The key to effective intranet usage is practical application. Intranet value is a function of utility, not of bells and whistles. To capture the value of the intranet, an organization must focus on specific needs, conduct in-depth research, and consider organizational values and requirements just as it would before making any other significant change or addition-such as moving its corporate headquarters, changing its internal structure, or completely revamping its mission and vision.
An organization wants to build an intranet that reflects its real world and that can be assimilated into its real world as an effective tool. This medium offers a range of opportunity for effecting positive change, because it encourages new ways of interacting within the organization. It can rid barriers, expedite communication, and link users who are geographically removed. The challenge of the intranet is to strike a balance: to work within the real world without foreclosing opportunities for innovation.
Creating real-world applications begins with defining the real world-in this case, the organization that is considering building an intranet. A clear understanding of the organization's strengths, weaknesses, goals, and resources, and of the context in which it does business, provides an essential foundation. Such an understanding keeps the intranet development process focused and grounded and helps ensure that the result properly reflects the sponsor's character and requirements-in other words, that the intranet does what it is intended to do.
This chapter discusses the process of defining organizational requirements and preferences as they relate to a range of intranet capabilities, which are discussed in further detail in Chapters 36 through 46.
Like any other significant initiative, constructing an intranet requires front-end analysis and planning and extensive involvement of the user. Too often, organizations fall in love with a technological capability without giving adequate thought to how it furthers a business objective, what its impact is likely to be, and how to manage the implementation process. As a result, such organizations might end up with a system that doesn't meet their needs or one that doesn't maximize the benefits of intranet capabilities. In the process, organizations also can waste time and money.
Therefore, discipline in the preliminary stages pays off in efficiency and user satisfaction. This involves assessing the needs and setting the goals that the intranet will be designed to address and achieve. At the most basic level, an organization should define:
A lot of these macro decisions must be made at a high level of the organization by people who understand and recognize the potential of the strategic impact. The manager of information systems probably doesn't have a good overall grasp of the company and therefore is probably not the person with the authority to make these macro, long-term decisions.
An intranet needs assessment should encompass three levels of inquiry:
Defining priorities often involves an organization's strategic planning process. For organizations that do not have a formal strategic planning function, intranet design can provide a focal point for this activity and, in fact, can be used to jump-start it. This process alone is a very helpful one because it begins to bring people in with the focus-the medium is the message. Getting employees' input and getting employees involved in understanding users' needs lays the groundwork for effective usage.
Because some organization offices and staffers do not talk to each other daily, the intranet provides a focal point for getting those discussions started. As the site is launched, it offers an opportunity to maintain this newly established communication.
The organization's priorities are the management specifications for which you are designing the intranet. You want an intranet that achieves the goals of the employees who will be utilizing it. Broad priorities include competitive, cultural, or philosophical issues that affect the entire company and that are often expressed as goals. For example:
After priorities have been defined, the next step is to identify barriers to the goals and possible solutions to the barriers. Obviously, achieving complex goals requires multifaceted efforts, and an intranet isn't the silver bullet. Each of these examples, however, suggests a potential shift in how business gets conducted and in how people interact-and internal communications has a role to play. Defining that role takes the intranet needs assessment to the next level.
Virtually every analysis of barriers to organizational goals yields some discussion of information exchange. The underlying problem might be timeliness, content, or access, and the issue might be mechanical, structural, or philosophical. Some organizations (for example, within the defense industry) have traditionally operated strictly on a "need to know" basis and are only now beginning to expand their internal communications channels. In other organizations, such as high-tech companies enjoying rapid growth, the challenge is very different; last year's hallway meetings are no longer adequate now that there are five regional offices in three time zones.
On the principle that knowledge is indeed power, organizations that seek to empower their employees (or members) do so in part by disseminating information and providing meaningful channels for response and feedback. For these kinds of organizations, a highly interactive intranet can provide an ideal forum.
Take the example of a trade association. The association is responsible for collecting information, processing it, and disseminating it to their members. By creating a dynamic site that allows users not only to view information, but also to update it and add new content, the value of the intranet increases for the members, and the cost savings increase for the association. Let's say that one of the functions of the association is to collect news items and share them with the members. By allowing users to add news items in an interactive way, the intranet becomes a useful real-time tool and is expanded through the efforts of employees who add their own information.
