Vibrant MCSE BOOT Camp Notes :

Level One: Displaying General Information

From the smallest community group to the largest multinational trade association, every organization generates some form of common information-both for its own members or constituents and for the outside world. Whether formal or informal, this information helps tie the organization together, establishing a common understanding of its mission, goals, resources, policies, and news. See Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: A newsletter distributed via an intranet and available on an intranet.

At its most basic, an intranet functions as a private repository of the sponsor's information, accessible to those the organization recognizes as its stakeholders. These may be employees, volunteers, association members, community leaders, customers, shareholders, or any other groups the organization comprises. Any or all of these stakeholder groups-singly or in combination-should be considered potential intranet users.

The myriad information made available to these stakeholders may take many forms, almost all of which can be adapted to an intranet environment. As a general rule of thumb, virtually anything that exists in print can be loaded onto an intranet, either to supplement or replace the more conventional print form. Moreover, unlike a printed brochure, for example, intranet content can be updated instantly and online, which translates into time and money saved. See Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: A conventional product brochure in printed form, and the same product brochure transplanted onto an intranet.

For example, employee directories, manuals, and standard operating procedures-which in many companies are constantly undergoing revision-can be posted to an intranet and read by any authorized user, as shown in Figure 2.3. The intranet also can be used to document dissemination of required reading (such as safety procedures) by tracking user access and bypassing the more cumbersome "read and sign" method traditionally required for regulatory compliance, as shown in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.3: An employee manual posted on an intranet.

Figure 2.4: This page on an intranet shows who accessed specific pages and when.

Increasingly, this same principle applies to audio and video media as well. For example, an organization's television advertising campaign could be posted to an intranet site for viewing by authorized users. In this case, the search function is a particular challenge, but one that is rapidly being overcome by search engines that can read images as well as words.

Many companies use their intranets to display historical performance of employee pension funds or stock ownership plans. Some go several steps further: One computer company's intranet lets employees contribute directly to their 401K plan using high-security transaction software. Other organizations display divisional or regional sales performance, updated and compared monthly, so that all salespeople can see how their sales records compare to others'. Some companies post other comparative information, such as lost-time accident records, environmental performance improvements by location, or progress reporting on a new marketing initiative, for review by either all users or specific groups (for example, division officers).

Product information is a popular content category for intranets, whose sponsors see this medium as a means of enhancing customer service. In some cases, an intranet supplements (or even supplants) traditional means of providing product information, such as 800-number hotlines. Industrial concerns have been quick to embrace this method, in part because their customers tend to be either relatively few in number or are more likely to require Internet access. For these companies, intranets offer the opportunity to alert customers to new product information quickly, as well as to provide comprehensive product specifications and usage instructions while ensuring that the information is consistent.

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