An intranet is a network that is generally used within an organization to facilitate the sharing of information among users. The advantages of an intranet are wide spanning, from relaying the ethical and moral values behind the organisation to statistical and logistical coordination. A good intranet portal implementation has the power to completely transform your organisation and touch everyone, from the office of your CEO to the frontline staff. It is therefore essential to your organisation to have a well designed and smoothly implemented Intranet.

Many small businesses and business professionals face a dilemma when considering a workspace for their team; choosing between building it themselves, using installed software or using a web-based intranet.

Until recently, implementing an intranet meant first installing an internal network, then installing a web server and finally setting it up to host the documents. This led to high up-front development cost, requiring staff expertise in the development of intranets and extranets.

The second option of installing software also has a high up-front purchase cost and commitment of internal staff for customization and implementation.

The third option of using web-based software allows non-technical business professionals to leverage the power of the Internet without IT support.

Web-based intranets prove to be the most cost-effective option in terms of money as well as time, compared to installed software, or build-it-yourself. Remote offices accessing up-to-date forms, files, procedures, and training materials via their internet connection; Human Resources, Financial Reports, Employee Feedback, Document Management, and Online Training provide just a few examples of internal company operational areas that can be managed more efficiently and effectively using a web-based intranet.

Benefits

If the benefits to the user of personalisation are so obvious, why have companies not taken advantage of them?

Benefits are all too often only implicitly recognised and the accountability for realising them is assumed to lie outside the project.

With a web-based intranet, there is an immediate Return on Investment (ROI) including; low set-up costs and predictable cost over time; quick implementation and no commitment of internal staff for internal and client support, hosting, or maintenance.