Intranets, Extranet, Internet and Portals Prof. Sujata Rao Lesson 15

What are Intranets? Intranet is Intra+ Net so an Intranet is an internal or private Internet used strictly within the confines of a company, university, or organization. "Inter" means "between or among," hence the difference between the Internet and an Intranet.

Intranets - A technical definition An Intranet is a network based on the internet TCP/IP open standard. An intranet belongs to an organization, and is designed to be accessible only by the organization's members, employees, or others with authorization. An intranet's Web site looks and act just like other Web sites, but has a firewall surrounding it to fend off unauthorized users.

Intranet Key Definitions: –Intranet: An intranet is a private enterprise network that uses internet and web technologies for information gathering and distribution within an organization.

Value Added Processes Intranets may be designed to improve the organizational information ecology. Intranets provide a unified information space in which users can communicate and collaborate with others. intranet applications and services may add value by supporting the organization’s knowledge creating and decision making process

INTRANET

Internet Introduction Key Definitions: –Internet: The internet is a global network of interconnected networks, connecting private, public and university networks in one cohesive unit.

INTERNET

Components

Internet Introduction Key Definitions: –Internet: The internet is a global network of interconnected networks, connecting private, public and university networks in one cohesive unit.

The Internet v. Internet-Related Technology Internet: relates to the global network Internet Technologies: –Collection of internet protocols and applications –Based upon Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) for network transport –Based upon many protocols for applications: Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP) and Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3) for Telnet for remote logon File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for exchanging data files. – Web Technology- refers to the use of: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for transport of web data Hypertext Markup Language/Extended Markup Language (HTML/XML) for data presentation.

EXTRANET Extranet: Community of Interest created by extending the extranet to selected entities external to an organization –Deployed as private networks to develop business-to-business relationships between vendors, partners, and customers. –Extranet applications: Online ordering *News and content Marketing and product information * Legacy database access Inventory management * ERP; supply chain management. Collaborative research and development * Collaborative scheduling Training, policy and standards * Customer service/self service and chat *Bulletin boards and groups Billing and account history *On-line financial transactions

EXTRANET ADVANTAGE Advantages –Collaborative research and development (R&D) fosters better ties between partners and shorter time-to-market, thus reducing the product life cycle and increasing product competitiveness –ERP and supply chain management streamline business processes –Better customer support increases customer loyalty and weans customers from live representatives to cheaper “self-help.” –Collaborative extranets foster team spirit among partners and customers, reduce cost of production, travel costs, and customer service, and improve the speed of communications speed. –Customer/partner access to backend data improves efficiency –Brings access to new markets through IP-based EDI participation

Corporate Portals Corporate portals are single point web browser interfaces used within organizations to promote the gathering, sharing and dissemination of information throughout the organization. Corporate portals differ from intranets in that a portals primary function is to provide a transparent directory of information available elsewhere not act as a separate source of information itself.

Components of a portals workspace Content space To facilitate information access and retrieval Communication space To negotiate collective interpretations and shared meanings Coordinate space To support co-operative work action.