Executive Summary

The goal of an I-Net project is to incorporate Internet technologies into the corporate network infrastructure. These Internet technologies help the organization to enhance user productivity by giving more flexibility for publishing and sharing information between corporate commmunities. This Internet technology also provides an advanced platform for more rapid application development for company business applications. The Intranet technology is available to all network users and can be a part of the standard desktop technology that is provided to all network users.

Intranet electronic publishing increases the speed and breadth of information flow across geographic and organization boundaries to a degree unobtainable with paper. The Internet web technology, at the core of an Intranet, makes electronic publishing easy, inexpensive and accessible to the average employee. It improves information access. But the improved access this technology delivers is only an enabler. The rapid sharing of information that previously would not have been available electronically, the mixing of information that otherwise would not be likely to mix, is what creates the revolution.

One of the features of the Internet technologies is a decentralization of information publication. This allows business units to develop and publish information on a more independent basis. Business units are able to publish information on a more timely and cost effective basis.

Decentralization of information publication is accompanied with overall publishing standards, procedures and standardized tools. The publishing of information on the Intranet is managed by an Intranet Web Council that is made up of representative publishers from all business units. The Intranet Web Administrator who reports to the CIO is the chairman of this committee. The Intranet Web Council is supported by an Intranet Web Technical committee which is also chaired by the Web Administrator. The Web Administrator helps to develop publishing standards/procedures and supports business units in their publishing requirements.

Great Intranets are not great because of their sophisticated design or the level of automation they have achieved. Great Intranets are great because they help people communicate in new and useful ways. A high level of sophistication or automation may, in fact, inhibit true communication, by limiting free input and response to all but a sophisticated few. When an Intranet achieves true greatness, it is impossible to single out individuals responsible for its success, because the energy and innovation are in conversations spread widely around the organization, and the participants all feel responsible.  The goal of the Intranet  is to enable as many people in the organization as possible to be full participants in the communication process. 

The remainder of this document describes the organizational roles required to support an I-Net initiative. Next Page