Fresh is delighted to welcome Solvion as our newest partner. Solvion is a leading digital workplace specialist in the DACH region that, for more than two decades, has been a trusted leader in driving digital transformation through innovative IT solutions and services. With a focus on the modern workplace and Microsoft technologies, Solvion continues to shape the future of digital workspaces.
“This collaboration marks an exciting milestone, bringing together our shared expertise in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint to deliver seamless, user-friendly intranet solutions. Solvion’s deep understanding of balancing custom development with out-of-the-box efficiency makes them an ideal partner, and we can’t wait to see the impact of our combined efforts.” David Bowman, Product Director at Fresh.
To explore this partnership further we spoke to Thomas Gölles, Head of Consulting and Engineering Services, to discuss why Fresh Intranet has been the right fit for their clients, how it enhances SharePoint’s capabilities, and the role it plays in the ever-evolving digital workplace. Read on to discover how this collaboration is setting new standards in intranet design and implementation.
What aligned about Fresh Intranet’s offering that made it the right fit for Solvion and your clients?
Thomas Gölles: What really made Fresh Intranet the right fit for us at Solvion—and for our clients—is the way the team behind Fresh sees and works with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint. Their mindset aligns very closely with what we’ve learned over the past twenty years. Especially when it comes to making smart, balanced decisions: when to extend something, and when it’s better to stay close to the standard tools.
We’ve seen many projects where over-customization created more problems than it solved. With Fresh, we found a partner who understands this trade-off intuitively. Their approach feels very pragmatic—focused on adding value without adding unnecessary complexity.
There’s also a shared way of thinking, even though each company of course has its own perspective. But when you’re looking in the same direction, it makes collaboration straightforward. That alignment gives us confidence—not only in the product, but also in the partnership
How does Fresh Intranet help you deliver value to your clients in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem?
Thomas Gölles: When we look at our partner landscape, we’re mainly looking for two things: first, solutions that genuinely enhance the out-of-the-box Microsoft 365 experience—and second, something that helps us manage the pace of innovation that comes from Microsoft. And with Fresh Intranet, we found both.
Our goal is to keep our customers in the driver’s seat of their own tenant. That means giving them control over what gets introduced to users, when, and in which form. With Microsoft rolling out new features almost constantly, this can get overwhelming—especially for communication teams or IT departments that are trying to maintain stability.
Fresh helps us create a more stable and predictable layer on top of that. It gives structure and flexibility at the same time. So instead of chasing every new feature, we can focus on introducing real value in a controlled way. That’s something our clients really appreciate.
In what ways does Fresh extend or enhance the capabilities of out-of-the-box SharePoint for your customers?
Thomas Gölles: In our projects, we use Fresh to build on the strengths of SharePoint, especially when customers want a clearer structure and faster results. We believe SharePoint is a solid foundation, but out of the box, it can feel too open or too generic for many use cases.
With Fresh, we can offer predefined templates for things like news, navigation, and content layouts, which helps avoid reinventing the wheel each time. It also gives us a consistent design framework, so branding and usability are easier to manage—especially across larger organizations.
One thing we really appreciate is the built-in personalization based on Microsoft Entra ID (formerly known as Azure AD) groups. That way, people see what’s relevant for them, without a lot of complex setup. And from an operations perspective, the configuration model of Fresh is much easier to maintain compared to heavy customizations.
It also integrates well with mobile and Viva, which is important for customers with mixed workforces—frontline and office staff. So overall, we see Fresh as a practical extension to SharePoint that helps us deliver intranets faster, with less long-term overhead.
With the shift to remote and hybrid work, what new expectations are your clients bringing to their intranet solutions?
Thomas Gölles: Since the shift to remote and hybrid work, we’ve seen a clear change in what our clients expect from their intranet. It’s no longer just about pushing out news or having a place to store documents. Now, the intranet needs to act more like a control center for the digital workplace—something that supports orientation, productivity, and even company culture across locations.
Our clients want their people—whether they’re in the office, at home, or on the road—to have quick access to relevant information, tools, and updates without having to jump between too many apps. And they want that experience to feel coherent and manageable.
At the same time, they’re also asking for more flexibility in how they introduce change. With Microsoft 365 evolving so quickly, our clients are looking for a way to stay in control—so that users aren’t overwhelmed by constant updates or inconsistent experiences.
That’s where Fresh Intranet helps us deliver. It provides a structured and stable experience that integrates well with Microsoft 365, but still leaves room to adjust communication and rollout strategies to fit the organization. That’s a big part of the value we bring—supporting clarity and control in an environment that’s changing fast.
What do you see as the tipping point for clients choosing a product like Fresh over building a fully bespoke intranet?
Thomas Gölles: In our experience, the tipping point usually comes when clients realize that building a fully custom intranet often sounds more flexible than it actually is—especially when they start thinking beyond the go-live moment. A bespoke solution might fit every wish in the beginning, but it also brings a lot of complexity in terms of maintenance, updates, and long-term compatibility with Microsoft 365.
What we see more and more is that clients are looking for sustainable solutions—something they can launch quickly, manage easily, and evolve over time without becoming dependent on developers or project budgets for every small change.
That’s where Fresh really stands out. It gives clients a structured, professional intranet framework out of the box, but still offers enough flexibility to adapt to different use cases or corporate design. Once they understand how much faster they can go live, and how much less overhead they’ll have long-term, many of them decide that a product like Fresh is the more strategic choice.
So the tipping point usually isn’t just about features—it’s about balancing control, cost, and future readiness.
How have your teams and clients responded to Fresh in terms of usability and onboarding?
Thomas Gölles: Our teams and clients have responded very positively to Fresh, especially when it comes to usability and onboarding. What stands out for many of them is how intuitive the interface is—there’s no need for long manuals or hours of training just to publish a news article or adjust a page. That’s something both content owners and comms teams really appreciate.
From our side as a partner, onboarding with Fresh has also been very smooth. The setup is structured, the documentation is clear, and the support we get from the Fresh team is reliable—which means we can focus more on supporting the client’s goals rather than troubleshooting the product.
Clients tell us that Fresh ‘just feels more finished’ compared to trying to build everything themselves in SharePoint. It lowers the barrier for internal teams to take ownership of the intranet, which is exactly what we want: a solution that empowers rather than creates dependency.
How would you describe the experience of collaborating with Fresh so far?
Thomas Gölles: Our collaboration with Fresh has been very positive so far—and in many ways, it also feels familiar. Some of the people behind Fresh we’ve known for years, through past projects and the broader Microsoft community. That shared background definitely makes things easier: we already trust each other’s way of working and thinking.
That said, we’re also very clear with our clients about this connection. We believe transparency builds trust—and in this case, it’s a good thing. It means we’re not just working with a vendor, but with people who understand the challenges and opportunities in the Microsoft 365 space deeply, and who share similar values when it comes to delivering sustainable, user-friendly solutions.
From a day-to-day perspective, the collaboration has been straightforward and supportive. The Fresh team is responsive, open to feedback, and focused on enabling partners like us to deliver great results. That’s exactly the kind of relationship we look for.
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