Intranet Draft by Debajyoti Mohanty and Hrisav Kar

8/12/2019 Intranet Draft by Debajyoti Mohanty and Hrisav Kar

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INTRANET

Definition: Intranet is the generic term for a collection of private computer networks within an

organization. An intranet uses network technologies as a tool to facilitate communication betweenpeople or work groups to improve the data sharing capability and overall knowledge base of anorganization's employees.

An organization's intranet typically includes Internet access but is FIREWALLED so that itscomputers cannot be reached directly from the outside.

A common extension to intranets, called extranets, opens this firewall to provide controlledaccess to outsiders.

More sophisticated intranets include Web sites and databases containing company news, forms,and personnel information. Besides company email and Internet access, an intranet generallyincorporates internal Web sites, documents, and/or databases.

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP):

An AUP defines the intended uses of the network including unacceptable uses and the consequences fornon-compliance. A good Acceptable Use Policy will cover provisions for network etiquette, mentionlimits on the use of network resources, and clearly indicate of the level of privacy a member on thenetwork should expect.

Some factors to consider in evaluating the effectiveness of AUP:

Does it clearly specify the policy owner or owners? Have scenarios been documented unambiguously for the key policy issues? Descriptions of so-called "use cases" or "situational analyses" help everyone to relate the policy

to real life situations especially those based on actual past experience.

Are the consequences for non-compliance clear and intended to be enforced?

Good Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) cover network monitoring strategies such as these:

Scanning proxy server logs to find hits to inappropriate Web sites including non work-relatedaccess occurring during business hours.

Installing filtering software that blocks access to certain public Web sites Scanning of incoming and outgoing emails Establishing disk space quotas on shared network drives.


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STRATEGY

For an intranet, a typical strategy would include the following elements:

Vision Mission Target audience definition / segmentation Governance Goals Objectives Action plans KPIs (or CSIs)

When looking at strategy as it relates to the process of developing or redesigning anintranet, strategy encompasses the first two phases of Prescient Digital Media's IntranetProject Methodology .Assessment & Planning.


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Assessment

During Assessment (Phase I), the current state of the intranet is documented and the needs andrequirements identified. Assessment serves two important functions: it documents the needs andrequirements of the user population, and those of the business and its stakeholders while aligning

project goals with corporate goals and objectives. This phase often includes the followingactivities:

a heuristic intranet evaluation (gap analysis) business requirements analysis (and stakeholder interviews) user reviews user survey focus groups technical infrastructure analysis benchmarking and best practices

Planning

Phase II, Planning, addresses the needs documented during the Assessment. Intranet planningincorporates both the strategic vision and the functional plan and maps out the strategic andtactical steps for designing the site or portal including:

the high-level vision and mission goals and objectives governance

critical success indicators (PKIs) business case and ROI content management plan & policies

As well, detailed tactical plans are drafted, including:

the functional plan site or portal information architecture page wireframes design concepts

usability testing


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Model for Success

It is easier to look at strategy from the top-down, beginning with the vision and 'visualizing' theend state or model of success for the intranet. While a successful intranet 'looks' very differentfrom organization to organization, another way to visualize success is as a model or mental

construct (the elements of success). The model or construct I developed some years ago, whichguides the work Prescient has done with dozens of intranet clients, is called the Nexus of IntranetSuccess. Nexus comes from a Greek word meaning meeting place (a fitting label given theintranet s importance as the only true, universal meeting ground or water cooler in the averageorganization).

The most critical determinant of an intranet s success is people. In particular, the crucial participation and support of senior management (the heart or inner ring of the Nexus model:Executive Support) and the end users (the all encompassing factor represented by the outer ringMotivated Users of the Nexus model). The model therefore visually depicts the significantimportance of people. Ironically, the engagement of both senior management and end users are

critical tasks during the intranet strategy.


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The Nexus model therefore represents the desired end-state, not the process for getting there.

