Although an Intranet offers many business and technological advantages over traditional networks and client-server solutions, research shows that users do not immediately flock to an Intranet "just because it's there." According to a recent article in Computerworld, despite the amount of media coverage given to Intranets, the technology may go unused unless someone demonstrates compelling applications.

It is up to business managers and IS professionals, working together, to lead the company to the Intranet. This section includes information to help business managers and IS professionals assume a leadership role in demonstrating the value and problem-solving capabilities of this new technology.

In general, there are five characteristics to look for in identifying business processes that could be vastly improved by an Intranet:

• Any business process that involves the production, requisition, distribution and update of dynamic information that has traditionally been published on paper. Examples include employee directories, medical benefits descriptions, product specifications, user manuals, price lists, marketing collateral, financial reporting systems, and policies and procedures.
• Any business process that involves the consolidation of information from multiple data sources. For example, a retail customer service representative must access and consolidate customer information, order history and product information (description, pricing, availability) and enter sales order information-all while speaking to a customer on the telephone.
• Any business process that requires a high level of communication and collaboration between people, especially if they are separated geographically. Today, for example, many engineering projects involve the coordination of multiple development groups scattered in multiple locations. Many companies have field sales offices that need constant, up-to-date access to company information as well as daily contact with the home office.
• Any business process that depends on people finding or requisitioning information or products. Examples include reference manuals, internal requisition systems, channel distribution order systems and fax-back systems.
• Any business process currently automated by a client-server or mainframe application. This is particularly significant for companies with older legacy systems that need to be brought up-to-date.

This article presents Intranet applications that significantly enhance an organization's business processes. They are categorized by functional group - sales and marketing, human resources, engineering, customer service and support, finance and accounting, and manufacturing and operations.

 

 

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