The Evolution of the Intranet Part II

 By Tim Dorey

                                                              TalkBack

 

Last year I wrote the article “The Evolution of the Intranet”.  It was a simple overview of what an Intranet is and how the systems that compose an intranet have changed over the years.

 

A year later, and you wonder what has changed?  Well, a great deal has taken place.  In the past, Intranets were thought of as a project the IT department was working on.  Today, Intranets are becoming the most important aspect of a company’s technological strategy.  No technology decision is made without asking the question “Will it work with our Intranet”?

 

In the present day, companies are more educated on the latest systems; as a result, they know exactly what they are looking for and how they want it to work for their company.  Those days of confusion and uncertainty have vanished.   Now, when I speak to companies, they communicate explicit details concerning what it is they want and need to accomplish.

 

A subject that is still being argued in boardrooms across the world is the issue of Build vs. Buy.  The tendency of smaller companies, fewer than 100 employees, is to build their Intranet system by utilizing a less experienced IT staff.  On the other hand, larger companies have already been through the trials and tribulations of building in-house systems, and tend to buy instead. In many cases, smaller IT staffs have no other choice but to build in-house, as budget limitations leave them no other choice.

 

As more tools become available, building in-house Intranets have become easier; however, the standards and requirements of the companies that are in need of an Intranet have become more sophisticated thus making the design, build and deployment of an Intranet that much more difficult.

 

Larger companies have certain needs that cannot be met through in-house built Intranet systems. Certain services are required such as, a company that has a strong professional services arm to help deploy and customize certain areas of the Intranet software, or the requirement of a Software Development Kit that will allow their in-house staff to edit existing applications or create new ones if need be.

 

Another trend that has occurred is the tendency for larger companies to veer away from the word “Intranet”.  Now you will hear the terms “Collaborative Workspace”, “Company Portal”, “Knowledge Base”, “Information Management System” etc.  This means many aspects of technologies are merging together to create a valuable corporate asset instead of a few pieces of software running on a server.

 

It will be interesting to see what the next year will bring in this exciting market space.

 

Your comments and feedback are appreciated.  Tim.Dorey@planetintra.com

 

Tim Dorey heads up the Product Management department at Planet Intra, a software development company that provides information solutions.