I ve been known to say that the intranet is not a technology syst em or IT project, nor is it acommunications vehicle or channel; the intranet is a business system that should represent andsupport all areas of the business. In fact, the intranet is really only one part technology, and many

parts people and process.

FEATURES:

Intranet can be understood as a private network within the organization that is based on the Internetand that utilizes TCP/IP protocols for effective communication. An effective Intranet application musthave the following features.

Usability

The intranets content management system should be simple with easy -to-understand GUI (GraphicalUser Interface). The CMS should have an associated document, which can easily guide the user to add,edit and share the data. It must be easy to navigate through the applications within the intranet.

User-friendliness

as discussed earlier, the intranet must be able to indulge the user in the participative development onany project. The features must be simple to understand and the users should easily operate them.

Flexibility

The intranet must have the space and flexibility for addition of new features (depending on therequirements of the business). For example, if the requirement arises for assimilating a relativelycomplicated business management tool then the Intranet should easily accommodate the updates.

Administration

providing multiple options in administering the correct usage of Intranet is quite essential. There mustbe a feature from which a central authority can manage groups, users and other authenticationprocedures.

Task Management

one of the major applications of Intranet lies in its ability of providing a platform of collaborativeworking on a project or any other task. So, the intranet must have features through which the seniormembers can propagate the important messages and notifications regarding the project.
http://www.freelanceseo.org/web-applications.phphttp://www.freelanceseo.org/web-applications.php


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Security

Intranet is the strategic application through which collaborative work and social culture in offices arepromoted. Hence, if somebody penetrates through the Intranet it can mean leakage of importantinformation and that would be quite catastrophic for the business. This is why the intranet must becomprehensively secured against any malicious attempts to breach the security.

All these features are highly desired from a comprehensive Intranet portal. If you have a business andyou are interested in getting an Intranet portal then you must exhaustively work on the customizedrequirements. Remember, it is always feasible to know your requirements. On the contrary, chipping inwith the tweaks and suggestion in the later stages will only inflate the budget.

Some basic Features of Intranet Applications are

Powerful, Easy to use, Customizable

Document Manager The Intranet Document Manager application allows you to store, access, view, modify andmanage a wide spectrum of information generated within your company. All file types, text files,HTML files, audio, and all popular MS Office documents can be stored within your companyintranet.

Shared Calendars Manage your schedule and keep track of your appointments and tasks by utilizing the Intranet Calendar application. Multiple calendars can be created and sharedwithin your organization. Import/Export data between Outlook, Palm and the intranet calendars.

Access Rights Management The Intranet is a powerful tool that enables an organization tocreate, capture and share information effectively, but most importantly, in a fashion that is secureand reliable through assigning Access Rights to System Members. Just point and click to adjustaccess rights.

Active Directory Synchronization intranet administrators can synchronize users that are located within their existing activedirectory database to the intranet user database. This solves the problem of users having multipleusernames and passwords for different applications and greatly reduces administrator resources.

Data Manager The Data Manager application allows users to create complete custom web forms that can bedesigned to capture data and provides an easy to use interface to manage the data that wasentered into the forms. The Data Manager can be used for many business needs.


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Shared Links The Web Links Manager allows you to create and store important Web links in a central locationfor quick and easy access by you or others.

Full Text Search The Search Engine is a very functional tool, as it allows you to quickly locate informationanywhere within your Intranet. Full text search is available by utilizing Oracle or MSSQL asyour database.

Auto Notification The Auto Notification System allows Intranet members to know when new items have beenadded to the Intranet through E-mail. Notifications can be set up to be automatically sent whenitems are created, modified, moved or routed.

Online Help The Intranet offers a complete Online Help Guide, which System Members can easily access,simply click on the Help link on the top toolbar.

Company Memos The built in Memo Manager allows your company to set reoccurring email memos that will bedelivered at a set time and date. These memos can also include URL links pointing to importantsections and application within the Intranet. This application increases the overall usage of the

product.

