1. It’s business as usual in BT!
Managing intranets?
It’s business as usual in BT!
BT’s Intranet has grown from a small pilot project in 1994 to a global business-critical network with thousands of users.
Here we look at the development of the Intranet; why it was built, how it was developed and managed with the benefits it has brought to BT.

2. Agenda About BT today Why an intranet? Information vision
Critical success factors
Managing the intranet
At the heart of BT
The future

3. About BT today
Operating in over 170 countries, BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications solutions and services. Our principal activities include networked IT services, local, national and international telecommunications services, and higher-value broadband and internet products and services.
BT’s strategy: bold transformation
BT in the global market – delivering networked IT services
Broadband – the UK leads the world, and there is more to come
Mobility and convergence – allowing communications wherever you are
21st century network (21CN) – essential investment for future prosperity

4. Why an intranet? Initiated back in 1994 Information overload
Valuable information being produced, but…
not shared, communicated or being managed
Initiated by Group Communications
Business led, not technology led!
Retrospective 1st year benefits of £305m
Now individual business cases
Culture change
Empowerment, flat communications, freely available information
Organisational change
Virtual working
Back in 1994, BT had identified the problem of ‘information overload’ – valuable information was being produced around the company but there wasn’t a sensible means of managing and sharing it. In many cases the same information was being duplicated, as BT people researched and resourced data collections, not knowing a colleague elsewhere had already done it.
The Intranet was established by BT Group Communications as a means of addressing this, but unlike previous technological developments this one had a crucial difference: it was business led and content driven. For once, the technology was not in the driving seat, but the needs of the business and the user determined the priorities.
Permission to introduce this new system, using Internet technology, was only sought once it was unstoppable! At that time the term ‘Intranet’ had not been coined and there were concerns that a corporate wide information network would conflict with the company’s main infrastructure systems such as billing and payroll, but the only way to prove it was to ‘just do it!’.

5. Information vision
The Intranet enables people in BT to access the information and services they need to do their work at any time, from any place.
information to be easily accessible, timely, accurate and relevant, and appropriate to their business situation and needs
consistency between information and the organisation’s desired behaviours and values
location and time not to be barriers to accessing and using information
to receive information through the most appropriate media
to exert choice and control over the information they receive
information to add value
their changing requirements to be met in a timely fashion
BT established a vision for its information at the end of 1994, early  It was then expected to have a five-year timeline, but in practice the vision has proven to be as relevant today as it was then.
The Vision was, and in an updated version, still essentially is:
Information users expect:
information to be easily accessible, timely, accurate and relevant, and appropriate to their business situation and needs
consistency between information and the organisation’s desired behaviours and values
location and time not to be barriers to accessing and using information
to receive information through the most appropriate media
to exert choice and control over the information they receive
information to add value
their changing requirements to be met in a timely fashion

6. Critical success factors
Focus on information, NOT technology
duplication of data (effort) was removed
Information was seen as legitimate
Information was seen to be up to date
It was easy to navigate & find right information
BT opted to devolve authority and content to franchise holders
No imposed standards for layout or style
Exponential growth and huge diversity of sites
Self regulation by lines of business to establish consistent ‘look’
Centrally established standards for management of information
In growing the Intranet across the company, several factors have been critical to its success.  Top of the list is the focus on information, not technology:
duplication of data, and therefore effort, was removed
the information was seen to be legitimate and from an authoritative source;
information was seen to be up to date;
and it was easy to navigate around the system and find what you needed.
In developing Intranets there is also a management line which can go from total control at one end of the spectrum to anarchy at the other.  BT opted for the more anarchic end, with authority & content ownership devolved from the centre out to ‘franchise holders’.
BT also did not impose layout, style or navigation standards, which led to exponential growth and a huge diversity of sites.  Now however, through choice, the lines of business are adopting their own style and navigation to establish a consistent ‘look’ to their business.  
Although the style and content was not imposed centrally, standards for the management of the information were established centrally, to build trust across the user community, so they knew that what they were accessing was valid, up to date information.

7. BT’s intranet strategy
Align with overall BT and IT strategy
User survey recommendations
IBF benchmarking recommendations
Develop with business partners
Communicate to key stakeholders
Implement action plan and update on progress made
Intranet centre of excellence
To manage the new era BT decided to remove a duplicate governance model and move away from the Franchise holder model. Instead, authorisation is at line-manager level, just like any other business process.
To support line managers and publishers, a central resource was established - the Intranet centre of excellence. It covers:
Standards & governance: keeping the standards up-to-date and making sure they are enforced;
Conformance: providing a central set of tools & templates, to make it easy for people to follow the standards and incorporate best practice.
Intranet helpdesk: provides friendly, non-technical advice for publishers and their line managers, and is the first point of contact for any intranet related queries.  They can be contacted by , or telephone option 1.

