Building a better intranet
Published: 09 Jan 2004 11:50 GMT
Each IFRAME allows content to be added from another, unrelated source. Project management can be a link to your ASP-based project tracking system, accounting information can come from an Apache/PHP-based UNIX server, and file management can come from an ASP.NET Web server in another division. All are brought together by a master page that utilises <IFRAME> tags to create inline frames within a single page.
<IFRAME> tags are like the traditional HTML framesets, except that they are more versatile in their placement and don't require you to have a single master frameset that contains no content. <IFRAME> tags allow you to have HTML in the same file that the references appear in, which is great for including headers and footers without referencing special files.
The one primary limitation of the <IFRAME> tag is that it is only supported by Internet Explorer -- not a problem for most corporations that are standardising on Internet Explorer, but a good reason why the same technology won't apply well to the Internet.
Get down to business
Getting the technology right is, unfortunately, just one of the challenges of an intranet project. By far, the most critical issues for building an intranet are not technical, or even organisational. Far more often business issues are the primary barrier to a successful intranet. With that in mind, here are three tips to help the business be successful:
Learn what the business needs -- technology in a vacuum can't solve problems. While an intranet is a great idea and might solve some of the pain being felt, it can't be a driving force for business growth unless the business is considered during the development and evolution of the intranet. Evaluate what the business objectives are and determine what things can be done cost effectively to support those objectives from an intranet project. Challenging the organisation to think outside the box -- businesses generally won't think of innovative ways to use technology to solve their problems. However, some of the most effective intranet sites do solve problems in new ways. For instance, if your organisation needs to track specifications with its customers while maintaining document control, why not extend the intranet into an extranet where customers can get the documents they need -- when they need them? Time studies -- if you can't determine how to increase efficiency or create new value with an intranet but you're convinced that the value is there, you can consider asking a small sample of your users to keep track of what they do on a daily basis. Looking at the latest HR newsletter, stopping by the bulletin board, reading email, getting status reports, etc., all take time. Evaluate which of those things (and the dozens of other things that a typical user does in a day) can be made more efficient.
Intranet development is a mix of technology, illusion, and business savvy. Putting it all together can create a truly powerful tool for moving an organisation forward.
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