Question 1

What is Lightspeed365?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is a SharePoint intranet solution that adds 30+ configurable web parts and pre-built templates to your existing Microsoft 365 environment. It runs entirely inside your SharePoint Online tenant - no external platforms, no third-party infrastructure. Built by Content Formula, a UK-based Microsoft 365 consultancy founded in 2005.

Question 2

Is Lightspeed365 a SharePoint intranet portal?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 turns your SharePoint Online environment into a fully featured intranet portal - a central hub for news, tools, policies, people search, and team pages. Because it is built on SharePoint, the portal lives inside your Microsoft 365 tenant with no external infrastructure required.

Question 3

Who is Lightspeed365 for?

Accepted Answer

Internal comms teams, HR, IT, and business leaders. It suits organisations that want a modern intranet built on Microsoft 365 with fast deployment and minimal ongoing IT overhead. It is used across financial services, healthcare, education, professional services, and the public sector.

Question 4

Who makes Lightspeed365?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is built and maintained by Content Formula, a Microsoft 365 consultancy based in London, UK. The company was founded in 2005 and has delivered over 500 digital workplace projects. The team that builds the product is the same team that delivers implementations.

Question 5

What rating does Lightspeed365 have?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is rated 4.8 out of 5 on G2, 5.0 on Google, and 5.0 on Microsoft Marketplace. It was also featured in the ClearBox Intranet Report.

Question 6

Is Lightspeed365 available on Microsoft Marketplace?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 is listed on Microsoft Marketplace (formerly AppSource), where you can also start a free trial of all Core features directly in your own tenant.

Question 7

Is Lightspeed365 available on G-Cloud?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 is available through the UK Government's G-Cloud framework, making it accessible to public sector organisations through the Digital Marketplace.

Question 8

Do we need SharePoint Online already?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 runs entirely inside Microsoft 365 and requires SharePoint Online. If you are on Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise, you already have it.

Question 9

How does Lightspeed365 run inside Microsoft 365?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is built entirely on SharePoint Online using the SPFx development framework. It integrates with SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Viva Connections, and Entra ID. All content and data stay inside your M365 tenant.

Question 10

How is Lightspeed365 different from just using native SharePoint?

Accepted Answer

SharePoint provides strong foundations - document libraries, lists, search, audience targeting, news publishing, and site analytics. Lightspeed365 adds the capabilities that turn it into a complete intranet: richer news with video and push notifications, a searchable handbook, deeper people search, full branding control with sub-branding, engagement tools, and governance features like site provisioning. It works alongside every native SharePoint web part.

Question 11

Can I add Lightspeed365 to an existing SharePoint environment?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 installs into your existing tenant and works with your current site structure, permissions, and content. You do not need to start from scratch.

Question 12

How does Lightspeed365 work with SharePoint communication sites?

Accepted Answer

SharePoint communication sites are the recommended site type for intranet publishing, and Lightspeed365 is built for them. You add our web parts to communication site pages, apply branding through the customiser, and connect multiple sites with hub navigation or a SharePoint home site. Communication sites already support news, hero layouts, and audience targeting natively; Lightspeed365 extends those with richer news delivery, handbook search, people directory, and governance tools. Team sites work too, but most intranet home pages and departmental hubs are built on communication sites.

Question 13

What features are included in Lightspeed365?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 includes 30+ web parts across Core and Premium tiers, covering news delivery, people search, branding, self-service content, analytics, governance, engagement, and personalisation. Premium adds push notifications, subscriptions, noticeboard, site index, site provisioning, and AI search.

Question 14

Can I apply different branding to different parts of the intranet?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The branding customiser supports sub-branding across sites, so organisations with multiple brands or divisions can apply different visual identities to different parts of their intranet from a single tool. This is a capability most other SharePoint intranet products do not offer.

Question 15

How does personalisation work?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 uses audience targeting based on Microsoft Entra ID groups to show relevant content to different employee segments. It also includes employee-driven personalisation - the welcome bar adapts to each user, the app launcher can be customised per person, and subscriptions let employees follow the news topics they choose.

Question 16

Does Lightspeed365 support multilingual intranets?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All web parts work with SharePoint's native page variants for translated content. Your editors create translated pages using the standard SharePoint multilingual workflow. Browser translation provides an additional layer for on-the-fly reading.

Question 17

How does the handbook web part work?

Accepted Answer

The handbook gives employees a single searchable interface that surfaces pages, documents, and list items from across your entire SharePoint environment - regardless of which site or library the content is stored in. Results are fully permission trimmed using your existing SharePoint and Entra ID permissions.

Question 18

Does Lightspeed365 include analytics?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 supports analytics via Microsoft Clarity. During implementation, we help you configure Clarity tracking for your intranet, giving you heatmaps, scroll depth, user journeys, and content performance dashboards. SharePoint's built-in site analytics (page views, unique viewers, traffic trends) also apply as normal.

