A computer network, intranet uses a technology called Internet Protocol to share computing services, operational systems or information within organizations. Intranet refers to a network within organizations as compared to an extranet, which is a network between rather than within organizations. An intranet may be made up of many different networks in the local area. At times, the term intranet is made in reference solely to the internal website of an organization but could actually be a more extended aspect of the information technology infrastructure of an organization. The goal of the internet is to get the desktop of every individual organized with minimal effort, time and cost to be more competitive, timely, cost efficient, and productive.
Intranet is a significant focal point and is an important component of internal collaboration and communication. Any well-known protocols of the internet are found within intranets such as file transfer protocol or FTP, email or SMTP, and web services or HTTP. Technologies of the internet are often deployed to provide updated interfaces to legacy systems of information that host the data of a corporation.
There are many benefits of using the intranet, including:
Communication – Within an organization, an intranet can serve as powerful communication tools and initiatives that are vertically strategic for an organization and have global reach. Corporate users have opportunities to keep updated with the organization’s strategic focus by providing this information on the intranet. Examples of these types of communication would be blogs, email or chat. When a company’s central support system has to deal with a daily number of queries, investing in an intranet will increase company savings.
Time – Organizations are allowed by intranets to distribute as-needed information on an as-needed basis. At their convenience, employees are able to link to information that is relevant rather than be indiscriminately distracted by email.
Workforce Productivity – Users can be assisted by intranets to help users view and locate information more rapidly and use relevant applications for their responsibilities and roles. Users are able to access any organization’s data held in its own database which are made available at any time subject to provisions of security from any workstation in the company. As a result, employees are able to perform more rapidly at their job and work confidently with the right information. It also assists to improve all provided services to users.
Enhanced Collaboration – Teamwork is enhanced by an intranet since everyone is part of just one audience. All authorized users can access information quite easily which in effect helps everyone in the organization feel that they are indeed part of a team.
More and more, an intranet is used to deliver tools to advance productivity such as:
Collaboration to help facilitate teleconferences and group work.
Many organizations tend to put in significant resources when they implement and plan their own intranet, as this is of great importance to the strategizing success of an organization. Plans tend to include the level of desired interactivity, security, schedule implementation and the department responsible for its management.
