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Building Simple Intranets© Summary Simple intranets built with Microsoft Office 97 and Microsoft FrontPage® 98 are the fastest, easiest way for organizations to take advantage of the promise of the intranet. This document explains how simple intranets built at low cost with familiar tools can improve an organization’s ability to share information and be a crucial first step toward implementing more sophisticated intranet solutions.
Part I: Simple Intranets Intranets are private networks built using Internet standards and protocols. They bring the intuitive navigational interface of the World Wide Web to the information and services stored on a corporate local area network (LAN). Intranets are attractive because they can lower the administrative costs of maintaining an internal network and at the same time improve worker productivity by giving users more efficient access to the information and services they need. This attractive combination is leading organizations to adopt intranets at unprecedented rate: a recent study predicts that intranet deployment will grow by 110% in 1997 (Corporate Intranets: Cost, Value and Applications, 1997, Creative Networks Inc.) (http://www.cnilive.com/) Although the appeal of intranets is fairly obvious, the process of implementation is not. Some organizations adopt the same approach to building their internal Web as they do to building their external Internet site: They hire outside contractors and designers who typically focus on graphics, production values, and the latest popular technologies. This approach can cost a great deal of money, but it doesn’t necessarily produce a network that meets an organization’s needs. A Fast, Easy Way to Start An alternative model is to start small, with local Webs built and maintained by teams and departments. These simple intranets deliver real value in the form of improved information sharing with relatively low setup and administrative costs. Characteristics of a Simple Intranet Simple intranets let teams or departments take advantage of the intuitive navigational metaphor of the Web to more effectively find and share information. Unlike more sophisticated intranet solutions, simple intranets are very specific in their purpose and implementation:
Benefits of a Simple Intranet A simple intranet allows organizations to take advantage of the promise of the intranet at the team or departmental level, using current or easily available technologies. These grassroots intranets deliver their own benefits and serve as a first step to a more comprehensive intranet deployment. Improved Information Sharing The primary benefit of an intranet is improved information sharing. In a modern organization, access to information is crucial. An intranet provides more intuitive information management. The Web metaphor provides several improvements over previous models of information management:
A simple intranet lets a team or department take advantage of these simple yet powerful improvements to better manage the flow of information among members. Low Initial Investment Without careful planning, the benefit of an intranet can be quickly overshadowed by the cost. A simple intranet allows an team or department to take advantage of the improved information sharing offered by the Web metaphor with a relatively low incremental investment, using existing hardware and out-of-the-box software. For organizations that have an existing LAN and are standardized on Office 97, a simple intranet can be built at very little incremental cost:
Since simple intranets are by definition limited in size and scope, many of the difficult issues associated with more sophisticated intranet solutions — firewalls and security, custom application development, integrating legacy systems — do not arise. This helps keep both initial investment and ongoing administrative and support costs low. First Step to the Future Many organizations set up simple intranets as a first step toward a more sophisticated intranet deployment. A local intranet for a particular department can be expanded and enhanced to create a centralized intranet for an entire organization. Alternately, several grassroots intranets can be brought under centralized management to create the larger intranet. Organizations also benefit from the learning that takes place when a group starts using a simple intranet. Workers become accustomed to using the intranet for simple information sharing and incorporate it into their working day. Piloting simple intranets allows organizations to gain insights that make their higher level solutions more effective. Taking Advantage of the Microsoft Solution Because they are built and managed by the groups that use them, simple intranets require tools that allow all users to contribute content easily, as well as tools that make local management of the Web possible. Office 97 and FrontPage are the ideal tools for building and managing intranets. Office 97 provides a rich set of tools for users to create content in HTML or in native Office formats optimized for online use. FrontPage offers a WYSIWYG authoring environment for more sophisticated HTML authoring and intuitive tools for managing a Web site. Customers who have created simple Webs in their organizations have identified key requirements for the tools they use, including:
Ease of Use Simple intranets are most effective when all members of the user community can contribute content. The benefit of an intranet to an organization is diminished if extensive retraining or administrative support is necessary to build and maintain the intranet. Organizations that have standardized on Office can utilize their existing investment while taking advantage of the new model of the intranet. Office 97 includes innovations such as IntelliSense™ technology and the Office Assistant to help users learn and master the applications. Office 97 extends familiar desktop tools to the intranet, with features such as the Web Page wizard in Microsoft Word and the ability to automatically save any document in HTML.
FrontPage 98 allows sophisticated users to manage a Web site with little or no assistance from Internet technology professionals. The intuitive interface of the FrontPage Explorer, tools that automate administrative tasks, such as updating hyperlinks, and drag and drop integration with Office 97, make FrontPage 98 an ideal tool for locally administered intranets.
FrontPage 98 Explorer: The Navigation View allows drag and drop administration of the intranet's hierarchy. FrontPage updates all the links and page names on the fly! Rich Content Authoring Ultimately the value of an intranet is determined by the quality of the information it contains. Even on a simple intranet, users need to be able to create rich content that goes beyond the capabilities of static HTML. Active Document technology allows users to view Office 97 documents within Microsoft Internet Explorer or another compatible browser. Office 97 file formats have been enhanced for use online, with features such as the Document Map in Word for easier viewing, and the online comments and revision tools in Word and Microsoft Excel for collaborative authoring.
