Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 1 Office Automation & Intranets BUSS 909 Lecture 7 Internet, Intranets and Extranets: Definition, Analysis and Design

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 2 Agenda Basic Definitions Communicative Definitions Structure in Communication Design Issues

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 3 Basic Definitions

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 4 Basic Definitions (1) Origins of the term ‘Intranet’ the term ‘intranet’ was used by Amdahl to describe their own internal network: “An intranet is a private computer network uses Internet standards and protocols to enable members of an organisation to communicate and collaborate more efficiently with one another thereby increasing productivity.” (Hills 1999 in Greer 1998, 2)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 5 Basic Definitions (2) Internet versus Intranets Intranets employ net-aware technologies within organisations- the prefix ‘intra’ means ‘within’ confusingly, the prefix ‘inter’ means ‘between’ yet the Internet provides net-aware technologies to entities in the environment

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 6 B: Organisational Organisation Organisational Boundary Public or Marketplace C: Applied Technology Intranet Internet A: System Theoretic Boundary Environment System Basic Definitions (3) Physical Boundary between Inter/Intranets? this suggests that a physical boundary is being used to distinguish between these realms (see SL-00.PPT)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 7 Basic Definitions (4) Inter/Intranets: Zone not Physical Boundary even this simple view can be disrupted by considering firewall deployment to protect intranets from internet attack A: Applied Technology Intranet Internet Internal Firewall Large number of internal requests  Some requests are rejected at IF ‚ but others are passed onto EF  Trusted Requests from EF enter the Intranet via IF „ External Firewall Large number of external hits  Many requests are rejected at EF , but some are passed onto IF  Trusted Requests from IF enter the Internet via EF  B: Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) DMZ IF EF  ‚  „    

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 8 Basic Definitions (5) Communicatively defined Zone... intranets are usually separated from the internet by a Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)- not a single ‘physical’ boundary: although the DMZ concerns technical issues (IP packets etc.), it is defined communicatively it involves a telecommunications security policy executed using hardware and software (firewalls and proxy servers

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 9 Basic Definitions (6) … Communicatively defined Zone but behind this technical policy is a social process which decides about audience classification- who constitutes an appropriate organisational member (exclude messages from unknown agents) if a message is sent by an external known agent can it be judged as trusted or useful should specific organisational members have access to particular sites

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 10 Basic Definitions (7) Intranet/Extranet Relationships from a technical point of view you need all the functionality that intranets provide in order to set up an extranet in this way extranets are thought of as an extension or option to an intranet the difference is ultimately about recognising that an individual or group has special privileges compared to the rest of the public or market

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 11 Basic Definitions (8) Extranets are communicatively defined... extranets are communicatively defined- relating to audience with respect to their membership to the organisation in addition to audience, trustworthiness, usefulness etc... the very definition of what is inside or outside the system is defined according to the kind of communication agents do or can enter into at a particular point in time

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 12 C: Internal ClientB: External Entity Organisation External Entity Organisation A: Traditional System Organisation Environment A': Applied Technology Intranet Internet C': Active Extranet Internet Extranet B': Passive Extranet Internet Extranet Basic Definitions (9) … Extranets are communicatively defined

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 13 Basic Definitions (10) Extranets: Significance of the Definition the issue of how to correctly theorise internets, intranets and extranets by means of communicative distinctions between them- is very important this issue is becoming more important for information economies with the rise of virtual organisations- these can only be sensibly defined in terms of human communication

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 14 Basic Definitions (11) Similarities between Extranets and EDI... EDI is limited to B2B transactions, however extranets and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) share many similarities: extranets are now becoming the main way of implementing EDI and as most EDI is conducted using SGML, extranets and EDI share some technical similarities as well analysis aspects of establishing extranets are very similar to those of EDI

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 15 Basic Definitions (11) … Similarities between Extranets and EDI Commonwealth of Australian (1992) Speaking EDI- Video 2 : Case Studies ISBN view a case studies video of successful EDI implementation in Australian business remembering that today EDI (that is B2B transactions) are very likely to be conducted using extranets and associated technologies

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 16 Communicative Definitions

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 17 Communicative Definitions Significance the case studies reveal not just the importance of standardising data for its exchange between organisations, but also the importance of human communication, during development of these technologies, and for specific types of organisational purposes we can use human communication as a means of defining the terms intranet, extranet and internet

