The Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) is a Quebec university institution dedicated exclusively to research and graduate education. Founded in 1969, it comprises five research centers located in Montreal, Quebec City, Laval, Varennes, and Baie de Saint-Paul, each specializing in strategic areas such as health, the environment, energy, telecommunications, urbanization, and society.
As part of its digital transformation, INRS commissioned Nexus Innovations to implement a modern intranet, aimed at standardizing internal communications and improving access to information within the organization.
Business objectives
INRS wanted to address several organizational challenges:
- Centralize documentary information in a single digital space.
- Reduce information overload and the volume of internal emails.
- Standardize communications between different centers and departments.
- Offer a personalized user experience tailored to different profiles (student community, faculty, staff).
- Strengthen the sense of belonging to the organization.
These objectives were defined during the scoping phase through various in-depth analysis workshops in order to obtain a clear picture of the scope of the project and minimize uncertainty and surprises during implementation.
Proposed solution
The solution delivered by Nexus is based on a SharePoint intranet structured around native features to ensure the platform’s scalability and maintainability.
Several customized elements were added to meet the specific needs of INRS:
- Two-level content approval functionality, allowing internal validation by departments, followed by approval by the communications team depending on the type of content.
- Implementation of a governance framework and user guides to facilitate adoption.
- Integration of analytics tools such as Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity to track content consumption by profile and location.
- Advanced search with filters and categorization for efficient navigation.
- Iterative delivery by modules/features every two weeks, accompanied by micro-training and user testing.
Impact on the organization
Expected impacts of the project upon deployment:
- Improved collaboration between teams thanks to a centralized platform.
- Rapid adoption of new communication practices.
- Enhanced content value through attractive visual templates and structured management.
- Strengthened digital governance, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.
- Strong organizational commitment to the project, with a dedicated and proactive team.
Nexus Innovations’ approach allowed INRS to feel supported throughout the project, with clear visibility on deliverables and the efforts required at each stage.
Adoption de la solution
Several factors facilitated adoption:
- An agile delivery methodology, with frequent validations and constant customer involvement.
- Collaborative tools made available (Teams, Miro) to centralize exchanges.
- Progressive user training, allowing them to familiarize themselves with the intranet before final deployment.
- A well-structured change strategy, supported by INRS management and internal teams.
INRS demonstrated a strong commitment to embracing the solution, which greatly contributed to the project’s success.
Project team
The project was led by an experienced Nexus team:
- Alicia Villeneuve, Agile Project Manager.
- Jacques-Alexandre Bergeron, Team Leader, M365 Specialist, Power Platform.
- Armand Sleiman, M365 Specialist, Power Platform.
On the INRS side, a committed and well-structured team worked closely with Nexus Innovations, ensuring smooth communication and effective adoption. The Nexus team particularly enjoyed working with such a committed project team that was receptive to the advice of our specialists.
