[thelist] Intranets

[Hassan Schroeder]

Morgan, Jon A wrote:
 > I am tasked with the project of creating an Intranet for my
 > organization. I was wondering if someone on the list could share
 > their experiences with creating an Intranet.

 > How did you go about its
 > development, what did you consider before beginning,

Figure out what your users need -- what information they're wasting
time looking for because it's not online or it's difficult to find.

Organize that information in a way that makes sense to the users.
Implement a feedback-and-bug/suggestion-tracking system, and be
responsive.

However, if information has to be repurposed out of another non-Web
system as an ongoing process, make sure you have a commitment from
the data owner. Allowing data to go stale (or get out of sync with
another source) is very, very bad. For that matter, make sure you
have a commitment from /your/ organization to maintain the site.
Creating it's easy; maintaining it -- never-ending. :-)

But bottom line, the technology is trivial; politics and turf wars
are the project killers.

 > where was/is it hosted,

Not sure I understand the question -- an Intranet is internal, so
pick a server and go (but plan for expansion; users will rapidly
come up with new content and features, some of which will require
horsepower, and you don't want to be slogging along ...)

 > what are some features that you feel must absolutely be
 > included within an intranet?

See question 1 :-)

That said, I think a modern system should provide role-based views
(personalization) and user customization capabilities. And besides
good information organization, you *must* offer an effective search.

But if you're just starting out and have limited resources, don't
try to boil the ocean; start simple and learn ("release early,
release often").

HTH, feel free to contact me on- or off-list if you'd like further
detail on any of the above.
--
H*
Hassan Schroeder ----------------------------- hassan at webtuitive.com
Webtuitive Design ===  (+1) 408-938-0567   === http://webtuitive.com

     -- creating dynamic Web sites and applications since 1994 --