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 18 Communicative Definitions Principles, Features, Application we will first consider some principles of human communication as distinct from machine communication then describe some features that can be analysed in human communication, attempt to tentatively apply these to determining what is an intranet, an extranet and the internet

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 19 Communicative Principles (1) Communication is about meanings communication is about meanings (social positioning of sender and receiver, information- statements about the world, cultural attributes) need to look at actual or expected patterns of communication (production and consumption of meanings) communication never involves ‘just’ individuals expressing their meanings (always socially and culturally formed)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 20 Communicative Principles (2) Not about sharing- its about differences communication is not just about sharing- societies and organisations always consist of multiple social and cultural groupings interactions between them involve contradiction and contestation as much as sharing therefore, the processes of communication are likely simultaneously to be based on difference and the ‘resolution of differences’

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 21 Communicative Principles (3) Communicative Practices, Cultural Literacy meanings associated with human communication must be understood as being produced in specific national and /or organisational cultures communicative practices : the ways in which these systems of meaning are negotiated by users in a culture cultural literacy: knowledge of meaning systems and an ability to negotiate them in different contexts

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 22 Communicative Principles (4) Traditional IS theory inadequate the (above) principles are completely absent from the Shannon & Weaver model of communication used in IS: the relationship between communication and culture the idea that meaning and communicative practices are context specific the existence and importance of cultural literacy

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 23 Communicative Principles (5) if we want to understand the differences between Intranets, Extranets, and the Internet, weneed to look at the communications that are occurring between and within the organisation we cannot understand these communications or conduct an analysis without being familiar with organisational cultures that make certain meanings possible of impossible

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 24 Communicative Features (1) the unit used here to define organisational communication (within/between) is confusingly called a text a product (document)- in that it is an output, or object with an analysable structure a process- social and interactive writers/readers and speakers/listeners are interpreting meanings completed act of communication in any medium (exhibit, rock concert, films etc) defined in relation to its social context- must do so in order to make any sense

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 25 Communicative Features (2) two types of context recognised by the theory (after Malinowski) Situational Context which provides secific situational ‘values’ to the text Cultural Context which provides a pattern or template that is portable across different situations within a national or organisational culture Language Cultural Context Situational Context

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 26 Communicative Features (3) situational context (register) includes the following features which can be analysed in a text: field: social actions and activities- the topic or focus of an activity- lexical items or indexical lexical items (reception, priest, bands, ‘I do’) tenor: social role relationships played by interactants affects how language is used (customer/slaesman) mode: the role language is playing in the interaction these features influence each otherand also influence the genre

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 27 Communicative Features (4) cultural context (genre) : describes the structural arrangement of a text type according to genre elements which are functional linguistic categories used to describe the purpose of a stretch of a text (see in T909-02). genre elements do nor represent an IS process- closest to this social activity defined by field; nor do they represent data- closest to this is mode; not do they represent turn taking because they are functional not personal

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 28 Communicative Application (1) defining the differences between Intranets and Extranets using this theory is straightforward, but: conducting an analysis of these technologies, involves analysing actual texts associated with there use in the case of designing new extranet functionality need to identify the kinds of communication that are likely, treat these as texts and analyse them appropriately

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 29 Communicative Application (2) Defining Extranets new activities will be given new indexical lexical items where the same workpractice exists using different names a new common naming convention may be adopted by both organisations/units, or the more powerful organisation/unit may insist on there existing naming convention

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 30 Communicative Application (3) … Defining Extranets... changes may occur to the naming of job positions, and shifts in role relationships between two organisations and units shifts in the kind of language used to accommodate external members in the environment who are now part of the organisation

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 31 Communicative Application (3) … Defining Extranets more explicit descriptions of tasks, functions etc.: because external extranet members/organisations will not share the same cultural literacy as members of an organisation!

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 32 Social Context and Language In General... every text refers to its social context- it must do in order to make any sense must do so in order to be meaningful that is to communicate something to someone

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 33 Social Context and Language Realisation in order to show the relationship between language and social context we use concentric ovals (see next slide) one semiotic system (language) is a realisation of another more abstract one (social context)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 34 Structure in Communication Example 1: Buying Bread in Australia

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 35 Contextual Configuration (CC) specifies the values or options of the field, tenor and mode for a given context of situation using CC you can ‘predict’ (Hasan) what is likely to occur (in general terms) in the text need to specify CC before collecting texts

