Rentokil Initial's Google Sites intranet
2013-07-09
This post is part of series looking at alternative intranets, using cloud-based platforms, like Google Apps and Salesforce.
Rentokil Initial (RI) is a 110-year old company, which now employs over 60,000 employees in over 60 countries across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and Africa. They were a early adopter of Google Apps and also use other hosted solutions in its business, such as Workday SaaS for HR, ServiceNow cloud-based services for automating IT operations, SAP’s Ariba for procurement and Cornerstone OnDemand for global online learning (sources: diginomica.com, HR Magazine (UK)).
RI's main objective for Google Apps was system consolidation. In 2009, CIO magazine (UK) reported:
"The [Rentokil Initial] group currently owns 180 email domains, for instance, and its divisions use more than 40 proprietary or open source email systems between them as well as Microsoft Exchange. The plan is to use no more than six domains, and standardise on the browser-based Google Apps."
RI's global intranet is now also based on Google Sites (you can see the login page here). In 2010, Bryan Kinsella, CIO of Rentokil Initial, told Computer World (UK) they were planning to standardise the 45 intranets that it was then running across the business. Development of the site and initial rollout was completed in 2011:
A recent guest post by Peter Shorney, Global IT Operations Manager at Rentokil Initial, on the Google Enterprise Blog provides some insight into how RI are using Google Apps and Google Sites to create a social intranet:
"Individual teams have fully embraced the opportunity for knowledge sharing, using the group intranet, powered by Google Sites, to post training videos and access technical images. But it’s not all about official documents and meetings: online sharing is helping us to become a more personal, sociable organization, which is important for staff retention and working culture. Colleagues use our intranet to share personal achievements, from sleeping on the streets for a homeless charity to boxing in international championships, giving a true flavor of the diversity within the company."
You can read more about Rentokil Initial's experience with Google Apps and the cloud in these case studies:
- Rentokil Initial: Lessons from a cloud ‘veteran’ (also linked above).
- From pest controllers to interior landscapers: Google Apps has Rentokil Initial working better together (Google Enterprise Blog - also linked above).
BTW not every Google Apps deployment goes as well as Rentokil Initial's journey (which, hasn't been all plain sailing either) - for an alternative view, read Michael Sampson's write up about NZ Post.