Characteristics
Scalable. Web-based intranets are fully scalable. From 10 documents to 10
million, an intranet can serve its constituents faithfully, as long as network
bandwidth suffices to meet user demands. As more intranet applications become
available and more organizations and users begin to appreciate what they can do,
demand will rise dramatically.
Open. The Web is platform neutral and global, and Web browsers function
as universal clients. Web technology is based on open standards (necessary for
interoperability and utility), is available for nearly all leading operating
systems and hardware platforms, and can leverage legacy database systems.
Standards-based. Internet and Web technologies are based on Open Systems
technology standards and have two basic premises: ensure the viability of the
Internet network and be scalable on a global basis. The fundamental Internet
protocols used are the following:
- TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) The set of
open networking protocols that is the common language of the Internet.
- HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) The standard document markup
language that defines how text, images, and sound are presented to a user.
- HTTP (Hypertext Transport Protocol) The foundation of the Web that
enables users to access documents on the World Wide Web.
- SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The protocol that enables
basic text-based electronic messaging between users.
What the pre-requisites of a successful Intranet:
- Easy to use. Among the most fundamental innovations compelling
people to use Web technology is hyperlinking, which allows users to easily
navigate and find information by simply clicking a word or graphic.
- Cost effective. Intranet applications are surprisingly inexpensive
in initial purchase, training, and deployment. And the intranet's platform
independence eliminates the need to distribute client software or create
different versions of the same applications.
- Centralized source. Internet technologies lead to a central
marketplace where users can actively produce and consume information,
communicate, and collaborate with others. With information provided on
demand, the data is most likely to be the latest and most accurate
available.
- Flexible. Intranets can deliver access to many different types of
applications which can be installed on a wide variety of hardware and
operating system platforms and deployed on Web servers or as Java
applications.
- Extendable. Extended intranets offer organizations the opportunity to communicate and transact business with key vendors, partners, and remote workers through controlled access to internal information. This can help make the organization more responsive to customer needs and enhance the productivity of the company.
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