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An Intranet is a hosted site that is limited to members of a specific group. An Extranet is similar to an Intranet in that its membership is limited, but the members do not belong to a specific group – rather the members are assigned to a specific task and the Extranet facilitates the task's completion. Perhaps an Extranet can be helpful to accelerate specific tasks in your organization. |
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Extranets Accelerate Tasks Among Interorganization Groups. We are all familiar with the Internet. This publicly accessible system fosters communication and facilitates completion of tasks, ranging from airline schedules and bookings to finding and purchasing hard to find components for antique cars – and just about anything in between. Many of us have an intranet in our place of business. This system, which operates much like the Internet, is a private system that is limited to members of a select organization, like employees of a company. Information commonly found herein are Personnel and other Corporate Policies, MSDS sheets, Medical Plan information, Medical Claim forms, Internal Phone Directories, and so on. Much like the Internet, an intranet fosters communication and accelerates task completion. Because the information is not for public display, some companies host their intranet internally and permit access only through their internal network. Other companies host their intranet externally and use a combination of Internet security systems to assure confidentiality. The intranet members have a "common bond" of membership to an organization. Sometimes, a group of people do not belong to a common organization BUT they have a "common bond" in that they belong to a task force chartered to accomplish a given task. Sometimes the task lifetime is weeks, sometimes a few years. The members are not housed in one location BUT they need to exchange information quickly and often. Examples are a construction General Contractor, his Architect – Engineering Firm, and his subcontractors; another a Manufacturing company needing to upgrade a component, his R & D staff, his Engineering staff, his suppliers, and perhaps his supplier's suppliers. An extranet may be the best way for these groups to exchange information and accelerate task completion. As with the Internet, an Extranet can provide task lists, documents, drawings, photos, meeting dates, and member's calendars so meetings, conference calls and the like can be arranged. Unlike the Intranet, an Extranet's security is usually not achieved by the use of an internal hosting – as this may compromise the company's confidential information that Extranet members need not have access. Usually a combination of encryption and password security is used to achieve confidentiality from the general public. Sometimes a company will host this on a separate sever, separate from the other corporate systems. Although this is workable, it can often take time to activate. Another option is a secure, hosted Extranet. Security is achieved through encryption and passwords. Each member accesses the Extranet via the Internet – so access 7 x 24 from anywhere is assured along with security. Set up time is often achieved in 1 – 3 hours and the costs are directly proportional to the number of members. Once the task is achieved, the Extranet is closed – and all hosting fees end. Perhaps an Extranet – or an Intranet would assist your business or organization. We can implement these quickly. Call for a no cost, no obligation discussion. Gene Bohn |
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