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What is an Intranet/Extranet Solution?
An Intranet is a web-based system that is only viewable by people and staff within your organisation. An Intranet is not accessible to the public and usually require authentication in the form of a username and password in order to access. Intranets differ from "Extranets" in that the former are generally restricted to employees of the organisation while extranets can generally be accessed by customers, suppliers, or other approved parties. Both Intranets and Extranets can prove to be valuable and effective business tools for an organisation. They can be strategic assets that streamline key business processes, improve efficiency and assist staff perform their roles.
Properly designed, scoped and managed intranets can help streamline many of the activities and processes undertaken by the organisation and can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of these activities. An intranet reflects the unique culture, structure, processes, staff and resources of the organisation that it serves. Intranet's must be tailored to fit the organisation's needs and challengesso there is no single 'best' intranet design. Sitescene have the experience and technical skills to work with you to transform your intranet vision into a reality.
The volume of information managed on an intranet demands that policies and processes are put in place to ensure that content and tools remain effective. The intranet must also be positioned to meet the needs of staff and be integrated into the business processes it supports. An intranet must be useful for staff if it is to be successful and the information and services it provides must match staff and business needs.
Sitescene conduct extensive research prior to undertaking any Intranet/Extranet development. Our team will interview stakeholders, issue surveys, hold focus group sessions and undertake workplace observation. Usability testing is performed throughout the development process to ensure the Intranet/Extranet matches the way your staff usage style.
How can an Intranet/Extranet benefit my company?
Designing and developing a custom web-based Intranet/Extranet for your organisation can offer many substantial benefits. These may include:
- Intranets can help users to locate and view information faster and use applications relevant to their roles and responsibilities. With the help of a web browser interface, users can access data held in any database the organization wants to make available, anytime and - subject to security provisions - from anywhere within the company workstations, increasing employees' ability to perform their jobs faster, more accurately, and with confidence that they have the right information. It also helps to improve the services provided to the users.
- With intranets, organizations can make more information available to employees on a "pull" basis (ie: employees can link to relevant information at a time which suits them) rather than being deluged indiscriminately by emails.
- Intranets can serve as powerful tools for communication within an organization, vertically and horizontally. From a communications standpoint, intranets are useful to communicate strategic initiatives that have a global reach throughout the organization. The type of information that can easily be conveyed is the purpose of the initiative and what the initiative is aiming to achieve, who is driving the initiative, results achieved to date, and who to speak to for more information. By providing this information on the intranet, staff have the opportunity to keep up-to-date with the strategic focus of the organization.
- Web publishing allows 'cumbersome' corporate knowledge to be maintained and easily accessed throughout the company using hypermedia and Web technologies. Examples include: employee manuals, benefits documents, company policies, business standards, newsfeeds, and even training, can be accessed using common Internet standards (Acrobat files, Flash files, CGI applications). Because each business unit can update the online copy of a document, the most recent version is always available to employees using the intranet.
- Business operations and management: Intranets are also being used as a platform for developing and deploying applications to support business operations and decisions across the internetworked enterprise.
- Users can view information and data via web-browser rather than maintaining physical documents such as procedure manuals, internal phone list and requisition forms.
- Promote common corporate culture: Every user is viewing the same information within the Intranet.
- Enhance Collaboration: With information easily accessible by all authorised users, teamwork is enabled.
- Cross-platform Capability: Standards-compliant web browsers are available for Windows, Mac, and UNIX.
So in short the benefits of an Intranet/Extranet can:
- Increase staff efficiency, productivity and satisfaction;
- Improve decision making;
- Improve customer service, providing accurate and consistent advice;
- Support internal communications and collaboration;
- Reduce duplication of effort and costs;
- Build corporate identity;
Sitescene work with our clients to clearly identify the needs of your intended users and to document the goals that the envisaged Intranet should aim to achieve. These goals will shape the scope of the Intranet and could have direct impact on the design and development of the Intranet/Extranet.
Effective Intranet/Extranet goals generally focus on business outcomes or on other activity-based measures. Business-focused goals that help streamline internal processes will help ensure that the system is valuable to the organisation and may be easier to measure and track.
What factors contribute to a great Intranet/Extranet?
Designing and developing a successful and effective Intranet/Extranet solution can not be done by just any web development company. There are a number of important factors which need to be taken into consideration when developing an Intranet/Extranet:
Design
An intranet should be easy and efficient to use for all users, regardless of their level of IT literacy. Sitescene ensure investment of time and resources during the design phase to ensure the interface, structure and content will contribute to the development of an effective tool for users. Usability is key during this phase.
Application Development
Services or applications that are used frequently and particularly valued by staff generate greater use and awareness of the Intranet/Extranet and other resources. Examples of these applications may include Staff Directories (Phone Books) and access to the Employee Leave System. By providing facilities such as Online Forms, Custom Applications and Calculators, an Intranet/Extranet can be a 'place for doing things'. By integrating directly into core business processes, the Intranet/Extranet can become a tool that can deliver concrete and measurable business benefits.
Content Management
The primary purpose of most Intranets/Extranets is to provide staff with the information they need for their roles. Unless the information provided is consistent, accurate, comprehensive and appropriate, staff will seek the information from alternative sources. Intranets/Extranets should be also be accessible by disabled users and users of assistive technology. Sitescene ensures that all Intranet/Extranet systems follow the requirements outlined by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) (www.w3.org/WAI/).
A customised Content Management System (CMS) can support the ongoing development and maintenance of Intranets/Extranets and will also support the use of a decentralised authoring model. It can even be integrated with the external corporate website to streamline website updating procedures.
For more information on how an Intranet/Extranet developed by Sitescene can improve the operation of your business, contact us and arrange for one of our Consultants to meet with you to discuss your requirements.