What is an Intranet

INTRANET SOLUTIONS White Paper Net Access Communication Systems (Private) Limited INTRANET SOLUTIONS WHAT IS AN INTRANET? An Intranet is a way of thinking about and organizing the way we work with other people. It’s a method for leveraging the people, and the tools they all use, to make something new and better than merely the sum of the parts within that group. Physically, an Intranet is formed by linking the various pieces of information and communications technologies that an organisation owns or uses; interconnected in such a fashion that all the resources of the organisation are readily available to anyone who needs them, wherever and whenever they are needed. Those resources we link together are not merely the physical devices such as computers or fax machines. The data that is stored in or accessed through the physical devices are resources too; as are the software applications that can operate on and manipulate those data resources. Most important of all are the people who themselves are connected by that Intranet. An Intranet encourages the members of the organisation to make better and more informed decisions. An Intranet encourages and supports more effective use of people by people and should support faster and more efficient decision making processes. To repeat the point: An Intranet weaves together three essential components; tangible resources such as computers, intangible resources in the form of data and, most important of all, the experience and knowledge of people within the organisation. An Intranet achieves its purposes by providing a small number of common but very generalized software tools of great power and flexibility, rather than a large range of discrete specialized power tools that cannot work effectively with each other. Intranets are therefore mechanisms for harmonization and integration. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS The key issues here are experience and knowledge. A well designed Intranet should make it possible for an organisation to gain better access to its primary resource: the knowledge and experience of the individuals who work within it. A well designed Intranet should be an enabling technology. A well designed and properly implemented Intranet is a creative and empowering tool for the entire organisation that permits any individual to bring the entire resources of the organisation to bear on any specific task they undertake and to bring their own resources and expertise to bear upon the general purposes of the organisation with greater effect. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS HERE'S WHY YOUR COMPANY SHOULD HAVE ITS VERY OWN INTRANET. IT'S EASIER TO FIND stuff on the Web than it is on your company's own network. That was one of Bill Gates' more profound statements during the initial rollout of Microsoft's Internet strategy. The statement is true because the Web is a collection of indexed, searchable hypertext documents, and your network is not. But you can change all that starting right now by creating your own little company-wide Web, or intranet. What's an intranet? Simply put, an intranet is a company-wide software--and information--distribution system that uses Internet tools and technology. It could be a simple HTML file linked on a LAN, a full-blown sophisticated system with dedicated server hardware, or anything in between. You can use an intranet to give employees access to company documents, distribute software, enable group scheduling, provide an easy front end to company databases, and let individuals and departments publish information they need to communicate to the rest of the company. Typical intranet content could include the corporate directory, a calendar of events, a policies and procedures manual, the health plan and the company newsletter. The most important information will be industry-specific, such as supplier information and databases of products. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS Five reasons why your company needs an intranet 1. Intranets solve the problem of information overload. Ironically, too much information doesn't cause information overload, and the solution isn't to reduce available information. Problems arise when individuals have little control over the information that comes at them. They're buried under a mountain of data. And it takes mental energy to filter, sort, store and later retrieve all this information, most of which is irrelevant. 2. Intranets are cheap. One advantage of using Internet tools to distribute company information is low cost. Your networked PCs are all perfectly capable intranet clients, and browsers are cheap or free. Even the server hardware, software and middleware is affordable. Any employee with access to a TCP/IP backbone can publish. Perhaps best of all, rollout can be gradual, modular and minimally disruptive. 3. Intranets are cross-platform. Most organizations are as heterogeneous as hell on the client side. Macs here. UNIX boxes there. A couple of OS/2 machines in the corner and, of course, Windows, Windows everywhere (in all three flavors: 3.1x, 95 and NT). Intranets are the easiest way to get everyone talking. 4. Intranets are robust. Even though the Web is just seven years old, and the first graphical browser just three, much of the underlying technology has been in use on the Internet for a decade or two, and it's robust and reliable. 5. Intranets are fast. You've seen Web sites with large, spectacular graphics, cool videos, neat Netscape forms, and other bells and whistles. And you'd probably enjoy them even more if they took seconds, rather than minutes, to download. That's one of the great advantages of an intranet: Videos and sound can load in less than a second. You can really push the envelope with the hottest available Web technologies without worrying about performance. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS Once companies discover how useful intranets are, they'll start thinking about making some of the content available to customers on the Web. One shining example is Federal Express (http://www.fedex.com/), which has placed its package-tracking database online for all the world to see. Even if you're not in the overnight delivery business, you still may be able to reduce costs by letting customers get at your information themselves rather than through a telephone operator you have to pay. Embrace a culture of decentralization Corporations have devoted a lot of resources and networking technology to centralize the management and distribution of company information. The problem with this traditional approach is that centralized information is hard to keep up to date. Maintaining the data is a full-time job. Those who do it are middlemen-and usually bottlenecks-between producers and consumers of the information within your organization. An intranet can eliminate this bottleneck, but it won't be all fun and games. Expect glitches and roadblocks. The biggest obstacle is probably cultural. Moving to a system of distributed information publishing is hard. It requires a new way of thinking'-breaking old habits and forming new ones. And it means giving up some control at the top. Some within your organization will resist either using an intranet as a resource, or publishing information on an intranet. Others will catch HTML fever and spend all their time playing with Web authoring tools at the expense of the work you hired them to do. Like the introduction of PCs into the workplace, the creation of an intranet will involve a sometimes difficult but ultimately positive cultural shift within your company. