Intranets are private computer networks that use Internet protocols to securely share part of an organization's information or operations exclusively with its employees. Sometimes the term refers only to an internal website; sometimes other Internet protocols are used as well, such as FTP.
#33088
Practical Strategies for Creating a Successful Intranet
Designing, developing, and deploying an intranet can be expensive, time-consuming and organizationally tricky. Complicating factors include: supervising the budget; prioritizing features; addressing user requests; collaborating with other departments to produce and deploy content; and leading interdisciplinary teams of site administrators, information architects, content writers, visual designers, technical architects, and developers. Nevertheless, certain strategies, when carefully executed, can simplify designing and managing your intranet.
Singh, Shiv. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#33089
Productivity in the Service Economy
Yes, it is possible for white-collar workers to work smarter and become more productive. While intranet usability provides substantial initial gains, workflow usability can go much further and will save millions of jobs.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Workflow
#33090
Providing Intranet Access to Records
Many organisations are attempting to clarify the relationship between the corporate intranet, and their document/records management system. While this is a broader issue of information management with an organisation, there are some short-term activities that can be taken to create a working relationship between these two platforms. This briefing outlines a simple scenario in which the intranet helps staff find key corporate information, while the documents accessed are stored in the document/records management system.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Databases
#33092
Thanks to Google, intranet users expect to be able to type in a word (or two) and find the page they are looking for, preferably in the first few results. This is not an unreasonable expectation. At the most fundamental level, search on an intranet is supposed to make it quick and easy for staff to find things, thereby saving them time and improving their productivity. This can be distilled down to a very simple concept: search should work like magic. As much as is possible, search should always give staff the information they need, somewhere in the first few results.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Search
#33093
Selling Old-School Management on an Intranet
How do you get old-school management to support and finance an intranet when they themselves are not likely to use it?
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2004). Articles>Management>Web Design>Intranets
#33094
Sixteen Steps to a Renewed Corporate Intranet
The growing status of content management systems (CMSs) is now providing many organisations with an impetus to revisit and renew their intranets. Unfortunately, while the technical aspects of implementing a CMS are well understood, many organisations are struggling to identify the issues with the content, structure and management of their intranets. The good news is that by following a disciplined approach, it is possible to re-invigorate an intranet, making it deliver real business benefits, and supporting strategic goals. This article outlines a sixteen step process which guides you through to a refreshed and dynamic new intranet.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Content Management
#33095
How can an organization empower its employees, reduce costs and improve data quality? Implementing employee self-service tools is one direction that a number of leading companies are turning to as they look to build win-win propositions with their most important assets: their people.
Di Ferdinando, Bridgette, Eric Lesser and Tomer Amit. IBM (2004). Articles>Web Design>Knowledge Management>Intranets
#33096
Intranets are complex because they have complex objectives, whereas Internet sites cast a wide net and filter audiences into a few focused paths that eventually lead to a single call to action (such as a purchase transaction). Intranets provide all of the information available on a topic and let readers cull the data they need to complete the task at hand. Intranets cast a wide net, but the filtering is much more difficult. This is a major problem when more and more content gets jammed into an intranet by various corporate divisions. The result is often a resource that's too cumbersome to use.
Rosenheim, Mimi. WebTechniques (2001). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#33097
The "All Together" Rule for Intranets
The primary purpose of intranets is to support staff in doing their jobs, to help them complete common business tasks. In practice, however, this can be very frustrating on many intranets. Policies are located in one section, procedures in another section, and forms in a third. Information then needs to be hunted out in order to complete even simple activities. The effectiveness of intranets can be greatly enhanced by bringing together all of the information and tools relating to a task or a subject, and presenting them in a single location.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Information Design
#33098
The Difference Between Intranet and Internet Design
Your intranet and your public website on the open Internet are two different information spaces and should have two different user interface designs. It is tempting to try to save design resources by reusing a single design, but it is a bad idea to do so because the two types of site differ along several dimensions.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1997). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#33099
Finally, organizations are getting serious about how they manage their intranets. The intranet is now moving out of an evolutionary, experimental phase into a more systematic, managed phase. It is being seen as an asset, a driver of productivity. However, return on investment measurement for the intranet still requires a lot of work.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Management>Intranets
#33100
The intranet is beginning to restructure the organization in more ways than one. Content is now an asset, and the people who manage it need to treat it as such. Managing editors, and their team, understand how technology can facilitate effective publishing, collaboration and self-service focused application development.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Content Management
#33101
There is a view in some organizations that an intranet is only for staff, so you can publish what you want. Quality content matters as much on an intranet as on a public website. Get your content right to begin with. Keep it right by removing out-of-date content.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Content Management
#33102
If You Can't Measure It, You Can't Manage It
Intranets don't self-organize. Without planned, centralized information architectures and clearly defined published processes, they become unproductive. Intranets often have applications that either don't work properly, are too difficult to learn, or have no clear business benefit. Applications, like content, must be able to establish a clear return on investment.