Intranet User Administration Manage your employee information, as well as control who is added to the Intranet.

Intranet Group Administration This application allows you to arrange your system members into groups that suit yourorganization.

Intranet Settings The System Settings application allows the System Administrator, as well as other systemmembers who have been given access, complete control over a number of system wideadministrator tasks from this location.


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Intranet Statistics The Intranet Statistics application provides a range of numerical data compiled and gathered bythe system to assist in comprehending the frequency of the Intranet's use.

Intranet Application Administration The Application Manager allows the System Administrator, or another User who has beenentrusted with the responsibility of maintaining and managing this application, to turnapplications on or off within your Intranet.

External Application Launcher The External Application Launcher enables you to access other web-based applications from onecentral location.

Item History Tracking Item history provides a complete report based on the life cycle of an item. Every time and itemis moved or modified the change is listed in the item history

COST:

The cost-benefits of intranets are meant to be self-evident. After all, the set up costs appear tobe minimal and the benefits although largely intangible are, by all accounts, substantial.

Why is cost-benefit analysis necessary?

For many people, the process of measuring the costs and benefits of an intranet is one that, with anyluck, can be avoided. After all:

"There are so many intangibles, it's impossible to do." "The benefits of an intranet are so obvious, there's no point." "An intranet is so cheap to set up that there's no requirement to justify it." "An intranet is just a basic tool, like fax and word processing that can be taken for granted." "The figures are far too complex to calculate."

.Perhaps the strongest argument for conducting a proper assessment of the costs and benefits of anintranet is that this should provide you with the ammunition you need to do the job properly, with anappropriate budget and a realistic timetable. If it doesnt, then at least you will be forewarned enough todrop the subject quietly or look to get a job with another organization, where an intranet is going to be ofmore use.


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A method for calculating cost-benefits

Determine what you want your intranet to be able to do in its initial implementation. Analyze what it will cost you to make this happen both up-front and in ongoing maintenance. Anticipate the cost savings and the productivity benefits that will arise. Calculate the return you will get on your investment and how long this will take to materialize.

Scoping your intranet

It is not possible to conduct a meaningful analysis without a clear indication of what you want yourintranet to achieve. There are many ways of categorizing what an intranet does. Information publishing:using the intranet to deliver news and other information in the form of directories and web documents.

E-mail: implementing an e-mail system that integrates seamlessly with the intranet, allowinginformation to be both 'pushed' and 'pulled'.

Document management: using the intranet to allow users to view, print and work collaborativelyon office documents (word-processed documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.). Training: using the intranet to deliver training at the desktop. Workflow: using the intranet to automate administrative processes. Databases and other bespoke systems: using the intranet as a front-end to organization-specific

systems, such as corporate databases. Discussion: using the intranet as a means for users to discuss and debate issues.

Pretty well every organization will implement the first of these information publishing. The majority willhave ambitions to extend their intranet to cover the rest of the list at some stage. Dont be distracted intopredicting too far into the future - apart from anything else it will make your calculations more difficult andless useful. Concentrate on what you expect to achieve in the first major wave of implementation letssay the first year.

Establishing some basic facts and figures

To make your calculations later you will need to gather some basic facts and figures about your audience:

The size of your intranet target population and, if appropriate, the proportion this represents ofyour organizations total projected intranet user population.

The number of people within the target population who will need new PCs, the number who arecurrently not networked and the number who will be provided with access to the Internet.

The average annual salary and benefits of the target population, the average working hours in aday and working days in a year (used to calculate labor savings and productivity gains).


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Analyzing costs

The next step is to analyze the costs that will be incurred in setting up and running your intranet. Thereare two main categories of cost:

Capital costs: hardware and software costs that will be met by the organizations capital budgetand, normally, written off over a number of years.

Revenue costs: other costs that is likely to be borne by the organizations normal expensebudget.

