In business, an intranet strategy is the use of an intranet and associated hardware and software to obtain one or more organizational objectives. An intranet is an access-restricted network used internally in an organization. An intranet uses the same concepts and technologies as the World Wide Web and Internet. This includes web browsers and servers running on the internet protocol suite and using Internet protocols such as FTP, TCP/IP, HTML, and Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).
Intranets are generally used for four types of applications:
1) Communication and collaboration
send and receive e-mail, faxes, voice mail, and pagingdiscussion rooms and chat roomsaudio and video conferencingvirtual team meetings and project collaborationonline company discussions as events (e.g., IBM Jams)inhouse blogs2) Web publishing
develop and publish hyperlinked multi-media documents such as:policy manualscompany newslettersproduct catalogstechnical drawingstraining materialtelephone directories3) Business operations and management
order processinginventory controlproduction setup and controlmanagement information systemsdatabase access4) Intranet portal management
centrally administer all network functions including servers, clients, security, directories, and trafficgive users access to a variety of internal and external business tools/applicationsintegrate different technologiesconduct regular user research to identify and confirm strategy (random sample surveys, usability testing, focus groups, in-depth interviews with wireframes, etc.)Having a strategy pre-supposes a planned, orderly process with proper costing and budgeting, it involves consulting with the parties who are going to be using the intranet, allows for an efficient integration with existing systems and phasing-out of older ones, has long term benefits when the intranet needs to be scaled or made more secure, maintains control and quality in the hands of the designated department that "owns" it, and creates for the provision of feedback to monitor whether the "investment" is living up to the organization's expectations.
reduces printing, distribution, and paper costs - particularly on policy manuals, company newsletters, product catalogs, technical drawings, training material, and telephone directorieseasy to use - no specialized training requiredinexpensive to use (once it is set up)moderate initial setup costs (hardware and software)standardized network protocol (TCP/IP), document protocol (HTML), and file transfer protocol (ftp) already well established and suitable for all platformscan be used throughout the enterprisereduces employee training costsreduces sales and marketing costsreduces office administration and accounting costsease of access results in a more integrated company with employees communicating and collaborating more freely and more productivelyit is an evolving technology that requires upgrades and could have software incompatibility problemssecurity features can be inadequateinadequate system performance management and poor user supportmay not scale up adequatelymaintaining content can be time consumingsome employees may not have PCs at their desksThe aims of the organisation in developing an intranet may not align with user needs (see: further reading)