Intranet | Extranet
Planning EBusiness
Intranets and Extranets
Intranets and Extranets have proved to be a bonus for many companies. However, many small and medium sized organizations have not yet realized the benefits of an Intranet or Extranet.
There is little doubt that EBusiness facilitates communication within organizations and with customers, partners and suppliers, but many people are still unaware about the real advantages.
They give small and medium sized businesses the power to store, share, and disseminate information and gain competitive advantages.
Creating an effective and useful Intranet or Extranet requires more than just installing a few applications and putting them on the network. They also require:
-
an appealing, easy-to-use interface
-
integrated applications with appropriate security features
-
the ability to integrate new applications easily
-
documentation that provides help for users, and
-
applications that can be easily maintained and upgraded
These days any organisation that employs 5 or more individuals who require regular access to information should be at least considering an Intranet or Extranet, especially knowledge-based service sector organisations such as law and accountancy, but manufacturing, retailing, wholesaing, charity and other organization types have also all been shown to benefit greatly.
Intranet and Extranet benefits
Intranets
- Inexpensive to implement, based on open standards, standard user interfaces
- Low incremental costs that are easy to predict
- Scaleable and flexible connects across disparate platforms
- Secure, hierarchical structure and control procedures
- Simple to support with minimal training requirements
- Overcome time and distance barriers as available 24/365
- Reduce print costs: instantly change, edit, update sensitive information
- Strengthen working relationship with clients/customers/suppliers/partners
- Increase accuracy: personalised data for clients / customers / suppliers / partners
- Improve tracking with clients/customers/suppliers/partners
- Improve knowledge: sales support, inventory/order status, recalls, promotions
- Speed up supply chain list buying preferences and tender specifications
- Reduce purchasing/inventory costs, streamline processing, decrease space cost
- Give regular suppliers the ability to initiate automatic re-stocking and invoicing
- Increase productivity as automated processes decrease bottlenecks
- Allow clients/customers/suppliers/partners to view/comment work in progress
- Offer research and information to specific clients / customers / suppliers / partners
- Improve time to market making proposals etc. available, speeding up approval
- Give clients/customers/suppliers/partners better access to sales/service
- Improve customer service forward queries directly to suppliers/partners
- Improved quality of life at work, reduced EMails and 'EMail fatigue'
- Improved productivity from 'just in time', easy to find information
- Reduce communication costs and reduce meetings and phone tag
- Better, faster feedback, adaptation, correction via surveys and questionnaires
- Reduce routine account manager work
- Full support package
Extranets
- Inexpensive to implement, based on open standards, standard user interfaces
- Low incremental costs that are easy to predict
- Scaleable and flexible connects across disparate platforms
- Secure, hierarchical structure and control procedures
- Simple to support with minimal training requirements
- Puts users in control of their data
- Easy to use, just point and click with versatile and rich formats
- Saves time and money as users find better information faster
- Reduces operational costs and risk by sharing experience globally
- Cost reduction in meeting, travel, and telephone time
- Reduced cost of printing and distribution and instant update capability
- Reduces the cost of internal communications and ensures message accuracy
- Reduces operational cost through employee self-service
- Reinforces central control of policy and procedure and reduces duplication
- Improves internal communication that is faster, easier, more flexible and open
- Better knowledge management via relevant sharing of market intelligence etc.
- Empowered users builds a culture of sharing and collaboration
- Improved decision making via increased collaboration and participation
- Facilitates organizational learning
- Breaks down bureaucracy, shortens cycle times for developments
- Improved quality of life at work, reduced EMails and 'EMail fatigue'
- Improved productivity from 'just in time', easy to find information
- Instant access to relevant databases such pricing, personnel etc.
- Better, faster feedback, adaptation, correction via surveys and questionnaires
- Reduced cost of training via CBT portal, available 'on demand'
- Full support package
blinklist
