VIRO is an international engineering firm with around 900 employees across 13 locations in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. The company designs and develops solutions in several markets, like mechanical engineering, shipbuilding, industrial automation, and semiconductors.
To support collaboration across teams and offices, VIRO runs its digital workplace on Microsoft 365. The company introduced Ichicraft Boards to give employees a central, personalized start page that connects news, knowledge, and tools in one place, available in the browser and inside Microsoft Teams.
“We wanted one place where people could find what they need, with search, tasks and news together.”
— Thijs Groener – Information Manager – VIRO
VIRO's challenges
The previous intranet was dated and information lived in too many places. News had limited reach and routine actions such as timesheets or HR tasks took too many clicks. VIRO wanted to modernize the experience, improve findability, raise the reach of company and branch news, and provide a clear, branded starting point that reflects VIRO’s identity.
Choosing Ichicraft Boards
The team evaluated options against practical needs. The new environment had to combine company-wide and local news, integrate with Microsoft 365, and personalize content by role and location. Strong search was a priority, including the ability to bring external knowledge sources into one place.
Integration potential was key. VIRO wanted to surface work from AFAS, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Recruitee, and also connect its Knowledge Portal so employees could search knowledge articles from Ichicraft Boards. Branding and usability needed to feel like VIRO from day one.
After comparing several approaches, Ichicraft Boards stood out for flexibility, intuitive design, and alignment with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.
Implementing Ichicraft Boards
The rollout followed an iterative path. A small pilot group used a working setup first. Their feedback shaped layout, navigation, the news model, and the first set of integrations. The next phase expanded to headquarters, where usage insights led to further adjustments that simplified the experience and improved targeting. Once the approach proved solid, VIRO launched Ichicraft Boards company-wide.
“Iterating with a working version helped us see what people actually needed.”
Alongside the rollout, a task widget was built to combine actions from AFAS, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and Recruitee, giving a single overview of items that need attention. The Knowledge Portal was connected and made searchable through Ichicraft Boards Search so knowledge articles are easy to find next to SharePoint content. Two onboarding additions made the environment more welcoming. One guides new colleagues through their first steps at VIRO. The second, called Introduce Yourself, invites newcomers to share a short introduction so teams get to know them.
Day-to-day use
Ichicraft Boards is now the digital front door. Employees start their day there in the browser or inside Microsoft Teams. They read company and branch news, see their tasks from AFAS, CRM, and Recruitee, open the tools they use most, and search across SharePoint and the connected Knowledge Portal from one place.
Company and branch news appear side by side so people stay informed
Tasks from AFAS, CRM Dynamics, and Recruitee are shown in one overview
Search spans SharePoint and the Knowledge Portal for faster answers
From the buddy bar, employees open one tasks view that aggregates approvals and follow-ups from AFAS, Dynamics CRM, and Recruitee.
Targeted tiles and content ensure each person sees what fits their role and location. The onboarding and Introduce Yourself widgets help new colleagues land quickly and connect with their teams.
Results and impact
Employees reach tools and tasks faster and spend less time switching between systems. Engagement with news has increased at both company and branch levels. Bringing the Knowledge Portal into search means people find answers more quickly, which shortens the path from question to action.
Looking back and ahead
The phased rollout proved to be the right approach. Starting small, learning quickly, and scaling in steps built confidence and kept the focus on what employees needed. The result is a start page that feels familiar, reduces clicks, and brings news, knowledge, and tasks together in one place.
Looking ahead, VIRO plans to use the Power BI widget in Ichicraft Boards to surface relevant management reports, and to bring Copilot Studio into the digital workplace for quick answers and guided workflows.
In next iterations, the team will keep tuning search and navigation, including the connection to the Knowledge Portal, and continue refining audience targeting based on Azure AD groups so people consistently see what is relevant to their role and location.
