Scope of content

With the advent of the World Wide Web, came its navigation tool - the ‘web browser’. This quickly become recognised as the ‘Swiss army knife of the Internet’ due to its wide range of information retrieval capabilities and intuitive graphical user interface (GUI).

It was not long before organisations caught on to the idea that such a powerful one-stop information tool could be adapted easily by organisations for use on their networks or internal webs to improve communication, cut costs, speed up business processes and, more recently, increase revenue through e-commerce applications.

Unfortunately no one has yet come up with a generic or de facto formula for successfully implementing an Intranet across all kinds of organisations. Arguments for the most appropriate strategies for implementation are still being debated. Several factors may be contributing to this position.

From a general perspective these aspects may include:

• Changing technology
• Changing business practices
• Changing legal issues

From an organisational perspective the dominant issues may be:

• Different working cultures and values
• Different (or constantly changing) market sectors
• Different sizes and management structures
• Different success rates and histories of implementing technological solutions

Even in the short history of Intranet usage, its strategic value can be seen to have changed from being solely a communication tool to include the integration of Knowledge Management strategies. More recently it has been seen as the backbone of any e-commerce strategy. This series of radical changes in strategic focus over such a short period illustrates poignantly the challenge that is faced by anyone studying and / or implementing and developing an Intranet (not to mention researching it!).

What has happened, however, is that surveys and case studies have over the years highlighted the stages of Intranet development and their respective failures and successes. As a result, a series of models have been developed to help other organisations map the technology and ideas onto their organisation and plan for future developments. Hopefully this will help to minimise the risks associated with implementing such monumental shifts in culture, business operations and technological infrastructure.

This book therefore aims to review some of the case studies, market predictions, evolving technologies and the strategic approaches that have been adopted by organisations. The intention is to enable the reader to form an overview of the many different aspects that are enveloped through the design, implementation and management of Intranets and provide the opportunity to take or apply the more relevant aspects in the context of their own learning or working environments.