”
We pride ourselves on best-in-industry customer support with the promise and delivery of a quick response, no matter the time of day or night. I’m personally thrilled to see our clients acknowledge our efforts.
Wrapping Up a Great Honor
ClearBox doesn’t accept any fees for vendor inclusion, has no re-seller relationships or sponsorship, and they don’t sell any software products. They are unbiased in their evaluations, and we are honored that Axero Communifire is one of the solutions they featured.
Their consultants bring world-class intranet and internal comms experience with over 100 years in the industry, including work with companies such as AstraZeneca, Diageo, GSK, Marie Curie, Ofgem, Rio Tinto, Royal British Legion, Sony, TUI Travel, Unilever, and Vodafone.
If you’d like to read the report for yourself, you can find it here. And if you have a question about Axero intranet or want to see the features in action, our Client Success Team is here to help you. Connect with us to learn more.
