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The Right Tool for the Right Job

Many IT implementations have a pre-defined application template — a list of features identical to all other implementations of the same type. Applications such as anti-virus solutions, office suites, and corporate e-mail all have core components that don't vary much from one vendor to another. Even broader, more complex IT implementations such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions have a core set of components and application templates. ERPs can incorporate multiple modules for standard business operations including human resources, payroll, project planning, customer service, and purchasing — to name a few. It's just a matter of which modules to include, and fine-tuning the applications to meet the needs of the company implementing it.

With intranets there's no such predefined template. Intranet technology can be used to support and facilitate just about any application you can think of. It can be used to support content and knowledge management systems, to drive online collaboration, to build a user support network, or to serve as an enterprise portal tying several corporate database applications together.

You can't simply say, “Build me an intranet” anymore than you can ask a team of mechanics to build you a generic vehicle without ever mentioning the type of vehicle you're looking for. Will it travel on water, land, or air? Is it a single person vehicle or a personnel carrier? The right tool needs to be developed for the job at hand. While you may be thinking of a speedy little compact car to zip around town in, your mechanics may end up delivering you a Hercules transport plane — talk about overkill.

Intranets — whether in the initial stages of development or undergoing a complete re-design — always have to begin with a concrete and clearly defined game plan. It's this game plan that will help intranet developers and content owners from adding impromptu features along the development path.

And because intranet solutions do encompass such a wide field of possible IT applications, you need to ensure that you're building the right tool for the right job. If all that's needed is a svelte content management system, don't try to squeeze in a bunch of online collaboration tools. While it might be nice to have, it's unnecessary and will take focus away for the intranet's core features.

But it's very important to note that building the right tool for the right job doesn't mean backing yourself into a technological corner. Just because your current requirements call for a narrow set of components doesn't mean that's all you'll ever need. Your intranet should still be flexible enough to allow for future expansion; and this flexibility should help you avoid the temptation of including everything into one release.

Avoiding the Pressures of Over-Development

An intranet should always have a mission statement. If not an official one then at least one used by developers and content owners in order to help them maintain perspective on system goals. Otherwise, over time, intranet owners may lose sight on why they built the system to begin with and morph the intranet into a hodgepodge of tools.

Always stay focused on your intranet's mission statement (what is its primary purpose?) and target audience (who are you building it for?). If the job calls for five or six core components, concentrate your effort on building those components. JOAT intranets containing too many unnecessary features may end up projecting a negative image and a lack of focus to the user community. It will be as though you were not quite sure what you were trying to build and thought it safer to include more features for fear of missing something. Ironically, users will appreciate nothing more than a straightforward system that simply does what it's supposed to without all the other bell-and-whistles bogging down the system.

Also, don't be overly swayed or influenced by what you see in other companies' intranets, or what you read in magazines and Web site. Every company's needs are different, and every intranet is different. Your solution has to be a right fit for your specific business processes and user needs. Don't try to build a generic, all-inclusive solution containing every imaginable application just because you think it will better fit someone else's definition of what an intranet should be. The time and effort spent on including unnecessary features may cause you to neglect core components.

Final Thoughts

I've always appreciated software that had a focused purpose. They do exactly what they're supposed to without the unnecessary extravagance of a marketing wow factor. Unfortunately, too many software developers maintain the false impression that more is always better — that they can win users' confidence by hitting them over the head with a long list of features.

It's gotten to the point where you can't even classify some JOAT-type software packages anymore; they try too hard to be everything to everyone. Either that or they're overcompensating for lack of software direction by loading the system up with as many feature as possible.

And I've also learned this same lesson in my own life — to match the right tool with the right job. After countless hours hiking in the backcountry, I've learned that there are some tools in my clunky old Swiss Army knife I'll never use. So I've long since retired "Big Red" in favor of a slimmer Swiss Army knife with only seven essential tools — and somewhere, a sheep with an uneven coat is breathing a very deep sigh of relief.