Modern Intranet - Benefits and Features

What is an intranet? Full definition 

An intranet is an internal website that is accessible only to employees of an organization. The platform enhances collaboration and communication will full control over security and privacy. Like the internet and software industry, the intranet landscape has expanded its use and effectiveness over the past decades. 

In the beginning, it was simply a tool for communicating information from top management to the employees via catch-all messages and links. The modern intranet is a dynamic, social, and collaborative platform that powers personalized communication and drives employee experience initiatives. 

In fact, many organizations have adopted enterprise social networks as part of their intranet solution, which provides numerous benefits and features such as improved communication, knowledge sharing, and employee engagement.

A brief history of the Intranet

The term “intranet” was coined in 1994, but the concept started decades earlier when organizations adopted Ethernet technology for local networking. The intranet became accessible to more organizations when the World Wide Web became mainstream. Since then, the intranet has continued to evolve with the implementation of major features and developments. 

In the 90s, the intranet for most organizations was for top-down communication. It also served as a knowledge base where employees could access information via a basic set of links. The traditional intranet was based on local networks where computers were within the same geographical location – school premises, company grounds, etc. These on-premise software solutions require on-site server installations to support the technology. The server’s capacity would depend on the number of users and the quantity of data transfer. Even with the state-of-the-art installations, many organizations experienced limitations. 

The turn of the millennium witnessed the addition of the social aspect of the intranet. With enterprise portals, employees could create blog-like content and generate interaction from coworkers. Gradually, there was a shift from the top-down system where only a limited few employees could post information to a system where every employee could post on the platform. 

Naturally, the social aspect added the incorporation of content management into the intranet. The platforms served as an information portal to answer employees’ questions and find information for achieving tasks.

Next, as technology and software moved to the cloud, so did the intranet. 

The Cloud-based Intranet

The cloud-based intranet uses remote servers instead of on-site servers. A cloud-based intranet eliminates geographical barriers and allows employees to access information from any device and any location. . 

Additionally, cloud-based solutions remove the need for on-site maintenance and upkeep costs, and time-consuming backups. Everything is managed remotely and only a high-speed internet connection is required. This allows for real-time content uploading, communication and automated maintenance. 

With a cloud-based intranet, upgrades are streamlined. If a company needs to add employees or increase content bandwidth, it’s a simplified process. 

Intranet 2.0: The Social Intranet

The social intranet represents a shift from the top-down communication model of the traditional intranet. It approaches content from a more humanized perspective, focusing on the people as authors of the content. Traditionally, with “Intranet 2.0.” systems, any member of the network can create and share content, bringing in interactions from other employees. It’s similar to how most social media platforms operate but private to a specific organization.

What is the difference between intranet, extranet, and internet?

The significant difference between the internet, intranet and extranet is access. The internet is publicly accessible, but both intranets and extranets have restricted access. The intranet is only open to employees of an organization, and extranets are designed to be accessed by external parties that need constant communication with the company, like suppliers or partners. 

The difference in accessibility extends to communication content and coverage. Another difference between these networks is ownership. The internet has no single owner. On the other hand, the intranet belongs to the organization whose employees have access. The extranet may be owned by a single organization or co-owned by all the companies with access to the network.

Free Employee Intranets: Differences between WordPress CMS and Drupal CMS

A content management system (CMS) is a platform where administrators, content creators, and other users can create, share, collaborate, and manage content. As expected, a CMS intranet platform is only accessible by authorized users. For small companies or those just testing how an intranet works, two of the most popular options are Drupal and WordPress. They provide organizations with a free solution that is built on an open-source framework, giving room for customization. Each option has its own pros, cons and differences. 

• Drupal has a higher degree of flexibility than WordPress. It also comes with more native functionalities. Hence, developers can get a lot done without using third-party plugins. Functionalities like multilingual capabilities are available in Drupal.
• On the other hand, WordPress is more user-friendly. With the abundance of third-party plugins available, non-developers can achieve more with WordPress. Also, WordPress developers are easier to find. You’ll likely spend more when hiring a Drupal developer.

Free intranet software gives users some familiarity with intranet structure, but once a company scales up or needs to install a complete solution for their business, a modern intranet solution is required.