Another example is an intranet for a sales force. It might be essential that inventory information be completely up-to-date all the time. In this situation, both the company and the individual salespeople can keep inventory updated if the salespeople can input their sales information as soon as they have it.
On the other hand, companies that, for whatever reason, stringently control information flow will likely design a very different sort of intranet, intended primarily to display the results of a deliberation (for example, a corporate policy) rather than to elicit participation in it.
The internal communications dimension should be addressed as part of a needs assessment process, and the organization should define specific gaps and rank them by priority. For example:
Although no intranet can effectively address every item on a wish list, compiling such a list provides a clear sense of the high-priority gaps that system design must address.
No intranet can be designed in a technological vacuum. The third level of needs assessment therefore evaluates the technical underpinnings that already exist in terms of their adaptability to intranet applications. Undertaking such an evaluation early in the process helps avoid costly mistakes and helps suggest solutions that leverage existing investments in technology.
While establishing broad priorities, the organization also must establish what the technical realities currently are and how the intranet can fit in with them. For example, if the goal is to bring people together from different geographic offices for video-conferencing and the headquarters has excellent technological capabilities but the field locations don't, the intranet won't fulfill the goal unless the organization is willing to upgrade the technology in the field offices.
Don't aim for the lowest common denominator in the technical requirements; aim for an average one. If it's a matter of upgrading only 2 of 40 offices to meet the technical requirements for an application, the upgrade is worth investing in.
If video-conferencing is a priority but some users work from their homes and have only 14.4 Kbps modems, those users need to be upgraded to faster, direct connections, such as ISDN, frame-relay, or cable-or the organization should reevaluate its needs and the importance of video-conferencing.
This again comes back to organizational priorities. Is the intranet supposed to enhance what people do in their individual functions or bring people together?
If you're trying to automate things for the marketing team, it's OK to supply the technical capability for only this team. But if the intranet priority is focused on R&D and the marketing members work closely with R&D on trends, the R&D team needs the same technical capacity as the marketing team.
A thorough review of current resident technology provides the basis for means testing for various intranet capabilities before they are incorporated into the intranet's design, as shown in Figure 35.1. For example, if most people in an organization don't have video cards or if they work on 10-year-old 386 PCs, it makes no sense to design an elaborate video-conferencing function.
Figure 35.1: Matching workstation capabilities with intranet applications.
A needs assessment is the discipline applied to understanding the context from which an intranet can add value. It requires compiling and analyzing available information on organizational needs, technical capacity, and intended usage.
Intranets, at their most powerful, are user-driven. For this reason, experience shows that involving potential users early in the development process produces better results. The intranet is intended to be used by people inside the organization, so employees must be involved in the front-end design and the decision process; otherwise, they will not use it. Just as product-related research and development increasingly engages customer participation, so should intranet developers engage prospective "customers" for their "product" from the beginning.
After the priorities are established, you need to decide who your intranet will affect. This is the user universe, the people who are going to use your intranet. The group might comprise every employee, every member of a trade association, the heads of trade groups, upper management, or any other segment that makes sense for your organization. These people should be involved in the decision process with the priorities in mind.
Here, the difference between the Internet and the intranet becomes important. The Internet can be an anonymous corporate presence that's established without involving many users. But the intranet belongs to the organization and the user universe. Those in the user universe have to feel ownership and must feel that the intranet is accomplishing their needs; otherwise, the intranet won't function optimally. An intranet has individual ownership. It is private; it is "our" office. Within that office can be many different conference rooms, some labeled by profession, some labeled by task, others labeled by other distinguishing common agendas. Depending on how the intranet is organized, users within an organization can have individual identities, making the presence of user "buy-in" vital.
Assume that Kristi is a scientist at the High Times Coffee Company. She has her user name and she has her own password. At High Times, a goal in establishing the intranet is for top executives and the public relations team to be aware of the latest developments in bean roasting. As Kristi works on the intranet, she leaves footprints. Those who have access can stay up-to-date on the very latest developments. The top executives benefit from being "in the know," as they should be, despite the demands of their positions, and the public relations team is armed with the latest news-good, bad, or otherwise.
The sponsoring organization should involve the user universe by soliciting user input during the needs assessment phase. Doing so achieves two goals: supplementing, validating, or challenging project management's understanding of what is needed, and initiating the process of gaining the user buy-in that will be critical to successful implementation. Because a goal of the intranet is to effect change inside an organization, the user must be involved.
