Corporate Intranet
We have been using Internet for more then two decades. It has brought revolutionary changes in the way we do business and communicate with our internal as well as external customers. Nowadays companies have done lot of computerization and most of the employees are connected to each other through email and other workflow techniques. Organizations however small or large have started making there presence felt through information and interactive websites. This is the age of information. We now talk about ERP, CRM, SCM, BI, BW, EAI applications to enable business processes and systems. We will look into another highly effective tool of information sharing in organizations which can have varying levels of complexity – Intranet.
Wikipedia defines Intranet as a private computer network that uses Internet Protocols, network connectivity, and possibly the public telecommunication system to securely share part of an organization's information or operations with its employees.
Generally we all have a local area network in our office and the computers are connected to each other through a workgroup or a domain. An Intranet as the word suggests is restricted to the users within the company and its network. It is not meant for the external customers.
There are various types of information which can be made available on the Intranet since it is a direct tool of communication with your employees. You can put training documents, holiday list, important contact numbers, employee manual, online templates of various reports, the item and vendor master, in-house newsletter, employee birthday information, promotions, achievement of various personnel be it professional or personal (if shared by the employee), latest happenings in the organization, new initiatives by the management, targets for the financial year and the target versus actual figures, status of various projects etc. There is no limit to what can be put on the Intranet as long as it complies with the organizations’ policies.
This Intranet can also be connected to the HR – Payroll system so that employees can download their salary slip and Form 16. Employees can also view their leave record and apply for their leaves in case of advanced systems where workflow is integrated into the Intranet. Companies can avail this facility to make announcements and put other bulletin board information. The employees of an organization do various kinds of activities based on their job description and responsibilities allocated to them. This is one platform where different functions can share information about there activities thereby educating the other employees. Company can share their vision and goals and communicate the same to each and every employee through this system. It also leads to lot of transparency and team spirit. HR department can utilize this feature to advertise vacancies in case there is a policy of internal referrals. This tool can be utilized for cost saving through intelligent usage.
A very basic Intranet application can be created by designing a website using Microsoft FrontPage (which comes bundled with MS Office Professional version) or other HTML tools available free on the Internet. In case you wish to have an entry level Intranet then you do not need a dedicated IT person to manage the same. Tools like FrontPage are very simple to use and have lot of help available free on the Internet to develop your own application. A normal user can be given the responsibility of maintaining the site. This site can be published on the local file or data server. Users can simply type the path on their browser screen and access the site. In case your company wants to go for an entry level Intranet then a single desktop computer is all that you need to get started. You can also use Microsoft SharePoint Server Portal 2003 to get a jumpstart on your Intranet implementation project.
There is no pre-defined format of an Intranet site. The layout, contents, color scheme, software entirely depends on the needs and objective of the organization. The site can be as simple as a single text-based page; text based multiple pages, text and image based or a highly complex one which is connected to a database or the corporate ERP system.
An organization can accrue various gains by using intranet in innovative ways. This can prove to be one application which will aid in the creation of paper-less office. People outside the company can also access the intranet through the corporate website which can be secured by user-specific login access.
There are companies who link there application or ERP application database to their intranet site. It helps in better workflow systems. Employees can fill in their leave form, generate their payslip, superiors can authorize the leave directly from the system instead of having access to the direct application. The same feature can also let people fill up various kinds of forms like travel or vehicle requisition, reimbursements, insurance etc.
Project status can be updated by various teams in the form of a forum so that they can share ideas and updates (which can also be done through marking copies of emails) and keep track of the historical information. Some sites can be customized based on the role of the personnel who has logged in so that only relevant areas of the intranet are visible. This will ensure the confidentiality of projects if any.
An organization can utilize an intranet site if it does not have an integrated application like ERP. The intranet site can link the data of various modules like purchase, stores and distribution. Personnel can check the current stock level of various materials consisting of raw materials and finished goods, the purchase order register, production plan for the month or week, MIS report, manpower status, shift plans, parts list, maintenance plan etc. Instead of issuing multitude of notices and writing emails with copies marked to an entire gamut of functions the information can be simply displayed on the site. The problem of version control can also be handled through intranets. Since the information is displayed only on one platform the changes can be made without keeping track of re-issuing the document.
Company employee information manual can be managed on the intranet. It will reduce the burden of printing and issuing hard copies and re-printing them in case of policy changes or inclusion/ exclusion of certain information.
Organizations can also put all the user-related documents on the site instead of making copies of the same and distributing among employees or concerned personnel. Nowadays many books especially related to commercial (excise notifications, company law, income tax etc) and technical aspect (operation manuals, guides, training documents, drawings, blueprints etc) of business come with CDs. This information might be relevant for many personnel who can log on to the site and view the data they need instead of storing copies in their desktop.
The benefits of the application look very interesting and promising but there is also a flip side to this. Is your staff ready for an intranet experience? Are they ready to read all the information online instead of skimming through pages of a document and writing unnecessary emails? Majority of the employees would just brush it off as another technological jargon or wasteful activity and never bother to open the site even once. Change is one of the most difficult things and adapting oneself to the newer way of things is an uphill task which most people would not like to embark upon.
Implementing an Intranet site is only half the job done. The employees should be given formal training on how to benefit from the same. The training can include topics like the objective of the initiative, the features available in it, why it is better then the present system prevailing in the organization, how they can contribute for its improvement, how the system will enhance overall efficiency and of course making it a daily practice of logging into the site for updates and changes. They should be clarified that soon information will be only on the intranet and will not be circulated through hoards of mailers and letters.
There are many tools and methods employed by organizations to keep enhancing their systems and procedures.