McGovern, Gerry. New Thinking (2003). Articles>Information Design>Intranets>Assessment
#33103
Three Approaches to Intranet Strategy
Every intranet is different, and every section of a company’s Intranet can be used differently. There are a number of different methods to how an Intranet can be used to benefit a company. However, the three most popular and most valuable are knowledge management, collaboration and communication, and task management.
Lash, Jeff. Digital Web Magazine (2003). Articles>Web Design>Management>Intranets
#33104
To Be, or Not To Be: Intranet Justification
Intranets are more than mere applications. An intranet is a community--made up of technology and personnel--that represents and supports an organization's collective knowledge and culture. And as such, the benefits of an intranet are not always apparent. Perhaps they're taken for granted as normal part of day-to-day operation; only in its absence will we truly discover the worth of an intranet.
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#33105
Top Ten Ways to Lose Your Intranet Users
Intranet developers and content owners are able to grab the attention of their users through momentum. Interest--caused by curiosity, marketing, word-of-mouth, or hype--is raised during initial rollout. And there will always be a surge in your web server's usage logs during this period. But once the novelty has worn off, will your intranet have enough true substance to transform that initial momentum into regular usage?
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33106
Us vs. Them - Vocabulary Makes a Difference
Vocabulary used when talking about intranets reveals a lot about an organisation's model and approach to becoming more international, or global. Which raises the question: what's the difference between global and international? I've included a snapshot of a slide on this point which I use in workshops.
NetStrategy-JMC (2006). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>International
#33107
What to Include in Intranet Search Results
Intranet search often fails to meet the needs or expectations of users, with confusing and complex results provided for even the simplest searches.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2005). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Search
#33108
One of the first challenges when establishing an intranet is to determine who should have overall ownership of the site, and where the intranet team should be located. While the responsibility for driving the intranet must be given to a single business area, this group must be located within the right area of the organisation if the intranet is to succeed. This briefing explores a number of common intranet owners, and discusses the pros and cons of each group. It then presents some general guidelines and approaches for selecting where to place the intranet team.
Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Web Design>Management>Intranets
#33109
Why an Intranet Must Constantly be Updated
The single most important thing to realize about an intranet is that it is a growing entity. If you wipe your brow in relief after rolling out your intranet and think that that was all there was to it, you are going to be in for a surprise. You should not leave your intranet locked away in some room and hope that it will run itself.
Chin, Paul. Intranet Journal (2001). Articles>Web Design>Intranets
#33110
Why are Intranets Structured Like the Organisational Chart?
Many intranets are structured around the organisational chart. It is well known that this method of grouping content is difficult for staff — they can’t find information if they don’t know who is responsible for it. However, it often seems too difficult to move from an organisational-based structure to a more intuitive topical structure. Before moving to a better structure it is necessary to identify why the intranet is currently designed around the organisational chart, and address these issues first.
Spencer, Donna. Step Two (2005). Articles>Information Design>Intranets>User Centered Design
#33596
Intranets are getting more strategic, with increased collaboration support. Team size is growing by 12% per year, and platforms are becoming integrated. Improving usability increased use by 106% on average.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2009). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Usability
#34376
People are doing business differently today; the intranet of yesterday is not sustainable. Make your intranet work the way people work.
McConnell, Jane. Predicate (2009). Presentations>Web Design>Intranets>Social Networking
#34740
Most intranets are not all that different from each other - the same content subjects tend to apply to most companies and organizations. Content-Strategy has developed a universal intranet content chart that you can use directly - or modify - for free.
Content Strategy (2009). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Intranets
