Implementing corporate intranets: lessons learned ...

Implementing corporate intranets: lessons learned from two high-tech firms

William P. Wagner Villanova University, Department of Decision and Information Technologies, Villanova, Pennsylvania Q.B. Chung Villanova University, Department of Decision and Information Technologies, Villanova, Pennsylvania Todd Baratz The LAN Company, Malvern, Pennsylvania Keywords Information technology, Internal communications , Companies , High technology, Case studies

Introduction

Many firms today are either planning or implementing corporate intranets. In a recent survey, over 80 per cent of firms Abstract decided to implement intranets to enhance Intranets are perhaps the hottest information dissemination. Other drivers application s in the field of for intranet implementation include, as the telecommunication s today. The rapid growth of this applicatio n majority of the respondents indicated, better belies the fact that it has received communications of project teams and the little systemati c study present in potential cost cut in information sharing the academic literature . Presents and distribution (Ball, 1998). A fairly two separate cases of corporate intranets that have been recently thorough review of the conceptual implemented . The focus of this background regarding the intranet diffusion report is to characteriz e the issues can be found in Damsgaard and intranet implementation s vis-aÁ -vis Scheepers (1999). A theoretical model and a the traditiona l systems developmen t process. In so doing, survey of intranet adoption behaviors and an attempt is made to highlight success factors provide intranet planning the potential pitfalls through the guidelines (Tang, 2000). Another recent lessons learned. As a startingreport lists major drivers of intranet point in the systemati c study of intranets, a better definitio n is implementation from a perspective of also introduced and a framework organizational dynamics rather than that captures and more accurately from a technical standpoint describe s the wide variety of (Gould, 2000). potential intranets . An intranet can comprise many components, some of which are necessary, while others are optional. So, what exactly is an intranet, and what pieces are common to intranets? To this simple question the answer may not be so simple. The simplest and most generic answer is that an intranet is a private network of computers that talk to one another through a common protocol or language. However, a more appropriate definition would be: An intranet is a private network of computers that communicate using TCP/IP to run Internet applications like Telnet, FTP, and HTTP.

Industrial Management & Data Systems 102/3 [2002 ] 140±145 # MCB UP Limited [ISSN 0263-5577] [DOI 10.1108/0263557021042132 7]

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Here the term ``private’’ is used to describe a network that can be accessed only by members of a particular organization. The network is not generally accessible by The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm

outsiders, unless they have been granted that privilege by the organization. The term ``network’’ refers to a group of computers that can communicate with one another, because they are connected to one another by some means such as a cable or modem. An intranet can be as small as two computers connected through a null modem cable or as large as several thousands of computers connected across several countries through a wide area network or WAN. While an intranet can theoretically be set up using a protocol other than TCP/IP, it is generally accepted that TCP/IP is the standard for intranet connectivity. Often intranets are associated with Web browsers. This does not mean that an intranet should be built with a Web browser as a user interface. There were intranets before HTTP was available. However, it was HTTP that popularized the intranet as a new technology for delivering solutions. As with any new technology, there is currently only a handful of case studies that focused on the implementation of corporate intranets and their impacts on the organization. Whether intranets can provide companies with a simple and cost-effective solution for information dissemination and sharing is a key IT and management issue today. An intranet can be characterized as simple, because information from any number of disparate sources can be linked together to form a data repository that can be easily viewed by the entire organization. It can also be viewed as cost-effective, because to view the information requires only a Web browser which can be obtained for a relatively low cost or free. However, these statements are only true if the intranet is properly planned, implemented and used. The technology used to implement an intranet is designed to allow data to be transmitted at low speeds. Therefore, in

William P. Wagner, Q.B. Chung and Todd Baratz Implementing corporate intranets: lessons learned from two high-tech firms Industrial Management & Data Systems 102/3 [2002] 140±145