It is also necessary to make a distinction between the one-off costs associated with start-up and ongoingmaintenance costs. Here are some ideas for what to include in each case:

Start -up cap i ta l cos tsthese costs form a major part of your up-front investment. Because, as fixed assets, they have a usefullife of several years and a resale value, they are normally written off over three or four years. Your financedepartment will be able to tell you what your organizations depreciation policy is. Youll also need toconsult your IT department to get estimates for all the hardware and software needed:

New PCs for providing intranet access to employees without their own PCs. Providing network connections to PCs not currently networked. Web servers and server software.

You also need to provide for the cost of software applications, whether they are developed on a bespokebasis (in-house or outside) or purchased off-the- shelf. You can pay considerable prices for industrialstrength applications, but much cheaper or even free applications can be obtained with a little research.What you will need will depend on what you are using your intranet for:

Information publishing: examples of automated applications include directories (phone,employees, products, services, locations, etc.) and applications that automate the production ofnews pages, classified ads or newsletters.

E-mail: intranet e-mail is typically provided with a single off-the-shelf application, plus individualclient licenses.

Document management: typically one main application. Training: for ease of calculation, assume that an intranet training application represents one hour

of self-instructional material. Workflow: applications include on-line forms (holiday, sickness, expenses, timesheets,

purchasing, surveys, and bookings for rooms, training or travel). If these simply submit messagesto be processed manually, they will be relatively inexpensive to develop. If completeadministrative processes are to be automated, which use the intranet as a front-end, a moresubstantial investment will be required, whether in bespoke software development or purchaseof/upgrade to intranet-enabled versions of off-the-shelf systems such as HR databases, medialibraries, sales support systems, etc.

Databases and other bespoke systems: include any application that provides users with anintranet front-end to a major, existing, bespoke corporate system.

Discussion: there will typically be one application to allow users to debate topics over the intranet.


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Start -up revenue coststhese also form part of your up-front investment, but are more likely to be written off in the first year ofimplementation:

Design consultancy: the cost, whether internal or external, of creating a structural, navigationaland graphical design for the part of the intranet being analyzed.

Promotion: the cost, again internal or external, of launching the intranet to your target population. Training: the total cost, per user, of providing training in both how to use the intranet and how to

provide content.

Ongoin g cap i ta l cos tssome money will have to be reserved each year, from year 2, for upgrades to your server hardware andsoftware and to your off-the-shelf applications. Perhaps the best way of estimating this will be as apercentage of the initial cost say 25%.

On g o in g r ev en u e co s t s

a considerable amount of effort is required to maintain and continuously improve your intranet. Thesecosts need to be budgeted from year one:

Editorial and design personnel: the people required to administer intranet policies and act asoverall content editors for your target population. Remember to include salaries, benefits andexpenses.

Technical personnel: the people required by the organization as a whole to keep your intranet upand running from a technical perspective.

Internet access: the cost of providing lines out to the Internet. A simple way of estimating this is tomake a small annual allowance, say 50, for each employee who will have access.

The following costs apply after the first year of implementation:

Ongoing consultancy: continuous modifications and improvements to your intranet design,expressed as a percentage of start-up design consultancy costs.

Ongoing promotion: continuing promotion of the intranet to your target population, expressed as apercentage of start-up promotional costs.

Ongoing training: a percentage of start-up training costs, largely to account for employeeturnover.

Maintenance of bespoke applications: assuming this work is not carried out by the technicalpersonnel listed above, make an allowance for continuing development of your bespokeapplications, and say 25% of the initial cost.


