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Features
ost people quietly going about their business creating intranets and/or extranets aren’t in it for the glory. They don’t expect to win awards or gain international recognition for their work. The very nature of intranets makes outside scrutiny—much less praise—unlikely. In spite of this, Alacra, Inc. recently sponsored an award for the best intranet or extranet project, given during the Online Information show held in London in December 2003. The award went to the London Business Support Network (LBSN) Knowledge Centre (www.knowledgecentres.com/lbsn), which beat out the BBC Research Gateway, MG Rover’s Dealer extranet, and the BT Group Legal Knowledge Team’s Library Online Project. Andrew Rumfitt, head of Online Services, Business Link for London, received the award at a gala banquet in London, with the awards presentation hosted by noted British TV News at Ten personality John Suchet.
In June 2002, Forrester Research reported that about 50% of enterprise content management implementations completed during the previous five years were unprofitable. The report went on to suggest that 50% might actually have been a conservative estimate if decommissioned deployments were also factored in. According to Forrester’s market overview, improved usability emerged as the most important unmet need in the content management space. These conclusions are telling (and consistent) with our experiences as we work with companies to create and implement content management solutions.
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Describing content as “global” or “local” is common practice in many international companies. In fact, it is an illusion that rarely corresponds with reality and can lead to a waste of time and money. Capital G Global is a theoretical concept that has little meaning for managers and employees in the trenches. Better to distinguish “common” versus “specific”: Distinguish pertinent content for all employees from content that needs to be personalized for identified populations. The distinction depends on company strategy, organization, and culture and will even vary within a company and from subject to subject.
Does it really matter who runs your intranet? Users may not realize the implications of the question, but if they struggle to use their intranet effectively—can’t find the information they need, find duplicate versions of documents, need to learn new browsing techniques for each area, get annoyed with flashing graphics, wonder why their staff directory is out of date, or don’t understand how to use it—then they probably have a poorly run intranet.
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Reviewed this issue: Leveraging Web Services, Practical Intranet Development, and WebServices.Org
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