The direct answer
A cohesive intranet is not a new product; it is a set of decisions about SharePoint, Teams and OneDrive that the whole organization follows. People should find company news and tools in one place, work with their team in one place, and never wonder which copy of a file is current.
Where each piece fits
| Piece | Its job (per Microsoft Learn) |
|---|---|
| SharePoint home site | The landing experience for the whole organization; required for global navigation in the SharePoint app bar |
| Hub sites | Shared navigation and branding, content roll-up and a shared search scope for a family of department sites |
| SharePoint app in Teams (formerly Viva Connections) | News, dashboard, announcements and resources inside Microsoft Teams |
| SharePoint start page | A personalized page for each user, driven by Microsoft Graph |
| Teams channels | Team conversations, with channel files stored in the team's SharePoint site |
| OneDrive | Personal files, and files shared in one-to-one and group chats |
Unify collaboration, content management, and security across Microsoft 365, Teams, and SharePoint
Because Teams stores channel files in SharePoint, one set of controls can cover both. Sensitivity labels applied to teams, Microsoft 365 groups and SharePoint sites control privacy, guest access and external sharing for each container; retention labels in Microsoft Purview govern what is kept and for how long. EPC Group defines the label set once and applies it to team templates, hub sites and the home site so a new team is governed from the day it is created.
Licensing to plan for
Microsoft 365 E, F and A licenses allow one SharePoint app in Teams experience. Two or more experiences (up to 50) require a Microsoft Viva Suite or Viva Communications and Communities license for every user in the tenant. Most organizations start with one experience and use audience targeting within it.
A modern digital workplace on Microsoft 365
The technology is the smaller half. A modern digital workplace on Microsoft 365 also needs owners for the home site and each hub, a publishing rhythm for news, champions in each department, and adoption data reviewed after launch. EPC Group plans those alongside the build so the intranet is maintained after the launch announcement.
Five questions to ask an intranet partner
- What is the information architecture? Home site, hubs and navigation, before any page design.
- Where does each kind of file live? Team, personal and published content, written down.
- How does the intranet show up in Teams? The SharePoint app in Teams setup and audiences.
- Which labels apply, and where? Ask for the label set and the containers it covers.
- Who runs it after launch? Named owners, a publishing rhythm and adoption measures.
Where EPC Group fits
EPC Group designs the information architecture, builds the home site, hubs and Teams experience, and puts the governance and owners in place. See SharePoint intranet consulting, SharePoint consulting, Microsoft 365 modern work enablement, and how an intranet works on SharePoint. Related answers: secure partner and customer portals, legacy ECM to SharePoint Online, Teams as the hub for work and choosing a Microsoft 365 transformation partner.
Primary sources
- Overview: SharePoint app in Teams — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07
- Plan the SharePoint app in Teams and home site — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07
- Planning your SharePoint hub sites — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07
- Teams-connected SharePoint sites — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07
- Sensitivity labels for Teams, groups and sites — Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can integrate SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive into a cohesive intranet?
EPC Group, a Microsoft consulting firm founded in 1997, designs and builds the intranet across all three: the SharePoint home site and hub sites, the SharePoint app in Teams, the rules for where files live, and the sensitivity labels and governance that keep it secure as it grows.
What is the SharePoint app in Teams?
It is the product formerly called Viva Connections. Microsoft describes it as bringing full SharePoint capabilities into Microsoft Teams, built on SharePoint home site technology, with four primary components: News, dashboard, announcements and resources (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07).
Where do files live when you use Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive together?
Files shared in a Teams channel are stored in the team's SharePoint site; all standard channels share one site and each private channel has its own (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07). Files shared in one-to-one or group chats are stored in the sharer's OneDrive. The intranet's published content lives on the home site and hub sites.
How do you unify collaboration, content management, and security across Microsoft 365, Teams, and SharePoint?
Use the same controls everywhere: sensitivity labels applied to teams, Microsoft 365 groups and SharePoint sites control privacy, guest access and external sharing for each container (Microsoft Learn, accessed 2026-11-07), and retention labels in Microsoft Purview govern what is kept and for how long.
How do organizations pick a partner to create a modern digital workplace on Microsoft 365?
Ask how they will decide the information architecture (home site, hubs and navigation), where each kind of file belongs, how labels and governance apply across Teams and SharePoint, and how adoption will be measured after launch. A partner that only designs the home page has not built a digital workplace.
Talk to a senior architect
A one-hour scoping call with a senior EPC Group architect covers your current intranet, how teams share files today and what the home site should do first. Email contact@epcgroup.net or call 888-381-9725.
Documented and anonymized engagements
Named engagements come first; anonymized summaries follow under the anonymized-engagement rule — the client is not named and every statement is EPC-reported. Documents behind named engagements are in the Evidence Center.
- Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. — SharePoint Server 2019 build and deployment: custom user experience, navigation, web parts, search, enterprise-application integration, quality assurance and training (2021)Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. · 2021 · Contracted — countersigned
- Haskell (The Haskell Company) — myHaskell.com intranet implementation and upgrade on SharePoint Online (2019)Haskell (The Haskell Company) · 2019 · Contracted — countersigned
- Canadian Forces Morale & Welfare Services (CFMWS) — SharePoint consulting support (2014)Canadian Forces Morale & Welfare Services (CFMWS) · 2014 · Contracted
- Stryker Corporation — SharePoint Center of Excellence development (2012)Stryker Corporation · 2012 · Delivered — payment-corroborated (client payment records published)
- Copilot and SharePoint AI Governance: Regional Bank (2024)Anonymized engagement summary · Regional bank · 2024Engagement phase: governance and readiness planning before a Copilot rollout; no rollout is reported
- SharePoint Intranet Permission Automation: Contractor (2024)Anonymized engagement summary · Federal government contractor · 2024
- Two SharePoint Farms to SharePoint Online: Regional BankAnonymized engagement summary · Regional bank · 2024
- SharePoint Health Check, Upgrade and Support: ManufacturerAnonymized engagement summary · Consumer-products manufacturer · 2017–2023
More engagements: Federal Reserve Bank of New York — SharePoint best-practices needs assessment, architecture and governance gap analysis, roadmap for a global SharePoint Center of Excellence across the twelve Reserve Bank districts (2010) · NASA (agency-wide, across the NASA Centers) — Agency SharePoint Phase 1 Initiative: needs assessment, architectural review, governance, and a global SharePoint Center of Excellence for knowledge management, intranet and enterprise content management across the NASA Centers (2009–2010) · National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) — SharePoint records management and Center of Excellence advisory and implementation support (2010) · National Institutes of Health — SharePoint Center of Excellence design (2010) · Northrop Grumman — 'Finance I.R.M. Automation Process' statement of work on SharePoint (2010) · NASA Johnson Space Center — SharePoint Site Provisioning Solution (2009) · PepsiCo, Inc. — MyPepsiCo intranet custom master page and branding initiative (2009) · YMCA (Houston) — Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 implementation (2007) · SharePoint Support and Custom Apps: Professional Services · SharePoint 2010 to 2019 Migration: Regional Bank (2020) · SharePoint Online Document Management: Transportation (2020) · SharePoint 2010 to Online Design: Global Law Firm (2018) · SharePoint 2016 Intranet Redesign: Energy Company (2018) · SharePoint Intranet Redesign: Financial Services · SharePoint Migration: Major Healthcare Network