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Forecasting benefits

Not many people have trouble calculating costs. It takes a little more ingenuity to pin down the benefits.There are three main categories of benefit:

Direct cost savings: savings in expenditure other than labor - print, paper, telephone, travel costs,etc. - that can be directly attributed to the introduction of the intranet. These can usually becalculated in three steps: (1) the number of incidences of expenditure in the time period, (2) thecost of each incidence and (3) the proportion of these that could be eliminated using the intranet.For example, if the number of pages of formal printed material received per person per year was500, the cost in pence per page, including printing and delivery, was 6p and the percentage ofthese pages that could be delivered on-line was 70%, the saving in pounds would be 500 x (6 /100) x 70% x the size of the population.

Labor savings: savings in the amount of time required to carry out tasks as a result of introducingthe intranet. These can be expressed in minutes per person per day. To calculate the saving,divide the number of minutes saved by the number of minutes in the day (60 x the number ofworking hours) and multiply by the size of the population and the average salary.

Productivity increases: increases in output per person attributable to the introduction of theintranet, expressed as a percentage. Because personal productivity has such a wide range ofimplications from job to job and organization to organization, it is probably easier to convert theseto simple labor savings. For example, if the total productivity gains were 3%, calculate the savingsas (3 / 103) x the size of the population x the average salary. The actual effect of higherproductivity, such as increases in sales, could well be much larger and, if you can estimate these,then you should.

Each category of intranet usage has its own associated benefits:

In format ion pub l i sh ing Direct cost savings: the print, paper and delivery costs that can be saved by making documents available

on-line and discontinuing their paper equivalents. Clearly this saving cannot be realized if paper and on-line versions operate in parallel.

Labor savings: faster access to information; more rapid and easy exchange of information; lessduplication of effort (because there need be only one owner for each piece of information) and lessinterruptions (because you can control when you access information).

Productivity increases: through the availability of more accurate and up-to-date information and makingavailable information that was not previously available.

Intranet e-mail direct cost savings: Costs of phone calls, faxes, memos, letters, diskettes and other digital media, saved

through the use of e-mail both within and outside the organization. Labor savings: less time trying to get through on the phone; less time spent preparing and checkingitems to be sent out and less interruptions (because you can control when you access information).

Productivity increases: faster access to information.


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Docum ent managementDirect cost savings: the print, paper, digital media and delivery costs that can be saved by makingdocuments available on-line for review, editing and approval rather than distributing as hard copy or ondiskette.

Labor savings: less time spent sending out documents for review, editing and revision; less time spent

locating/obtaining documents for review, editing and revision; less duplication of effort (data can beshared between documents by linking or copying and pasting); less time wasted correcting errors causedby work being undertaken on incorrect versions.

Productivity increases: faster access to accurate and up-to-date business documents.

Training Direct cost savings: savings in travel and accommodation, trainers, rooms and equipment for coursesdelivered via the intranet rather than in a classroom.

Labor savings: less time spent travelling to courses; less time required to reach learning objectives(through the use of more efficient self-instructional methods).

Productivity increases: immediate access to required knowledge and skills.

Workf low Direct cost savings: the print, paper and delivery costs that can be saved by making forms available on-line.

Labor savings: less time spent per person per form in obtaining up-to-date copies of the form to complete;for each fully-integrated workflow application, the number of days saved in admin time per year.

Productivity increases: faster and more reliable admin processes.

Databases /bespoke sys tems Labor savings: less time required to learn and use applications.

Productivity increases: through information being available that was not previously available.

Discuss ion Direct cost savings: travel and accommodation costs for meetings that could instead be conducted on-line.

Labor savings: less time spent travelling to meetings; less time spent in meetings.

Productivity increases: faster resolution of issues and concerns; the resolution of issues and concernsthat would not have been possible without the intranet.


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Analyzing the results

Before you can make any conclusions from your findings, youll need to total up your costs and benefits.

Summ arizing costs

if your target population is a subset of your organizations total intranet population, then you need onlyneed to take a proportion of the costs that are borne centrally. The following costs are likely to be central:

server hardware and software the purchase, development, maintenance and upgrades to software applications provision of technical personnel

Remember that you only need to take account of the cost of applications that are required to support yourinitial intranet implementation.