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS What you can do today If your company doesn't have an intranet plan, make one. We recommend a low-cost pilot project that lets you test the value of an intranet without disrupting the current workflow. Once you've adjusted to the concept, you'll know where you want to spend the money. Make sure every networked employee at your company has a browser. And embrace the HTML format by downloading the HTML-authoring add-on to your word processor or buying the HTML version. Look for HTML support in all your applications. And get into the habit of saving your documents in HTML format. If you share documents on a LAN, be sure to transform them into HTML and link them to one another. Intranets are the best thing to happen to corporate communication since e-mail. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS EASE OF CONSTRUCTION Building apps for corporate intranets by connecting Web browsers and servers to databases is a snap. Here's how. Building a useful application for your company's intranet is well within the reach of most corporate developers. With World Wide Web browsers appearing on users' desktops and Web servers providing standard SQL gateways, many valuable corporate data access applications are just waiting to be linked together. Users with LAN access can quickly connect to a high-bandwidth, well-populated intranet using Web client software in the form of a Web browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. All you need to develop such an application is a Web server, a database connector, and a database server. Using a service such as the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) is even easier because it has database connectivity built-in. For a typical static Web page, the server sends back an HTML page. For a database application, the URL points instead to a program or script that executes a query on the database and formats the results in HTML. The Web server then sends this HTML page back to the Web client. Because this process is based on the Web, the client platform can be any machine that runs a Web browser, and the server platform can be any machine that runs a Web server. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS HOW NET ACCESS CAN HELP… Intranet Planning, Design, and Implementation            Requirements Strategic Solutions Business Practices Installation and Configuration Website Design Content Management Java and JavaScript Applications Internet Security and Firewalls Virtual Private Networks Training and Support Technologies Requirements Before you begin, you must define what you need. We rely on years of industry experience to ask the right questions so that you get the right solutions. Quickly. Depending on the complexity of your business need, this process can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Getting it right the first time always starts here. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS Strategic Solutions We architect whole-product solutions that not only meet your most immediate business need, but position you strategically for your next immediate business need. We are experienced in a complete range of industry-standard open products from quality vendors. This means low-cost solutions that provide you with reliable service over the long-haul, every time. Business Practices It's all about information, not technology. Successful Intranet implementations have one thing in commoneffective business practices. We bring our business experience to the table, and work directly with you to streamline your business processes to make the most of your information investment. Installation and Configuration This is where you begin to see the results your planning. We are experienced with all the latest software, and as result, are able to complete this step quickly and efficiently. Website Design An impressive Website is your calling card on the Internet. It reveals much about your organization, and is your opportunity to tell prospective customers about your products and services. Our experience with Internet Website design translates into rapid deployment of an effective site every time. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS Content Management Outdated, inaccurate, non-authoritative information can be an instant killer of any Intranet Website. Simple indexing systems actually compound the problem. We bring years of document management experience to the table, resulting in streamlined processes that provide properly catalogued, managed information. That means that your intended audience will find accurate, up-to-date, authoritative information quickly and easily when they need it. Java and JavaScript Applications Java and JavaScript deliver data-driven transactional applications to the desktop through your browser. Recent developments in Rapid Application Development (RAD) software such as Microsoft's Visual InterDev, substantially reduce the development costs associated with Web applications. We can show you how to apply RAD to your organization, and make your data available now, not later! Internet Security and Firewalls Should your business needs require dedicated connection to the Internet, security should not be your concern, despite what you have heard in the press. Our experience with Internet security strategies and the latest Firewall products provide bullet-proof protection for your Corporate network. You benefit from full access to the Internet, without sacrificing functionality or endangering your valuable corporate resources. Virtual Private Networks The presence of a global Internet has created an opportunity for companies to use it as a corporate backbone for some applications. It is ideally suited for organizations with small branch offices spread all over the globe. We can show you how to link these locations reliably, securely, and at a very low cost. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk INTRANET SOLUTIONS Training and Support Knowledge Transfer is a vital part of every project we complete. When our role is completed, your people know what we know. This guarantees continued reliable operation of your Intranet long after we're gone. Technologies Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Unix Platforms, Microsoft Internet Information Server with ASP, Netscape Suitespot Servers plus Electronic Document Management, Java and JavaScript Applications, TCP/IP LAN/WAN network infrastructures, Faxing Solutions over IP, Mail Servers from Eudora by Qualcomm and Anti-Virus Solutions. NET ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS (PRIVATE) LIMITED http://www.netxs.com.pk