theory at least, a corporate intranet can be implemented without overburdening the existing network infrastructure. However, this statement is only half true, since the technology also allows non-textual data, such as pictures, to be transmitted as easily as text. Since the size of picture files is usually larger than that of text files, transmission of such data over an intranet can and in fact does strain the existing network. Potential problems in the corporate IT infrastructure is not the only area of challenges in intranet implementations (Ball, 1998). Low awareness and lack of education about what the technology can deliver are evident in many companies. Accordingly, they tend to have very vague ideas about intranet deployment plans. In addition, the network security is a major concern from the point of planning to implementation and maintenance. Finally, the companies suffer from not having a clear cost structure in place for intranets and not having a distinct budget. This turns into a major setback in the process of implementing intranets, especially when the cost of installation and maintenance of intranet is underestimated. Despite the challenges, corporate intranets are receiving tremendous attention, and one of the most cogent explanations is the ability of intranets to provide decision support. Many approaches to exploit intranets to enhance organizational decision functions have been explored and proposed. For instance, by providing a library of organizational knowledge about various phenomena in varying levels of detail, organizations can achieve a reduction in decision errors in addition to support for strategic decisions (Ba et al., 1997). It also has been shown that the traditional model of decision-support systems can be directly extended to the intranet environment (Sridhar, 1998). Further, by establishing knowledge management centers and knowledge production centers in the organizations, the intranet can foster an integrated solution for knowledge management (Fletcher, 1997). From the software perspective, over time, the corporate network could evolve to the point where the Web server replaces the current file server. Applications like word processors and spreadsheets will run from within the Web browser as opposed to being the separate applications of today. Such technology can be previewed when one uses Microsoft Office Suites along with Internet Explorer. With both of these products installed, it is possible to select and

launch a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet from a Web server using the browser. This technology is still in its infancy, and is currently prone to problems. However, over time these problems will likely be resolved. This is the core philosophy of network-centric computing. A network computer is just a thin PC client with a small amount of memory, a limited or no hard drive, and a low cost processor. Information can be retrieved using a Web browser, and over time corporate applications could be rewritten in languages like Java to run directly through the browser. In short, we have enough evidence to believe that the time has come to pay special attention to Web-based applications. Successful implementation of an intranet requires careful planning to ensure a system that is friendly to the end user and valuable to the company. There is more to a well-designed intranet than just a well-designed homepage or Web documents with fancy graphics. Intranets are implemented differently from many other IS systems, and as such require special and systematic analyses. In this study, we present two different methods of implementing a corporate intranet, and explain what the impacts of each method are on the organization. In addition, we will attempt to classify the different types of intranet implementations according to their capabilities and features.

The case of XYZ Communications Corporation XYZ Communications Corporation (pseudonym) is a US company with approximately 300 employees at two locations. The headquarters is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and the Research and Development Center is located in Melville, New York. XYZ manufactures and markets advanced wireless communications systems throughout the world. XYZ has standardized on Microsoft Windows 98 as their desktop operating system. However, because of the number of users and the variety of PCs on the desktop, a large number of end users still operate on Windows for Workgroups. While Microsoft Office is the productivity suite of choice, there are three different versions of Office suite in use at XYZ. In addition, the legal department has independently decided to adopt a competing productive suite by Corel. With such a variety of application versions and products, XYZ

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William P. Wagner, Q.B. Chung and Todd Baratz Implementing corporate intranets: lessons learned from two high-tech firms

found it difficult to share information across the office.

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XYZ has a small IS department and a relatively sophisticated user base. Because of the variety of word processors and spreadsheets in use at XYZ, the IS staffs wanted to develop an easier method of sharing data. This prompted the corporate software specialist (SCC) to begin researching a method that would allow users to share data across the enterprise, regardless of the software used to create it. This led XYZ to look at the technology of the Internet. During the research, the CSS focused on the capabilities of the technology, the maturity of the technology, and its ability to do the job.

Intranet objectives

Design of intranet Satisfied that the technology could accomplish this task, XYZ started to define exactly what they would need this intranet to be able to do. The project would primarily focus on the development of a platform that would allow documents to be shared across the enterprise. Initially word processing and spreadsheet documents would be shared. Then, other types of documents would be added. To facilitate finding the information, each department would be responsible for the development of a homepage, under which its documents would be organized. The department homepages would be organized under an umbrella site that IS would control. This would ensure that all the department pages would be properly linked, and all intranet services, like searching, would be readily available to everyone.