Summ arizing benef i t s Total up the benefits for each intranet category under the three benefit headings: direct cost savings,labor savings and productivity increases. Before making your calculations, it is necessary to determinethe proportion of the target population that is affected by each of the intranet categories. For example, thewhole population may be affected by the use of the intranet for information publishing, but only 30% fordocument management and 40% for workflow. If you dont make these distinctions, you are likely to over-estimate your benefits.

ROI:

10 Ways We Improve Intranet ROI:

Reduce the time it takes for employees to find company documents by placing them all in acentral location on the business intranet with a unified, single advanced search and full-textsearching.

Your business intranet can help to attract talent and keep them with you. Use the intranet tofacilitate community and culture. Give employees the tools they look for in collaboration,networking and increased job satisfaction, and then watch your turnover rate decrease yielding significant intranet benefits.

Building a custom business intranet is expensive. Save money with business intranet

software that is out-of-the-box. No contractors, developers or consultants. You can deployquickly with minimal user training and you never have to worry about finding, building ormaintaining new features and applications.

Reduce the management of your business intranet with Smart Delegation. Stop the bottleneckof restricted publishing and let everyone contribute themselves, rather than tying up an IT or HRperson to publish content.
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Automate and streamline the management of courses and student registrations by putting it allon the intranet in an online training calendar. Free up the time of a training manager to focus oncourse material, video how-to have and brings on new projects.

Retaining your employees knowledge beyond their employment in a FAQ or Knowledge Baseapplication is a soft cost that may be hard to quantify but can provide huge gains for the

company in the long run. Create a leaner and more efficient IT help center by encouraging employee to use the business

intranet Support Desk tool, where they can submit issues and track the status of their tickets.

Encourage employees to share cost-saving ideas for the company on your intranet with the IdeaShare application.

Provide better service to your customers by arming your employees with streamlinedinformation at their fingertips. Use various widgets from our 20+ widget library to keepemployees up-to-date on Company News, Daily Tips, and current weather, along with currentindustry news through RSS feeds.

Pick pain points within the business (paper pushing, email overload, clunky workflows) andmove these procedures onto your business intranet to reap the rewards of time cost savings.

DESIGNING AN INTRANET

There are many tools at managers' disposal to successfully implement an intranet. These includehtml editors, database and forms interfaces, java applets, and java script. An intranet must use

these tools to be designed well enough to fully maximize its potential. This in turn saves acompany time and money. When designing an intranet, careful attention must be paid to thedetails that will allow employees to find the information that they are looking for in an easymanner. Just because an intranet is only seen by employees and not by clients or the general

public, this is no excuse for a company to take the easy way out and cut corners with design.Well-organized intranets with a pleasing graphic design sense are usually much appreciated bythe employees who use them.

Generally, an intranet should be designed and organized to focus on a departmental processrather than the department itself. This allows for easier access by employees outside of thedepartment who are contributing to the task at hand. This reflects recent trends in the business

world that trumpet the success achieved by the interaction between different departments ordivisions within the same company.

According to intranet experts , "Successful process-oriented intranets look and work asdifferently as the processes they enable, but they share several common characteristics. First,they are built on smart information design. Second, they focus on tasks, not documents, and aimto integrate those tasks into distinct processes. Finally, the best intranets encourage collaboration
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by creating shared and familiar spaces that reflect the personality of the company and create acommon ground for all employees."

Since individual tasks are generally a small portion of a bigger task, intranets should beorganized in such a way that the related individual tasks are grouped together. These tasks can be

simple or complex, but as long as they all contribute to the same overall process, employees will benefit from the easy access to information that this sort of design provides.

Intranets are useful in bringing employees from different departments together. They can evenhelp employees of the same company who work at different locations communicate moresuccessfully. Through an effective design, these departments can collaborate and solve problems

by using the intranet as a tool rather than relying on more traditional business ideas like meetingsand conference calls.