In addition to a full set of HTML authoring tools, FrontPage provides simple programming tools that help nonprogrammers create richer, more useful intranets. FrontPage Components (formerly WebBot® Components) are prebuilt programs that provide important functionality such as searching, tables of contents and page formatting. A new edition to FrontPage 98 now includes FrontPage Active Elements, which bring even more sophisticated functionality to Web sites through Java Applets and ActiveX™ Controls. In a recent study, FrontPage emerged as the most used intranet development tool (Corporate Intranets: Cost, Value and Applications, 1997, Creative Networks Inc.). Scalability A simple intranet is the ideal first step toward a more sophisticated intranet solution. Not only the learning and experience of the group but also the Webs themselves can be leveraged when creating a centralized intranet for the organization. It is important, then, that the tools used to build a simple intranet provide a path for scaling up to a more comprehensive solution. Microsoft Office 97 and FrontPage 98 are parts of an integrated, comprehensive intranet solution built around Microsoft’s Active Server platform. Intranets built using Office 97 and FrontPage 98 can be integrated with or scaled up to more sophisticated Webs built on the Active Server platform. (For more information about the scalability of the Microsoft solution, see Part III of this paper.) Part II: Detailed Usage Model Teams or departments who want the benefits or an intranet can build simple intranets that improve the quality and efficiency of the basic information sharing that happens in all organizations. Teams can use a simple intranet as a more effective tool for storing shared files and data. At its core, an intranet is a collection of files stored on a server. A navigational layer is placed on top of this pool of content to provide structure, organization, and searching capabilities.
The users in the group create the documents in the content layer using Office 97, and view it using Microsoft Internet Explorer. A designated member of the group builds the navigation layer and manages the overall intranet using FrontPage 98. Content Layer In a simple intranet, the content is created by the members of the team or department using Office 97. The documents themselves can be HTML documents, Word files, Excel spreadsheets, or other OFfice 97 files. The combination of Office 97 and Microsoft Internet Explorer allows users to include a variety of rich content types in their intranet. Navigation Layer The navigation layer of the simple intranet consists of HTML pages that provide broad categories for information, and the intranet’s search service. This layer is built and maintained by a designated person in the group who uses FrontPage 98. This person need not be an Internet technology professional--any advanced user can manage a Web site using the intuitive tools in FrontPage. Publishing and Searching The value of an intranet depends on up-to-date, relevant content. Users need an easy way both to publish their content to the Web and to gain access to information once it is posted. Because an intranet is essentially a collection of files stored on a server, publishing content consists of saving a document to the server. Each user should have a designated folder for saving documents. The designated intranet manager then supplies the navigational layer that helps others find the information they need, creating hyperlinks to high priority documents or grouping sets of documents in one of the following ways:
The intranet thus functions as a more efficient version of a traditional file server. The underlying folder structure is established to fit the needs of the team members who are publishing to the Web site. For them, publishing to the Web site is as easy as saving a file to their hard drive. The intranet front-end provides a much more intuitive and friendly interface, essentially hiding the underlying folder structure from the casual consumer who just wants to find the desired information. Part III: Scaling Up Simple intranets are ideal first steps to building larger, more sophisticated intranet solutions. There are several criteria for determining when an organization needs to scale up from a grassroots Web to a more centralized, sophisticated intranet:
Size Simple intranets are ideal for small teams or departments, but as the number of people who use the intranet and the volume of content grows, more sophisticated tools are needed. For example, users choosing their Web server software find that the Microsoft Personal Web Server that ships with Office 97 and FrontPage 98 can be an effective tool for piloting an initial intranet for a small group. However, as the intranet grows, users will need the more robust performance and features of Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) running on the Microsoft Windows NT® operating system. The FrontPage 98 server extensions make it very easy to move a Web from the Personal Web Server to the Internet Information Server. Integration Simple intranets are designed as standalone tools. However, organizations may want to integrate their Webs with other network services for more sophisticated functionality. For example, organizations can use the combination of Microsoft Outlook™ 97 desktop information manager and Microsoft Exchange Server to create powerful groupware solutions for their intranets. Organizations can also use Excel 97 as a client for data pulled from a Microsoft SQL server, or take advantage of the integration between Microsoft Access 97 and Internet Information Server to create dynamic, Web-based database solutions. Microsoft provides a rich set of integrated technologies to help users increase the sophistication and usefulness of their intranet. Applications Simple intranets are ideal solutions for publishing and sharing information. However, organizations may ultimately decide to use their intranets as platforms for building custom applications. Intranets provide an efficient way to deliver client/server applications to an entire organization. Developing applications requires the robust features of intranet and related server technologies. Microsoft technologies such as ActiveX™ and the Distributed Component Object Model provide organizations with a rich platform for developing sophisticated intranet applications. For more information about creating advanced intranet solutions, go to the Intranet Solutions Center at http://www.microsoft.com/intranet/. Conclusion Simple intranets built with Office 97 and FrontPage are the fastest, easiest way for organizations to take advantage of the promise of the intranet. Teams and departments can build intranets with familiar tools, at a relatively lost cost. Simple intranets can also be a first step to deploying a sophisticated company intranet. Office 97 and FrontPage 98 are an important part of a broad, integrated Microsoft solution for building intranets, from grassroots Webs to sophisticated, corporate solutions.
Monday, February 16,
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