Vibrant MCSE BOOT Camp Notes :

Enhanced Efficiency

Improvements in efficiency can be readily identified and lend themselves to quantitative measurement. For example, many intranet sponsors report significant savings in out-of-pocket expenses (such as overnight mail, postage, or long-distance telephone charges). Other savings derive from diminished reliance on "produced" documents, such as company manuals, product brochures, or customer relations materials, which can be disseminated electronically rather than printed and mailed.

Hidden in the efficiency equation are savings in staff time. A fully functioning intranet can drastically reduce "phone tag," swapping multiple document drafts, and other time spent in coordinating information-gathering. For example, intranets can greatly expedite the peer-review process for technical research publications by enabling quick distribution and auto-mating the compilation of responses and comments. In many organizations, an intranet centralizes the news clipping function; cutting, pasting, and circulating news articles is now done electronically from a single location, rather than literally at multiple company offices.

The sales force of one company uses its intranet extensively as a customer relations medium. Sales representatives access complementary online product information from clients' offices as they need it rather than carrying multiple slide decks or printed literature. For some of the company's more sophisticated products, the marketing department has established an intranet sector specifically for customers, who use passwords to access the latest in relevant research and development (R&D) and product safety information.

A multinational trade association uses its intranet for, among other things, organizing its complex schedule of meetings. At any given time, this organization is conducting technical symposia, task force meetings, and business conferences-in addition to its quarterly and annual plenary meetings, which usually attract hundreds of participants from around the world.

Each of these meetings has its own attendance list, agenda, briefing materials, venue management, logistical considerations, and expected output. In the past, managing printed materials in support of these meetings required five full-time staffers and cost thousands of dollars per year in reproduction and distribution. All of these materials are now posted to the association's intranet site, organized to correspond to recipients' passwords.

Notification and scheduling of the association's meetings are also handled via the intranet; a central calendar displays all scheduled meetings with the particulars attached so that members can see them all at a glance, see the details as needed, and register online.

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