The bottom line is that an intranet, like any corporate venture, is a reflection of the business thatruns it. A company that is well organized (and therefore usually successful) will be able to

design an intranet in such a way to best suit their needs. As Schneider and Davis state, "As theintranet creates new forms of collaboration, it will challenge traditional ways of doing work andobtaining information. For the intranet to be successful, it must provide ways of empowering allemployees, offering concrete incentives for employees to use, and encourage the use, of theintranet. The process-oriented intranet, then, is 'in sync' with the company it works for. And thisis where graphic design, tone, and standards emerge as vital to the intranet's success. Like it ornot, intranets have personalities, which are amalgams of visual style, tone, and content. Anintranet that reflects the culture of its company will make employees feel more at home, will helpdispersed employees feel that they share the same space, and will encourage collaboration andcommunication around the processes they support."

MANAGING AN INTRANETAs the cost to maintain an intranet grows over time, so does the time and effort to maintain it.Managers often spend considerable energy trying to keep up with increased traffic and otherforms of growth. Proper planning (including having the best Web and network tools available) isone way to cut down on the manpower required to run an intranet. Employees who maintain theintranet must be experts in the area of Web publishing. Managing the server, developingapplications, and converting documents and databases to html format are just some of the dutiesfound in this area.

Many companies decide to hire an outside firm to run their intranet rather than do so themselves.This cuts down on the number of internal problems and potential disasters and givesmanagement peace of mind to know that trained professionals are handling this often delicatesituation. If this route is taken, it is important for management to keep some employees dedicatedto intranet issues in case the relationship with the outside supplier does not end up working out.

Once the intranet is set up, it is important to keep its content current in order to keep employeesusing it in the manner for which it was intended. Regular updates regarding company news and
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the promotion of the intranet from upper management are just two ways to keep it from growingobsolete before its time.

Large corporations like IBM, Ford Motor Company, and the Turner Entertainment Group haveall had success implementing intranets into their corporate structure. But these giant companies

are not the only ones who have been able to exploit the benefits of intranets to their fullestadvantage. Small businesses have taken notice as to how intranets help cut down on costs andincrease productivity. Since small businesses often also have less red tape to deal with thanlarger corporations, a full-fledged intranet or even a test version can often be set up quickly andeasily. Once management and employees become familiar with how the intranet works, the

possibilities for success are limitless.

Potential advantages of using intranets

reduces printing, distribution, and paper costs - particularly on policy manuals, companynewsletters, product catalogs, technical drawings, training material, and telephone directories

easy to use - no specialized training required inexpensive to use (once it is set up) moderate initial setup costs (hardware and software) standardized network protocol (TCP/IP), document protocol (HTML), and file transfer protocol

(ftp) already well established and suitable for all platforms can be used throughout the enterprise reduces employee training costs reduces sales and marketing costs reduces office administration and accounting costs ease of access results in a more integrated company with employees communicating and

collaborating more freely and more productively


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Potential disadvantages of intranets

it is an evolving technology that requires upgrades and could have software incompatibilityproblems

security features can be inadequate inadequate system performance management and poor user support may not scale up adequately maintaining content can be time consuming some employees may not have PCs at their desks The aims of the organization in developing an intranet may not align with user needs.


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Building a PHP Intranet: 10 Key Tools

Fedora Core

Link: http://fedoraproject.org/

What it does: Fedora Core is a free linux distribution. As with most free linux distributions, itusually contains the bleeding edge code from the OpenSource projects that comprise thedistribution. Generally, this is desirable for people looking to take advantage of new features, butfor enterprise servers, or for applications requiring a more stable and tested codebase,distributions such as RedHat Enterprise Linux or SuSE Enterprise Linux are more appropriate.Fedora is my particular favorite, but Debian and Ubuntu are also very solid.

PHP5

Link: http://www.php.net/

What it does: It s PHP, Fedora Core features this in an RPM package, and you can insta ll itduring the installation process.