Development of intranet XYZ was in an excellent position to develop and roll out a corporate intranet quickly, because it had just completed a conversion of its entire network from an IPX-based NetWare system to a TCP/IP-based NT system. In addition, XYZ had rolled out Internet access to all employees. Therefore, the core technology that would be required was already in place. All that needed to be done was to set up a Web server on the network. XYZ selected Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) as its Web engine, which was a logical choice, given the fact that NT was their file server engine. Microsoft FrontPage would be used to design the main Web pages. Microsoft Internet Explorer would be the Web browser of choice because of its integration

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with IIS. A special server would be set up and dedicated to the intranet. The server was a Dell Optiplex with two Pentium Pro 200MHz processors and 128MB of RAM with 2GB of disk space initially. This server was configured as a workgroup server with Windows NT and IIS. XYZ decided from the beginning that all Web documents would be centralized on the Web server in order to enforce standards, control content, and ensure consistency. To attain buy-in from XYZ management, the CSS met with the manager of each department to discuss the intranet and its usefulness to their department. He also asked for a representative from each department to attend a weekly intranet meeting designed to communicate information about the intranet to the entire staff. The meetings were held during lunch to have a minimal interruption to the company. During these meetings, the CSS began training sessions targeted at bringing the department representatives up to speed on Web page design. The first step in doing this was to introduce a simple tool for creating HTML pages, Microsoft Internet Assistant for MS Word. Since the majority of XYZ’s documents were MS Word files, it made sense to introduce the employees to the Web using the Word Internet Assistant. Employees were familiar with editing documents in Word, and to create an HTML document required only one extra step. The hard part was familiarizing everyone with the limitations of the Internet Assistant and HTML. From the beginning, the IS department decided to position the intranet to be the primary source of disseminating information. A bulletin board containing important announcements was established as the homepage for the intranet. That way, any time an employee opened their browser, the bulletin board would appear.

The case of ABC Incorporated ABC Incorporated (pseudonym) is an international company that employs over 40,000 people in a variety of business units throughout the world. ABC is perhaps best known for its connectors, which are used to connect a variety of electronic devices and systems. ABC is currently migrating from Novell NetWare to Microsoft Windows NT as its server operating system. ABC uses Windows 98 on the desktop PCs with Microsoft Office as its productivity suite.


Intranet objectives and design criteria With so many employees and geographic and cultural barriers, ABC wanted an information system that would make it easy for all employees to access the company information they needed in a timely manner without excess complexity. Out of this need grew ABC’s intranet, which is called ABCCentral. ABC also wanted to implement a system that would be easily extensible as the number of sites grew, and could be managed in a decentralized environment. At the same time, ABC wanted a system that would not become cluttered as it grew, or unwieldy for people to use.

Development of intranet ABC did not go through the normal development life cycle for their intranet. Instead, they ended up using more of a prototyping approach. It turned out that a number of departments within ABC had already started developing their own intranets to foster better communication. From these disparate Web sites, ABC’s corporate communication group (CCG) built a front-end Web site to link these existing sites together. In addition, they implemented search engines and other standard Web site features in order to enhance the intranet’s usability. ABC realized early on that the entire intranet site could not be maintained by one central group. Instead, each department was made responsible for its own intranet site, thus relieving MIS of the burden.

Refinement and enhancement As soon as ABC released ABCCentral, what started with about 25 sites has grown to over 100 sites, and is still growing. In addition, ABC has implemented Web forms, so that end users can make certain kinds of requests directly through the Web browser. ABC’s CCG maintains the intranet’s front-end and sets aside funds for helping new sites to get started and for training site administrators to maintain their Web sites. The manager of intranet development at ABC considers the intranet to be extremely successful so far. He has just completed a redesign of ABC’s front-end Web site in order to make it easier for people to find the information they need. The redesigned front-end organizes data under more generic categories, rather than using the functional categories they had previously. In addition to these generic categories, users will be able to find the information, for which they are looking using an alphabetical listing, an organizational

listing, and a geographic or regional listing. To further improve the organization, individual Web site administrators will be able to specify to what categories their sites should belong. This will allow the people closest to the information to decide how best to categorize it. A comparison of the two cases is presented as Table I. As shown, the two companies share a great deal of similarities, while at the same time exhibiting quite a contrast in many aspects.

Intranet development v. conventional systems development The development of an intranet differs from that of the traditional information system in several ways. One of the biggest differences between the development of an intranet and other information systems is the amount of involvement of the user community. With traditional IS systems, the responsibility for its development and post-implementation maintenance lies with the MIS department. In the case of the corporate intranets, often it is the user community that will develop a working model, as was the case at ABC. In addition, after the intranet is officially rolled out, it is usually the user community that is charged with its maintenance, not MIS. Also different from tradition information systems is the fact that an organizational intranet often becomes a living entity within the organization. Starting out small with only limited information, the intranet is likely to begin to grow and expand as the user community discovers new ways to utilize the technology. This occurred at both XYZ and ABC. As the organizational intranet grows, so does the complexity of its content. Without drastically altering the design, applications, commonly known as Java applets, can be added. These applets can be used to enhance the visual appearance of Web pages or to add functionality. For instance, an application could be developed to handle payroll by allowing employees to enter time directly into the Web browser and have it processed by the Web server and then sent to the Accounting department. There is a variety of ways to do this. You can use the more traditional ± and more complicated ± CGI (common gateway interface) scripts or Java, which is a newer and more powerful language that can be used to write programs that will run from the Web browser.

