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Intranet and Extranet are changing the way companies communicate both within their own organizations and externally with suppliers and customers. Intranets and Extranets are proving their worth, by contributing to the bottom line through cost savings, increased sales, increased employee efficiencies.
Intranets, when properly planned and executed help the organization automate and track routine tasks faster and better - all while lowering operations and communications costs. Employees can be more efficient with up-to-the-minute data, industry news, and information at their fingertips. When combined with Extranets, Intranets are opening up new ways for business associates to communicate and
operate more efficiently.
An intranet is a private network that is contained within an enterprise. It may consist of many interlinked local area networks and also use leased lines in the wide area network. Typically, an intranet includes connections through one or more gateway computers to the outside Internet. The main purpose of an intranet is to share company information and computing resources among employees.
An intranet can also be used to facilitate working in groups and for teleconferences.
An intranet uses TCP/IP, HTTP, and other Internet protocols and in general looks like a private version of the Internet. With tunneling, companies can send private messages through the public network, using the public network with special encryption/decryption and other security safeguards to connect one part of their intranet to another.
Typically, larger enterprises allow users within their intranet to access the public Internet through firewall servers that have the ability to screen messages in both directions so that company security is maintained. When part of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, or others outside the company, that part becomes part of an extranet.
i2Eye Infotech provides consulting services on intranet and extranet deployment and management. We develop content management and intranet strategies based on information audits, advise on information architecture design and implementation, and the selection of content management and search software.
Our background is in information science, providing us with an understanding of how people use information to make decisions within the context of the information culture of the organization.
An extranet is a private network that uses Internet technology and the public telecommunication system to securely share part of a business's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, customers, or other businesses. An extranet can be viewed as part of a company's intranet that is extended to users outside the company. It has also been described as a "state of mind" in
which the Internet is perceived as a way to do business with other companies as well as to sell products to customers.
An extranet requires security and privacy. These can include firewall server management, the issuance and use of digital certificates or similar means of user authentication, encryption of messages, and the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) that tunnel through the public network.
Companies can use an extranet to:
-Exchange large volumes of data using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
-Share product catalogs exclusively with wholesalers or those "in the trade"
-Collaborate with other companies on joint development efforts
-Jointly develop and use training programs with other companies
-Provide or access services provided by one company to a group of other companies, -such as an online banking application managed by one company on behalf of affiliated banks
-Share news of common interest exclusively with partner companies
If your functional specification and information flow have not been determined yet, i2Eye will help you plan your Intranet and Extranet project and then we will implement your project from the UI design through integration and roll-out, and remain available to develop user training and enhance the Intranet or Extranet as users recommend ways to make it even more effective.
Contact i2Eye to discuss your Intranet or Extranet needs and we will prove to you that we are the team that will deliver the winning strategy, killer creative and top notch technology that combine to help you beat the competition.
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