Intranet strategies

In business, an intranet strategy is the use of an intranet and associated hardware and software to obtain one or more organizational objectives. An intranet is an access-restricted network used internally in an organization. An intranet uses the same concepts and technologies as the world wide web and internet. This includes web browsers and servers running on the internet protocol suite and using internet protocols such as ftp, TCP/IP, HTML and email.

Role of intranets

- reduces printing, distribution, and paper costs - particularly on policy manuals, company newsletters, product catalogs, technical drawings, training material, and telephone directories
- easy to use - no specialized training required
- inexpensive to use (once it is set-up)
- moderate initial set-up costs (hardware and software)
- standardized network protocol (TCP/IP), document protocol (HTML), and file transfer protocol (ftp) already well established and suitable for all platforms
- can be used throughout the whole enterprise
- reduces employee training costs
- reduces sales and marketing costs
- reduces office administration and accounting costs
- ease of access results in a more integrated company with employees communicating and collaborating more freely and more productively

- it is an evolving technology that could require upgrades and could have software incompatibility problems
- security features can be inadequate
- inadequate system performance management and poor user support
- may not scale up adequately
- some media such as video is slow
- maintaining content is time consuming
- some employees may be without PCs at their desks