Apache2

Link: http://httpd.apache.org/

What it does: Apache is the front-end webserver required by all of the other OpenSource projects on this list. As with PHP, it is included in the Fedora Core distribution as the HTTPserver, and you can install it during the initial installation process.
http://wekti.com/2008/06/09/building-a-php-intranet-10-key-tools/http://wekti.com/2008/06/09/building-a-php-intranet-10-key-tools/http://fedoraproject.org/http://fedoraproject.org/http://fedoraproject.org/http://www.php.net/http://www.php.net/http://www.php.net/http://httpd.apache.org/http://httpd.apache.org/http://httpd.apache.org/http://httpd.apache.org/http://www.php.net/http://fedoraproject.org/http://wekti.com/2008/06/09/building-a-php-intranet-10-key-tools/


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mySQL

Link: http://www.mysql.com/

What it does: mySQL is the database back-end required to store data for all of the OpenSource projects on this list. As with PHP and Apache, it is a part of the Fedora Core distribution, and can be installed during the installation process.

MediaWiki

Link: http://www.mediawiki.org

What it does: MediaWiki is a fantastic OpenSource wiki platform. It s fairly straightforward toset up and deploy, and you ll be up and running in no time. MediaWiki is the platform thatsupports Wikipedia .

Drupal

Link: http://drupal.org/

What it does: Drupal is a web content management system. Drupal includes templates, makingit easy for departments to start building their own web pages quickly and easily.
http://www.mysql.com/http://www.mysql.com/http://www.mysql.com/http://www.mediawiki.org/http://www.mediawiki.org/http://www.mediawiki.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://drupal.org/http://drupal.org/http://drupal.org/http://drupal.org/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Pagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIKIhttp://www.mediawiki.org/http://www.mysql.com/


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phpBB

Link: http://www.phpbb.com/

What it does: phpBB is a web-based discussion platform (aka a bulletin board system, orforums). Having a web-based platform for discussion allows you to capture tacit information thatmight otherwise be inaccessible in email discussions and make it readily available to anyonesearching for it on your Intranet.

Horde

Link: http://www.horde.org/

What it does: Horde is a web-based email, calendaring and task management system that isquick to set up and deploy.

WordPress

Link: http://www.wordpress.org

What it does: WordPress is simply the best PHP-based blogging application available.

Coppermine

Link: http://coppermine-gallery.net/

What it does: Coppermine is an easy-to-use and powerful image gallery application.
http://www.phpbb.com/http://www.phpbb.com/http://www.phpbb.com/http://www.horde.org/http://www.horde.org/http://www.horde.org/http://www.wordpress.org/http://www.wordpress.org/http://www.wordpress.org/http://coppermine-gallery.net/http://coppermine-gallery.net/http://coppermine-gallery.net/http://coppermine-gallery.net/http://www.wordpress.org/http://www.horde.org/http://www.phpbb.com/


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SCOPE OF INTRANET IN BL :

Human Resources Intranets to store and avail training documentation, contactdatabases, employee surveys, candidate applications and screening, etc.

Sales and Marketing Intranets that allow sales and marketing personnel to access

product information, sales scripts, market analysis and research, pricing charts, contactdatabases, sales records, etc.

Information Systems Intranets for instruction manuals, software and applications,technical support, resource scheduling, etc.

Executive Intranets to organize departmental information, business contracts, meetingminutes, business metrics, external contact information, etc.

Customer Service Intranets for customer information, order entry and tracking,stocking information, customer FAQs, and technical support documents, etc.

Accounting Intranets for the centralization of payroll, budgeting information, assetmanagement, accounts support, financial reports, financial policies and procedures, etc.

Intranet Draft by Debajyoti Mohanty and Hrisav Kar

Documents

Transcript of Intranet Draft by Debajyoti Mohanty and Hrisav Kar