214 Part II • Applying Information Technology
Web server. With minimal effort the full functionality of a
localized World Wide Web, including e-mail and document
sharing, is available within the organization. The Web
browser is a “universal client” that works with heteroge-
neous platforms. Furthermore, virtually no training is needed
to implement an intranet because users already know how
to use a browser. Deploying a new intranet application is
simple—just send an e-mail message containing the URL
(address) of the new application to users.
Even if the organization does not have a Web server
and Web browsers, the costs are not overwhelming. Web
browsers are free, and a minimal Web server complete
with software can be obtained for well under $10,000.
Intranets are easy enough to set up that in some organiza-
tions the first intranet was set up by end users (such as
engineers), not by the IS organization, to enable sharing of
particular documents.
Intranets serve a variety of important uses within
organizations. In many organizations, the intranet serves
as a valuable communication tool between the organiza-
tion and its employees and between employees as well as
a repository of organizational information. General
announcements, benefits information, news releases,
organizational policies, and employee manuals, as well as
a calendar of activities, can be posted on the intranet. The
intranet can incorporate an organizational directory to find
e-mail addresses and telephone numbers—and perhaps
even find others in the organization with a particular area
of expertise. The intranet can permit blogs and wikis as
well as forums on particular topics. It can also host many
self-service applications, such as updating personal
address and withholding information, requesting vacation
time, submitting travel reimbursement requests, and even
online training. Depending upon the nature of the
organization, there may be even more important features
that can be built into the intranet. In a health care network
setting, for example, intranets have been used to
consolidate medical records from geographically
dispersed patients, clinics, and laboratories into a single
clinical database and make these records accessible to
health care professionals via a Web browser. With
patients’ medical histories available on the intranet, health
care professionals can easily determine information such
as past surgeries, medications used, and allergies.
Let’s consider the award-winning intranets of two
well-known companies. In 2010, Walmart’s intranet—
known as mywalmart.com—was selected as one of the ten
best intranets in the world according to Nielsen Norman
Group, a research firm that advises companies on human-
centered product and service design. Rather than building
a traditional intranet site, Walmart focused on creating a
successful social networking intranet. The intranet still
conveys corporate information, but the primary purpose of
the intranet is to encourage associates to communicate
with each other, share information, and build relationships.
The Walmart intranet provides associates a place to learn
about Walmart, find co-workers, discuss topics with each
other, and chat online with company leaders. The site also
contains company benefits information, news, and access
to self-service applications. Walmart does not interfere
with discussion threads on the intranet; any negative
attacks on Walmart are usually answered by other associ-
ates. The result is that, a year after the site’s introduction,
about 75 percent of Walmart’s 1.4 million U.S. associates
regularly use mywalmart.com, and the company expects
that number to go up after the corporate benefits Web site
is fully integrated into the intranet (Tuttle, 2010).
IBM’s intranet, known inside the company as “w3
on Demand Workplace,” was selected as a top 10 intranet
in 2006 by Nielsen Norman Group, and it continues to
receive praise as an outstanding intranet. Nielsen Norman
said that IBM achieved consistency and personalization in
its intranet, which facilitates collaboration between
329,000 employees in 75 countries.
Among the features of IBM’s intranet recognized by
Nielson Norman are the following:- the personalization of news based on self-created
profiles - the creation of role-specific portlets for employees in
finance, sales, and management (A portletis a
specialized content area, or window, within an
intranet opening page or within a portal.) - a robust employee directory, which permits its
employees to search for other employees in many
ways, including particular areas of expertise - a facility for blogging—employees can create their
own blogs through BlogCentral, or they can
subscribe to each other’s blogs via RSS (RSSis the
de factostandard for the syndication, or distribution,
of Web content—in this case, employees’ blogs, but
also news feeds, event listings, project updates, or
corporate information.) - accessibility—the intranet is designed to be accessi-
ble for people with disabilities, memory issues, and
low vision (Jones, 2006)
When originally introduced, intranets were seen as
competing with full-service groupware products such as
Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange. Both fostered
communication within the organization. Intranets did not
provide the full range of groupware services, but they were
much less expensive. Over time, intranets and groupware
have grown closer together. Groupware has fully embraced
the Internet, and groupware clients such as Lotus Notes are