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Intranet development issues: lessons learned Regardless of the method chosen to develop a corporate intranet, there are several items that should be addressed in order to make the intranet more usable. Before beginning the project, first decide what objectives or problems you hope this intranet will overcome. Are you developing an intranet to solve a company-wide communications problem or are you hoping to develop an inexpensive method for rolling out applications to your end users? The answer to this question will set the tone for the rest of the project. After the initial development work, the system should be thoroughly tested to ensure that it works the way it was designed. Check to ensure that the proper security has been placed in the appropriate areas of the intranet. If intranet security is not set properly, you could easily find people perusing through information to which they should not have access. The aftermath of such a mistake could be devastating. View the intranet using the Web browsers you plan to roll out to the user community. If your company is like most, there will be computers throughout the office with different-sized monitors and different

resolution settings. You will need to ensure that the intranet can be viewed from all these monitors without having to scroll around to see the content. Nothing is more annoying to people than not being able to see all the information of a Web page without scrolling. Set standards for the intranet from the beginning. How will Web pages be linked together? Will there be a standard navigation bar for everyone to use, or will it differ depending on the page? Will the Web pages be allowed to have large graphics, or will the size of graphics be limited? What about sounds and movie clips? Making decisions about what content will and will not be allowed on your intranet Web pages up front can save a lot of anger and frustration later on. Also, make sure that it takes no more than three links (hyperlinks) to any piece of information from the intranet home page. If the information on your intranet is difficult to find or access, people will not use it. Finally, the importance of training cannot be overemphasized. As with any new system, there will be those who are totally unfamiliar with the technology and will need assistance, even though the Web is touted as being extremely simple to learn and use. These people can often be found at the top and bottom of the organization.

Table I Comparison of two cases Comparative characteristics

XYZ Communications Corporation

ABC Incorporated

Industry Core competency

Telecommunications and electronics Manufacturing and distribution of wireless communications systems Small IS department; highly sophisticated user base; TCP/IP in place; all employees given access to the Internet Small (300 employees)

Telecommunications and electronics Manufacturing of telecom devices such as connectors

Regional

International

Mostly desktop computing; Windows 98 and Windows for Workgroups used in parallel; Microsoft Office suite and Corel suite are used at tandem; entire network converted from IPX-based Novell NetWare to TCP/IP-based Windows NT platform Overcome disparity of file formats; enhance information sharing

In the process of migration from Novell NetWare to Windows NT; Windows 98 for desktops; Microsoft Office Suite

IT maturity

Company size (number of employees) Company size (geographical coverage) Network infrastructure and computing environment

Intranet objectives

Intranet design

Intranet development

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Start with sharing word-processing and spreadsheet applications; next, expand to other application areas; departmental homepages to be linked to the central site Web OS software selection (IIS on NT); FrontPage as authoring tool; server selection (Dell); on-regular intranet meeting of delegates to gain buy-in; facilitating easy transition of users from word processing to HTML

Geographically dispersed IT departments; highly sophisticated users and IT personnel Large (40,000+ employees)

Overcome geographic and cultural barriers due to the large size and global operation; all employees access needed information in a timely manner Intranet named `ÀBCCentral’’ (pseudonym); initially central, then decentralize; scalability

Prototyping approach with incremental development; individual departments built their own intranets; CCG developed a front-end site to include individual ones; added advanced features such as search


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Fletcher, L. (1997), `Ìnformation retrieval for intranets: the case for knowledge management,’’ Document World, Vol. 2 No. 5, pp. 32-4. Gould, L.S. (2000), ``Top ten intranet deployment considerations,’’ Automotive Manufacturing & Production, Vol. 112 No. 4, pp. 60-3. Sridhar, S. (1998), ``Decision support using the intranet,’’ Decision Support Systems, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 19-28. Tang, S.M. (2000), `Àn impact factor model of intranet adoption: an exploratory and empirical research,’’ The Journal of Systems and Software, Vol. 51 No. 3, pp. 157-73.

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