User research can take many forms. Two of the most common and useful are surveys and focus groups. Depending on the size of the user universe, surveys can be conducted in person, by telephone, through electronic mail, or on the Web-or in some combination of these methods.
User surveys, like the needs assessment framework discussed previously, should be structured to elicit three levels of information: general needs, specific requirements, and technical capacity. Surveys also should define the user group's familiarity and competence with computer technology, which must be factored into any questions of system design.
To reach a broad group of potential user universe, a paper survey might be the best form. If you want to see who is capable of using the survey, it is better to carry it out on the Web or through e-mail.
At the end of this chapter is an example of a user survey designed to be administered in person, including multiple-choice, yes/no, and open-ended questions.
Also consider focus groups, because these take user research to a deeper level and probe for underlying opinions and attitudes. Properly facilitated and with appropriate participants, an internal focus group on intranets can do double duty as a brainstorming session that can yield extremely useful insights and ideas.
Before launching a new intranet or adding significant new functions to an existing one, many organizations select a small group of users to participate in beta testing. This method can be highly effective and can greatly improve the intranet's functionality while helping to generate users' enthusiasm and sense of investment.
User input at the beta level is important because it offers a reality check to the intranet. Beta is the second letter in the Greek alphabet, and beta testing is, in essence, the second test. After the programmers and designers think that they have a functioning prototype (the first test), they open an application, program, or system to a limited group of pilot users-or beta testers-to see how well the prototype really works. The beta test is interactive; it tests both technical capacity and user interface, which are equally important at the beta level.
The beta testing should be conducted when the intranet is still open to changes and modifications. Feedback and analysis from users will result in another series of improvements and enhancements in the features and functions-the interface-of the intranet. This beta testing allows the organization to find out what the intranet is currently doing compared to the organizational expectations for its design. It tests whether the intranet had the desired effect. It exposes needs that weren't anticipated at the beginning, because users will change the way they do things with a new system or technology, and additional, unplanned-for needs are sure to surface.
At this point, the organization will want to note what changes to make to ensure that the intranet is in line with expectations and user suggestions. Adjustments are made accordingly before the software in question goes into production use.
Beta testing might reveal interesting, and often not-thought-of, results. For example, a business might want to provide an intranet to achieve better communication between accounts payable and vendors. After beta testing, the business might discover that instead of using the intranet to improve factual exchange of information and follow-up, users were using the intranet only as a cyber water cooler to swap jokes.
In another case, one priority of the intranet might be to bring 20 news and information sources together in a manageable format so that information is easily retrievable in an organized manner. The beta group might easily access the 20 sources with the intranet but might find there are 20 more news sources they want the finished intranet to include.
Beta testing is best conducted as a hands-on interactive group session, with no more than 15 user-participants. Part training, part focus group, these sessions should be led by an intranet project manager, with adequate programming support to enable on-the-spot modifications.
The specific selection of beta testers varies, depending on the individual organization and the priorities established for the intranet. It is generally useful, however, to choose pilot users who fulfill these requirements:
If a priority of the intranet is to flatten the hierarchical nature of the organization, the beta group should have members from every level represented. In general, the techno-experts should not be included in the beta group.
Aiming for a cross-section of users is primarily to ensure a "functional" cross-section (that is, ensuring that people from different parts of the organization, at differing levels of seniority, and so on are included in the user group). The "relatively high level of technical competency" issue means you want to be sure they know enough and have the right equipment to actually participate in the beta test. Of course, if 95 percent of the people in your organization have never logged on to the Internet before, the whole beta group should be skewed downward in terms of technical competency. On the other hand, if everyone is a UNIX wizard except for the one mailroom clerk, the technical competency level among the beta group should be skewed upward.
