Repositories of documents and ideas, shared on Intranets using Internet technologies, are emerging as a powerful and cost-effective means of collaboration and information sharing
An Intranet is an internal network that uses Internet technologies, especially Web browsers and powerful search engines, as a convenient way to share information and data. It is now widely accepted that Intranets will become the primary means for knowledge sharing and data access within companies.
Some of the business benefits of Intranets are:
- Efficiency gains in business processes, especially through the use of e-forms.
- Employees become better informed as a result of improved and faster access to pertinent information.
- Employees can receive additional related information that they would not have considered requesting or searching for manually through personalised content delivery services.
- Establishment of "virtual communities of interest" that encourage employees who have a common business interest to discuss and share information and ideas.
- Greater consistency and presentation of business information, thereby improving ease of use.
- Improved awareness and communication between employees, business areas and support functions.
- Increased customer service and satisfaction.
- Productivity gains as a direct result of information sharing, collaborative working and reductions in the time spent scanning information sources for relevant information.
- Provides a single source of up-to-date (i.e. current) information that can be relied on by employees.
- Provides a suitable infrastructure to support a workflow application strategy.
Intranets are becoming an important component of the desktop user's experience. Repositories of documents and ideas, shared on Intranets using Internet technologies, are emerging as a powerful and cost-effective means of collaboration and information sharing. Access to these information-rich repositories may be extended to business partners and suppliers through the use of Extranets (a secure extension to an Intranet).
Although Intranets are dependent on the application of technology, the major issues faced by companies wishing to deploy them are concerned with the nature of the content and how it is used. The true business value of an Intranet lies with the relevance, currency, quality and accessibility of the content held. Furthermore, it must be easy for authorised users to publish content to the Intranet in a controlled and uniform manner.
Business IT Solutions can provide specialist help for key activities associated with Intranet design, development and deployment, irrespective of the organisation's position on the Intranet evolutionary timeline. Business IT Solutions can assist organisations who are just starting out with an idea for a departmental or corporate Intranet, to those who have already developed an Intranet but need assistance in areas where our specialist knowledge and skills can be the difference between success and failure.