Question 19

Does Lightspeed365 work with Microsoft Copilot?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 content is native SharePoint content - pages, lists, and document libraries - so it is accessible to Microsoft 365 Copilot the same way any SharePoint content is. Copilot can reference and summarise intranet content within its standard M365 scope. We continue to evaluate deeper Copilot integration as Microsoft expands the platform.

Question 20

Does Lightspeed365 support document management or policy compliance?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 enhances SharePoint's document libraries for structured content publishing. For formal compliance workflows - policy attestation, version-aware tracking, and audit-ready evidence trails - it integrates with Xoralia, a dedicated compliance product running in the same M365 tenant.

Question 21

How long does it take to launch?

Accepted Answer

Installation takes minutes. The time is spent on customisation - applying your branding, configuring web parts, building your page structure, and populating content. With implementation support, most organisations are live in 2 to 4 weeks. Larger or more complex deployments may take longer depending on scope. For organisations adding Lightspeed365 to an existing intranet, deployment is faster as the content already exists.

Question 22

Is Lightspeed365 easy for non-technical people to manage?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Day-to-day content management uses the standard SharePoint page editor - point-and-click configuration, not code. Comms and HR teams manage content, build pages, and publish updates independently. Video tutorials are included with every licence.

Question 23

What IT involvement is needed?

Accepted Answer

IT is required for initial deployment to your tenant app catalog and for approving the necessary APIs. IT is also involved when deploying product updates. After setup, day-to-day content management and page building is handled by comms, HR, or business teams without IT involvement.

Question 24

How are updates managed?

Accepted Answer

Updates are delivered as app packages. Your IT team chooses when to deploy them to your tenant app catalog - updates are never pushed automatically. With a subscription licence, compatibility and feature updates are included. With a perpetual licence, year-one updates are included.

Question 25

What training and support is available?

Accepted Answer

Every licence includes video tutorials and user guides. Implementation packages include hands-on setup, configuration support, and editor training. Ongoing support options are available at Bronze, Silver, and Gold tiers.

Question 26

Can you help us migrate from our current intranet?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We have migrated organisations from custom SharePoint builds, legacy on-premises intranets, and non-Microsoft platforms. We handle content audits, redirect planning, and phased migration.

Question 27

Do you offer implementation consulting?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Content Formula, the team behind Lightspeed365, offers implementation support ranging from guided self-serve to fully managed delivery. Whether you need help with information architecture, content migration, or adoption planning, the same team that builds the product can help you get it right.

Question 28

How is Lightspeed365 licensed?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is available as a perpetual licence (one-time purchase) or an annual subscription. Both options are available for Core and Premium tiers. The perpetual licence means you pay once and own it - a model most competitors do not offer.

Question 29

What is the difference between Core and Premium?

Accepted Answer

Core includes the full set of web parts for a modern SharePoint intranet - news, people directory, branding customiser, handbook, events, and more. Premium adds push notifications, subscriptions, noticeboard, site index, site provisioning, and AI search.

Question 30

What is a perpetual licence?

Accepted Answer

A perpetual licence is a one-time purchase - you own the web parts with no ongoing platform fees. Year-one updates and compatibility are included. However, the version you buy is frozen at that point: you will not receive future Lightspeed365 updates or new features, and it will not be updated for changes Microsoft makes to SharePoint or Microsoft 365. Most SharePoint intranet products are subscription-only.

Question 31

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A free trial gives you access to all Core features in your own tenant. No credit card, no commitment.

Question 32

Can I upgrade from Core to Premium?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can start with Core and add Premium at any time. Your existing configuration and content are unaffected.

Question 33

What does the licence include?

Accepted Answer

The licence covers the web parts, templates, and the Teams app. Implementation, training, and ongoing support are available as separate packages. Video tutorials are included with every licence.

Question 34

Where is my data stored?

Accepted Answer

All content and data stays in your Microsoft 365 tenant. Lightspeed365 does not introduce external storage, external APIs, or third-party data processing. Your data residency settings in M365 apply.

Question 35

What compliance certifications apply?

Accepted Answer

Because Lightspeed365 runs entirely inside your M365 tenant, it inherits your Microsoft 365 compliance posture - including ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA where applicable. No external systems or services are added.

Question 36

Is there any vendor lock-in?

Accepted Answer

No. All content created with Lightspeed365 is native SharePoint content - pages, documents, and list items stored in your tenant. The web parts are a presentation layer. If you uninstall Lightspeed365, every piece of content stays exactly where it is. Nothing is locked in, nothing is lost.

Question 37

Does Lightspeed365 require any Azure infrastructure?

