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In preparation for another summer filled with outdoor activities, I made a trip to the local pharmacy to stock up on sunscreen lest my skin turn to beef jerky. There I stood, in front of an entire aisle of sunscreen products in every imaginable combination. I had to wade through all the different brands, each proclaiming to do what others don't. But once I settled on a brand I still had to decide between SPF 15, 30, or 45; normal or sensitive skin; regular, sport, or "extreme" (perhaps for your next trip to Mercury?); with or without moisturizer; lotion or spray... I think I even saw one that was labeled "muy caliente."

Choice is good, but sometimes too much choice can be downright confusing and overwhelming. Anyone who's responsible for building or retrofitting an intranet knows how true this is. In order to ensure the longevity of your intranet, you have to choose not only the right tools with which to build your system, but also the technological foundation on which to build it on.

And there's no shortage of choices either -- hosted services, commercial software suites, open source frameworks. Every solution within each of these categories is based on its own set of technologies -- sometimes-experimental technologies. Your goal is to choose technologies and tools with staying power. But with all the available Web development technologies and intranet frameworks, how do you separate the future development standards from the overnight fads?

Here are some tips to keep in mind when dealing with all the intranet technology and tool choices floating around out there:

Steer Clear of Bleeding Edge Technology

"Version 1.0" is a four-letter word to many users and developers in the technology community. Regardless of how good a technology or tool may look on paper, many version 1.0's are notoriously buggy with an unknown shelf life. They're basically glorified betas. Even if the new technology and tool isn't buggy, it can still suffer poor reception from users and developers, or it can be dropped by those supporting it for any number of reasons.

While it's always a good idea to experiment with new technology for R&D purposes, basing a production intranet on any untested technology is inviting disaster. New technologies and tools need a maturation period. You have no idea where that technology is heading, whether it will be accepted by the industry, and whether it will be recognized as a potential future standard or development tool. The last thing you want is to base an entire system on new technology and then seeing that technology dropped. You'll be left with an obsolete intranet with a very limited support structure.

Keep a Watchful Eye on the Industry

Although I've always cautioned people against the adoption of bleeding edge technology, that doesn't mean you should outright dismiss all new technology. Even if you don't put any of this new technology into practice, you still have to keep abreast of what's being used in the industry. This will help you separate future development standards and platforms from the here today gone tomorrow fads.

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