| In
this article we are discussing a company intranet -
an internal Web site that provides proprietary corporate
information to employees as well as access to selected
Web sites, such as those of suppliers. In early 1990s,
one would read something along the following lines:
"Intranet is the latest term to describe when the
Internet's protocols and applications are used, not
for accessing the vast resources on the Internet, but
for moving information within an organization's boundaries."
The same technology
that made the Internet a revolutionary communications
tool was supposed to revolutionize the corporation as
well, and although it has taken longer than many anticipated,
an intranet can have a major impact on today's company.
A company intranet
can provide employees access to the latest news about
the company, become a repository for the wealth of knowledge,
reduce the need for call centers, consolidate Web sites,
and reduce costs for printing, fax machines, copiers
and servers.
An Intranet
May Include Many Features
Intranets may be created with what is called a "Dashboard".
Just as in your car, the dashboard is hooked up to a
variety of systems to display information from various
functions. Individuals or user groups are given the
ability to customize the portal page, which includes
a search engine for internal documents. In business,
it can display many, many things in real time:
- Statistics
- Sales figures
- Goal to date
- News
- Commonly shared
or accessed files
- Hyperlinks
to Web sites
- A search tool
- Document versioning
control
Searching
Companies also need to consider search capabilities
and taxonomy. Everyone has
had the frustrating experience of having an Internet
search engine recommend 15,000 (mostly useless) links.
As intranets grow in breadth and depth—IBM's intranet
is now bigger than the entire Internet was a couple
years ago—they are becoming just as difficult
to sift through for relevant data. Some
companies have created an intranet taxonomy that's very
specific to its business—in essence, a corporate
vocabulary that helps employees find what they need.
Who's
in Charge?
Since multiple departments have to cooperate to make
an intranet successful, governance can become a sticky
issue. Companies often delegate ownership to a single
department that's ill-equipped to handle the project,
—or worse, split ownership among a triumvirate
of departments, usually IS, corporate communications
and marketing. Politically, splitting ownership is a
huge mistake and frequently leads to corporate infighting
and finger-pointing when something goes awry. The strongest
company department—or the one closest to the core
of the material—should spearhead the project.
The most critical
support for an intranet project, however, has to come
from the top. Many companies never achieve this buy-in
because project leaders fail to communicate effectively
to the management team what the intranet will achieve.
Intranets tend
to flatten the corporate hierarchy. This can be scary
to executives who, after posting a memo to the ranks
on the intranet, can suddenly find themselves deluged
with employee feedback. Rather than fearing this aspect
of the intranet, executives should focus on the benefits
of being able to communicate strategy and vision more
directly to employees and leap at the chance to take
the corporate pulse.
There
are Many Related Terms
Over the past few years, the game of the Intranets has
evolved to encompass knowledge management with the aid
of enterprise information portals, vertical portals
(also known as 'vortals'), search engines, knowledge
portals, online content management and online information
management. Here are some
related terms:
- Intranets
- Extranets
- Portals
- Enterprise
Portals
- Enterprise
Information Portals
- Online Portals
- Vertical Portals
- Computer Supported
Cooperative Work
- Groupware
- Content Management
- Collaborative
Learning
- Collaborative
Communication
- Virtual Communities
- Communities
of Practice
- Knowledge Management
- Online Information
Management
Summary
We approach what will be on the intranet from the employees'
perspective: Give them things that will help them do
their jobs, and don't waste their time.
At Computer eCommerce
we know how to return a profit on your technology investment.
Make one phone call or send us an email
today to receive more information on this topic. |