If you are interested in participating as a pilot user in the development of the intranet, please complete the following survey:
CONTACT INFORMATIONName:
Title:
Organization:
Mailing Address:
City:
State:
Country:
Postal Code:
Telephone:
Fax:AREAS OF ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
- Circle the choice that best describes your areas of responsibility in your organization:
Scientific/Technical/Engineering
Marketing/Sales
Legal/Regulatory
MIS
Corporate/Managerial
Accounting/Financial
Communications/Public Affairs
Operations/Production
Other- Circle the choice that best describes your primary work location:
Production/Manufacturing facility
Research & Development facility
Corporate headquarters
Association headquarters
Other facility work patterns- Circle the choice that best describes the frequency with which you personally use a personal computer:
Frequently throughout the day
At least once a day
Almost every day
Weekly
Occasionally
Rarely- Circle the choice that best describes the frequency with which one or more support staff members who report directly to you use a personal computer:
Frequently throughout the day
At least once a day
Almost every day
Weekly
Occasionally
Rarely- Circle the choice that best describes the frequency with which your work requires you to travel:
Almost every day
Weekly
Monthly
Quarterly
Rarely- Circle the choice that best describes the frequency with which your work requires you to meet with, telephone, fax, or otherwise contact individuals who work at other locations within your organization:
Frequently throughout the day
At least once every day
Almost every day
Weekly
Occasionall
Rarely- Circle the choice that best describes the frequency with which your work requires you to meet with, telephone, fax, or otherwise contact individuals who work within your industry, but outside of your own organization:
Frequently throughout the day
At least once every day
Almost every day
Weekly
Occasionally
Rarely- ArSe you comfortable working in English?
Yes
No- Next to each of the potential features of the intranet listed below, indicate the degree to which you would find each of them useful in the course of your work (1 = Very useful, 2 = Somewhat useful, 3 = Not at all useful):
Access to a database of scientific and technical information relevant to our industry:
1 2 3
Access to a database of news and public affairs information relevant to our industry:
1 2 3
Access to a database of financial information relevant to our industry:
1 2 3
The ability to navigate quickly and easily to other, nonproprietary Internet-based information relevant to our industry:
1 2 3
The ability to exchange e-mail with colleagues in like member organizations:
1 2 3
The ability to exchange formatted documents with colleagues in other like member organizations:
1 2 3
The ability to post and read public messages regarding developments in our industry:
1 2 3
The ability to collaborate with colleagues in similar member organizations online, in real time:
1 2 3
A central scheduling calendar of relevant industry meetings and events:
1 2 3
Other:
1 2 3COMPUTER RESOURCES
- Do you have routine access to a personal computer?
Yes
No- The personal computer you most frequently use is:
A PC
A Macintosh
Other __________________- The personal computer you use most frequently has:
A single-user modem
Dial-out capability through LAN, WAN, or some other network
No dial-out capability- If you use a laptop or another portable computer, is it:
A PC
A Macintosh
Other
Don't use a portable- If you use a laptop or another portable computer, does it have:
A single-user modem
No dial-out capability- If you have one or more e-mail accounts, please provide them:
Primary e-mail address:
Secondary e-mail address:- Circle each of the following services to which you have access:
America OnLine
Prodigy
CompuServe
Internet
SLIP/PPP
OtherSYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- If you use a personal computer with a high-speed modem, color graphics, at least 8 megabytes of RAM, and a 486 or better processor (PC) or System 7.1 or higher (Macintosh), you will be able to participate in the pilot user group without making any significant enhancements or upgrades to your system.
If you use a personal computer that doesn't have the features listed above, you will need to make enhancements and upgrades that cost between approximately $250 and $1,000 U.S. dollars.
If you do not have access to a personal computer, you will need to purchase and configure equipment that costs between approximately $2,000 and $3,500 U.S. dollars.- Based on this information, circle the appropriate choice below:
The personal computer I use meets system requirements, and no significant upgrades or enhancements are required.
I am willing and able, either personally or through my organization, to procure the system I need. I will get technical assistance through my organization.
I am willing and able, either personally or through my organization, to procure the system I need, but I request technical assistance from the intranet development team.
Thank you for completing this survey.
By now you should be convinced that the most important person to consider when creating real-world applications is the user. The organization that from the onset includes the user in the decision-making process and testing ultimately will get the most from its intranet. Don't leave out the all-important and often-revealing needs assessment. The results will put you in step with the organization's priorities, internal communications network, and technical capacity, leaving you with the most appropriate blueprint for your intranet. When the time arrives to make application decisions for your intranet, fully explore three key questions-What does the intranet as a medium offer? What does my organization need? and What is the mix between the medium and the organization's needs?-and your intranet will begin to build itself.
The next 11 chapters further examine the specific core functions offered with intranets.