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 36 Contextual Configuration Buying Bread Field (economic transaction) purchase of retail goods, perishable food Tenor (agents of transaction) hierarchic: customer superordinate and vendor subordinate; social distance near maximal Mode (language role) ancilliary; channel: phonic; medium: spoken with visual contact

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 37 Example 1: Buying Bread (1) Hypothetical Transcript (Australia) This type of text is so familiar to us that we can even tell who said what and when Buying Bread Text Who’s next? I think I am Can I have a loaf of bread please? Yes, anything else Yes I’d like a cinnamon donut Will that be all? Yeah, thanks. That’ll be $ [hands over $2.00 coin] 10 and 5 is 15, thanks Have a nice day Thanks

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 38 Example 1: Buying Bread (3) Turn Taking In this text their are only two participants, a Buyer and a Seller of Bread The numbers indicate turn-taking between the participants Buying Bread TextBuyer Seller 1:Who’s next? 2:I think I am Can I have a loaf of bread please? 3:Yes, anthing else 4:Yes I’d like a cinnamon donut 5:Will that be all? 6:Yeah, thanks. 7:That’ll be $1.85 8:0 [hands over $2.00 coin] 9:10 and 5 is 15, thanks Have a nice day 10:Thanks

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 39 Example 1: Buying Bread (4) Linguistic Stages in the Text But there is more than just participants taking turns. Their is a familiar linguistic staging of events in the transcript. Each stage is called a genre element. Each genre element is functionally defined. Buying Bread TextBuyer Seller 1:Who’s next? 2:I think I am Can I have a loaf of bread please? 3:Yes, anthing else 4:Yes I’d like a cinnamon donut 5:Will that be all? 6:Yeah, thanks. 7:That’ll be $1.85 8:0 [hands over $2.00 coin] 9:10 and 5 is 15, thanks Have a nice day 10:Thanks

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 40 Example 1: Buying Bread (5) Genre Elements Buying Bread TextBuyer Seller Genre Element 1:Who’s next? 2:I think I am Can I have a loaf of bread please? 3:Yes, anything else 4:Yes I’d like a cinnamon donut 5:Will that be all? 6:Yeah, thanks. 7:That’ll be $1.85 8:0 [hands over $2.00 coin] 9:10 and 5 is 15, thanks Have a nice day 10:Thanks Sale Compliance (SC) Sale (S) Purchase (P) Finis (F) Sales Initiation (SI) Sale Request (SR) Sale Compliance (SC) Purchase Closure (PC)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 41 Example 1: Buying Bread (6) Genre Elements are functional linguistic categories used to describe the purpose of a stretch of text created as needed and should represent a unique purpose for a text created when there is a change in field, tenor or mode

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 42 Example 1: Buying Bread (7) Genre Elements do not represent a process as per IS- closest analogy is social activity as in field do not represent data as per IS- closest analogy is that of language mode do not represent turn taking because genre elements are functional not personal

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 43 Example 1: Buying Bread (8) Genre Elements are negotiated between participants therefore there is no guarentee of the successful completion of an element also embody ‘error correction’ protocols in language

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 44 Example 1: Buying Bread (9) Genre Sequence The sequence of genre elements forms the genre sequence for the ‘activity of buying bread in Australia’ it is an example of a service encounter genre (just like buying a railway ticket, buying a shirt etc..)

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 45 Design Issues

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 46 Design as a ‘Black Art’ the design of actual Intranets and Extranets is a black art- there are no hard and fast rukes generally the web-based components are incrementally added as the scale or size of increases: web servers discussed last week firewalls and proxy servers described next week

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 47 Design Small Internet S/W Company (1) small company = <1000 employees firewall is loose- does not restrict any outward bound connections inbound connections blocked except for incoming , news feeds, web Requirements: proxy server is used to conserve bandwidth to the external network filtering of requests is not required because the firewall is loose

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 48 Design Small Internet S/W Company (2) users can unset proxy server in the client software and bypass the proxy server as a consequence no authentication needed Implementation: single proxy server (128MB RAM; 2 GB cache) cron job rotates logs once per week no secondary failover proxy as organisation is encouraging open use

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 49 Links Amdahl Corporation

Clarke, R. J (2001) L909-07: 50 Readings Relevant readings are provided in the BUSS909 Reader (#24 & 25): Lodin, S. W. and C. L. Schuba (1998) “Firewalls fend off invasions from the Net” IEEE Spectrum February 1998, 35 (2), Oppliger, R. (1997) “Internet Security: Firewalls and Beyond” Communications of the ACM May 40 (5)