1. Chapter 4 Intranets and Extranets

2. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 2 OBJECTIVES Introduction Technical Infrastructure Planning an Intranet E-mail and Intranet Extranets

3. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 3 WHAT IS AN INTRANET? An organization-wide software and information distribution system applying Internet technology to a closed network Intranet operation is a communication project designed by technical staff A network of people, not wired machines Usually runs in a client/server environment and a local area network configuration

4. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 4 BENEFITS Links employees and managers together Automates a lot of intraorganizational traffic Enables a company to gain better access to its primary resources – knowledge and experience Serves as a creative and empowering tool Establishes the foundation for developing enterprise-wide information systems

5. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 5 BENEFITS (Cont’d) Provides a model for new internal information management collaborative computing Prepares a wealth of Internet knowledge to employees Eases process integration Allows company to expand the system

6. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 6 APPLICATIONS Human Resources –Employee handbook –Benefits information –Employee surveys –Internal/external recruiting –Candidate screening –Organizational charts –Newsletters –Company calendars

7. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 7 APPLICATIONS (Cont’d) Sales and Marketing –Product information –Market research –Prospecting –Managing sales contacts –Sales training

8. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 8 APPLICATIONS (Cont’d) Accounting and Finance –Financial reports –Expense reports –Accounts receivable/payable processing –Asset management –Policies and procedures –Payroll

9. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 9 APPLICATIONS (Cont’d) Manufacturing and Operations –Inventory control –Production schedules –Quality assurance –Part order/requisition system

10. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 10 WHY DOES A COMPANY NEED AN INTRANET? A company has a large pool of information to share among hundreds of its employees Intranets are cheap, robust and fast Intranets operate across platforms 24/7 to employees Information in intranet can be updated quickly

11. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 11 TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Client/Server Basis –Client/Server software architecture: a versatile, message-based, and modular infrastructure intended to improve usability, flexibility, interoperability and scalability –Mainframe architecture: all intelligence is within the central host computer

12. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 12 TYPES OF CLIENT/SERVER ARCHITECTURE Two-tier architectures –For an organization with 12-100 users Three-tier architectures –User system interface –Processing management –Database management

13. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 13 TWO-TIER ARCHITECTURE DESIGN User System Interface Database Management

14. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 14 THREE-TIER ARCHITECTURE DESIGN User System Interface Database Management Process Management

15. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 15 BASIC INTRANET-ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES Server and Client PCs Web Server Browsers TCP/IP Electronic Mail Graphic and Multimedia Files Network File System (NFS) Internet Relay Chat (NRC) HTML Authoring Tools HTML Portable Electronic Document

16. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 16 USING FIREWALLS Proxy –“Go-between” agent that acts on behalf of another Packet Filter –Checks each packet at network level

17. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 17 PLANNING AN INTRANET Plan ahead Provide justification with management support Build an intranet in-house or outsource it Form an Intranet team Build and test a prototype Ensure effective maintenance

18. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 18 E-MAIL and INTRANET Spamming –Sending unwanted advertisements or literature through e-mail Flaming –Responding to a message or a call in anger

19. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 19 E-MAIL ETIQUETTE Write in different color to express attitude or mood Keep sentences short Be aware of your office and organization culture Avoid flaming Don’t use e-mail to send bad news Don’t type in capital letters

20. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 20 EXTRANETS Lets limited, controlled business partners interact with the firm for all kinds of exchanges System designers must collaborate to make sure there is a common interface with the company they are dealing with Benefits: faster time-to-market, customer loyalty, increased partner interaction, and improved processes

21. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 21 KEY CONSIDERATIONS Identifying users Listing technology components Specifying security requirements Discussing administration of extranet Understanding usability of extranet

22. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 22 OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Security –Type of users –Sensitivity of information transacted –Communication lines used Manageability / administration Usability

23. Awad –Electronic Commerce 2/e © 2004 Pearson Prentice Hall 23 ROLE OF CHAMPION Ensures accountability for the organization Promotes more effective collaboration with business partners which improves potential for increased revenue Provides a long-term investment in competitive advantage

24. Chapter 4 Intranets & Extranets