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The Applications And Benefits Of An Intranet System
We've all heard of the internet, but you might not have heard of the intranet. Even if you have, you might not know exactly how it works or what specific intranet features and sites are beneficial. If you've ever logged into a network at school or at work - chances are you've been connected to an intranet. An intranet is an internal network designed to securely share the information of an organisation with those connected directly to it. This is contrasting with the internet, which is a network that shares information between organisations. So it's essentially a private internet.
Intranets are great for the workplace, because they allow increased productivity through ease of communication between computers connected to a network. It can also do this at a high speed and without having to be reliant on an external internet service provider - which may go down from time to time. Intranets can be accessed via a web browser; this allows secure and seamless access to data so members of a network can get information faster and with a high degree of accuracy. This then carries forward to clients and customers, as they are served more efficiently.
Communication is a great advantage, I touched on it earlier. It allows for users to receive updated information on private data, which can be critically important and is easily conveyed through the system as opposed to through memorandums or other forms of conveyance. Potential applications would be intranet chat and internal email systems that allow instant communication across a network.
Documents are much more easily accessible with an intranet. This is beneficial for companies with large amounts of forms or training manuals that staff may need to access. It's also a secure way to share such documents as a business may not regard sharing such information publicly as being in their best interests. As these documents are updatable, the version on the intranet will be the most recent and thus the correct one. This is also a useful tool for updating staff with the latest news and events.
Intranets are very cost-effective too. They allow for document maintenance and distribution to be very efficiently taken care of. As there is a shared copy of a document as to be used by everyone that can be updated and instantly available to staff - this is much more efficient than distributing individual copies, and then redistributing after an update. The costs of printing also come into play, with the necessity being diminished through use of an intranet which is thus better for the environment.
The ease of collaboration is the most striking feature of an intranet. It's a synergistic approach that allows a specific audience to engage with their team and work towards shared goals as well as refine existing ones. The immediacy of updates and cross-platform capabilities are another striking feature, the creation of a customised intranet system enhances communication, collaboration and information sharing which is what makes the intranet special. Organisations benefit from such a system.
So there you have a little more information on what the intranet is, what it can do and why it is useful. Next time you log into a network at school or at work hopefully you'll have a greater appreciation of the systems and processes that help such an organisation be more efficient and allow members to work together as a team.
Jeffrey Nevil writes on a number of subjects including intranet sites.
Article submitted Friday, January 13, 2012 & read 12 times.
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