8. Content types for many, authoritative, well managed, reliable.
Formal
for many, authoritative, well managed, reliable.
All standards are mandatory
Team
for a defined audience, owned by a team, with shared responsibility for editing, requiring a managed environment.  
Most standards are mandatory
Crowd
community owned, open environment, for anyone to edit and contribute, light governance and low levels of trust.  
Some standards are mandatory
Personal
opinion based, owned by an individual, light governance, open to a wide audience.
Content types
The evolving intranet requires us to keep our standards, but apply them differently depending on the type of content. BT identified four main types of content:
Formal: authoritative, well managed, reliable & up to date, with a wide audience, limited editors and one owner.  All standards are mandatory.
Team: owned by a team, with shared responsibility for editing and ownership, for a defined audience (which could be all BT), possibly permission driven and requiring a managed environment.  Most standards are mandatory.
Crowd: community owned information, with an open environment for anyone to edit and contribute, with light governance and low levels of trust required.  Some standards are mandatory.
Personal: opinion based content, owned by an individual, with light governance and open to a wide audience. Some standards are mandatory.

9. Intranet centre of excellence
Standards & governance:
keep the standards up-to-date and make sure they are enforced and publishers are trained
Conformance:
provide a central set of tools, templates, processes and online publisher training
Intranet helpdesk:
provide friendly, non-technical advice by or telephone
Content ownership
the person who owns the content trains themselves, publishes and manages their content
Approval
the content owner’s manager approves requests to publish and if it isn’t managed to comply with standards
Intranet centre of excellence
To manage the new era BT decided to remove a duplicate governance model and move away from the Franchise holder model. Instead, authorisation is at line-manager level, just like any other business process.
To support line managers and publishers, a central resource was established - the Intranet centre of excellence. It covers:
Standards & governance: keeping the standards up-to-date and making sure they are enforced;
Conformance: providing a central set of tools & templates, to make it easy for people to follow the standards and incorporate best practice.
Intranet helpdesk: provides friendly, non-technical advice for publishers and their line managers, and is the first point of contact for any intranet related queries.  They can be contacted by , or telephone option 1.

10. What do our users need? Annual intranet survey by independent company
Feedback using links on every page
Beta testing of new sites
Content templates show features users need
Intranet standards based on users needs
85% satisfied or very satisfied

14. How are we using social media in BT?
Key principles
no anonymous posting
say what you like … but you will be held accountable!
Examples:
MyBT network
BTpedia
building knowledge base
social networking
How do we use this social media?
BTpedia:
Following on the success of Wikipedia, it seemed an interesting option for knowledge sharing. A traditional web site called 1001 Facts was proving difficult to update because the owners of the information moved on and the fact had to be removed. Eventually the site became untenable because it was left with only a handful of facts. Now, no one person owns the facts, and while still in Beta version, BTpedia was soon on its way to rebuilding 1001 Facts.
Podcasting:
Brings content to life and builds trust. Human Resources are using it to deliver training; senior managers can issue team briefings; the online newspaper, BT Today, provides a daily news podcast.
Project wikis:
Real time collaboration; project teams can update quickly.
MyBT network:
A new form of social networking; people can post information about themselves which enables others to find the skills or knowledge they seek. It enables people to make connections with each other.
Blogging:
Blogs are open to anyone to use. They enable people to engage with each other and personalise content. Popular with senior managers to keep teams updated.
RSS powered news:
One central source keeping many updated. The user controls the content; news feeds can be tailored to their interests.
Key principles
While web 2.0 may appear to be a free for all, there are some key principles BT has adopted. Firstly, there will be no anonymous postings - anyone can read open information, but you must be logged in to contribute. This is followed by the freedom to say what you want, but in the knowledge that you will be held accountable.
building communities
making connections
blogs available for all
Podcasting
bringing content to life
Blogging
engaging with each other
building trust
Project wikis
RSS powered news
real time team collaboration
one source; one truth
user controls their own content

16. Summary We started in 1994 Information vision, not technology
Intranet centre of excellence
Applied central control where needed
Don’t measure ROI across whole intranet
Everyone in BT has access
Helped to change culture & way of working
Business critical system
Ever evolving

17. Thank you