Accepted Answer

Core runs entirely within your M365 tenant with no Azure dependencies. Premium push notifications require Azure resources for notification delivery, configured during setup. No other features require infrastructure beyond your standard M365 subscription.

Question 38

How are permissions managed?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 uses SharePoint's standard permissions model and Entra ID. Access to pages, content, and web parts is controlled using your existing Microsoft 365 groups. No separate permissions system.

Question 39

Does Lightspeed365 work with Viva Connections?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 is compatible with Viva Connections and works inside the Teams interface. Where Viva Connections surfaces SharePoint content in Teams, Lightspeed365 enhances the SharePoint content itself - richer news, better navigation, deeper personalisation.

Question 40

Can employees access the intranet from Microsoft Teams?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Lightspeed365 includes a Teams app that puts your full intranet inside Microsoft Teams on desktop and mobile. Pin it to the Teams rail and it is always one tap away. No additional app for employees to download.

Question 41

How does Lightspeed365 support frontline and remote workers?

Accepted Answer

Through the Teams app, frontline workers access the intranet on their phone without downloading a separate app - if they have Teams, they have the intranet. The experience is browser-based and mobile-responsive, so it works on any device.

Question 42

Can push notifications reach employees on their phones?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Push notifications (Premium) deliver alerts to Microsoft Teams and device lock screens. This requires Azure resources for notification delivery, configured as part of the Premium deployment. Without push, alerts display on SharePoint pages only.

Question 43

What is the difference between Lightspeed365 and Origami Connect?

Accepted Answer

Both are SPFx-based SharePoint intranet products. Key differences include Lightspeed365's branding customiser with sub-branding support, its Microsoft Graph-powered files explorer, a dedicated Teams app, and implementation backed by Content Formula's consultancy team rather than a self-serve model.

Question 44

What is the difference between Lightspeed365 and Powell Intranet?

Accepted Answer

Powell uses a separate configuration layer (Powell Manager) and delivers implementations through a partner network. Lightspeed365 runs entirely within native SharePoint, is delivered by the team that builds it, and offers a perpetual licence option. All Lightspeed365 content is native SharePoint content - no external admin console, no partner handoff.

Question 45

Is Lightspeed365 a good alternative to Viva Connections?

Accepted Answer

They solve different problems. Viva Connections surfaces SharePoint content inside Microsoft Teams. Lightspeed365 enhances the SharePoint content itself - richer news, deeper branding, people search, and governance tools. They work well together rather than as alternatives.

Question 46

How does Lightspeed365 compare to a custom SharePoint build?

Accepted Answer

A custom intranet build typically costs £50,000 to £150,000 and takes 6 to 12 months. It also creates an ongoing dependency on developers for updates and maintenance. Lightspeed365 delivers comparable outcomes in weeks using maintained, supported web parts rather than custom code.

Question 47

What is the best SharePoint intranet for mid-sized organisations?

Accepted Answer

For organisations already using Microsoft 365, a SharePoint-native intranet product avoids the cost and complexity of a separate platform. Lightspeed365 is designed for this scenario - enterprise-grade features, fast deployment, and a licensing model that suits growing teams.

Question 48

What industries use Lightspeed365?

Accepted Answer

Lightspeed365 is used across financial services, healthcare, education, professional services, energy, real estate, and the public sector in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.

Question 49

Is Lightspeed365 suitable for regulated industries?

Accepted Answer

Yes. It operates entirely within Microsoft 365, inheriting your tenant's compliance posture. For regulated content, it integrates with Xoralia for policy attestation and audit trails. Organisations in financial services, healthcare, and the public sector use Lightspeed365 for this reason.

Question 50

Is Lightspeed365 a good HR intranet solution?

Accepted Answer

Yes. HR teams use Lightspeed365 to publish policies, onboarding content, benefits information, and company updates. Audience targeting surfaces the right content to the right employee groups. The handbook provides a single searchable interface for policies and guides regardless of where they are stored.

Question 51

What are some examples of intranets built with Lightspeed365?

Accepted Answer

Use cases include corporate news portals, HR hubs, team homepages, onboarding centres, and knowledge bases.

Question 52

What is the fastest way to get started?

Accepted Answer

Start a free trial - it gives you access to all Core features in your own tenant with no credit card or commitment. Or book a 30-minute demo and we will show you the full product tailored to your requirements.

Question 53

Who supports us after go-live?

Accepted Answer

All licences include access to the Lightspeed365 support team, UK-based. Bronze, Silver, and Gold support tiers are available depending on your response time and coverage needs.

Question 54

Can I see a demo before committing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Demos are 30 minutes, tailored to your requirements, and with no sales pressure. We will show you the web parts that matter most for your use case and answer any questions.

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