Chapter 22: Intranets And Extranets

Chapter objectives

In this chapter we shall:

• Explain what intranets and extranets are.
• Set out some thoughts on how intranets and extranets can be useful for not-for-profit organisations.
• Assess the risks and rewards of using intranets and extranets in not-for-profit organisations.

What are intranets?

An intranet is basically an in-house web site: you utilise the same software and technology that you might be using for your World Wide Web presence to build an “Organisation Wide Web” for internal purposes.  The result should be easy to use, relatively inexpensive and should help you to keep your web site up to date.  In the 1999 survey “Information and Communication Technologies: Reshaping the Voluntary Sector”, (Burt and Taylor, 1999) about 25% of not-for-profit organisations claimed to be using intranet technologies and a further 21% expected to be doing so within a few years.  Adoption of intranets does not seem to depend on size; large and small not-for-profit organisations seem to be taking it up.  This is probably because the need for additional technology is negligible if you already have the capability for web presence and use.

The figure 22.1 illustrates what intranets are, also illustrating where they fit in to your organisational networks and the world wide web.

The table below sets out a (far from exhaustive) list of examples showing possible intranet uses for not-for-profit organisations.

Using Intranets

Potential rewards and benefits

The following is a list of potential rewards and benefits from the use of intranets in not-for-profit organisations:

• Reduction in the use of paper - yes, this benefit has been promised many times before and not delivered, but the message from the corporate sector is that the adoption of intranets does cut down on internal paper.
• Connectivity – you can use your intranet as the medium to connect users of devices which you found hard to connect before (e.g. PCs with MACs with old terminal devices) and to connect users from remote sites (e.g. through the modem links and web browsers that they might already be using for web access).
• Ease of use – if you can “surf the web” you can surf your organisation’s intranet.
• Keeping in-house information up to date – this might be more easily achieved on-line than it was on paper (e.g. staff and/or volunteer directories)  but it does still have to be done.
• Keeping information provision to third parties up to date – your intranet can be, in effect, a superset of your web presence (i.e. part of your intranet is available in the public domain, part is retained privately within your network).  You are therefore able to maintain the up-to-dateness of your web presence by maintaining your intranet.
• Building a learning culture – providing an environment for collaboration, information exchange and sharing knowledge.

The following is a list of potential risks or pitfalls from the use of intranets in not-for-profit organisations:

• 'Scope creep' – intranet projects run the risk of being unstructured and therefore never ending (if, indeed, you can ever agree on a basis to get started).
• 'Cost creep' – especially pertinent if you are a victim of scope creep and you are suing a third party for the management of design and content.
• Dashed expectations and hopes dashing – many not-for-profit organisations enter intranet projects with the best of intentions, but promise more than their people and/or wallet can deliver.
• Publishing conflict - lack of clarity about who owns the content, who can put items up, what should be public and what should be private.
• Security lapse – organisations need to have sufficient IT security in place, especially if your intranet is a superset of your web presence (see 'Potential rewards and benefits', above).  You need to use “firewall” technology (such as secure routers and firewall software - see Shields Up! at www.gr.com)appropriately to protect your private information.

What are extranets?

Figure 22.1 above illustrates what extranets are, also illustrating where they fit in to your organisational networks and the world wide web.

An extranet is basically a club of organisations which privately connect, probably using the Internet as the networking medium.  As with intranets, you mainly utilise the same software and technology that you might be using for your World Wide Web presence to share information and/or operations with others, e.g. suppliers, donors, members, volunteers, other not-for-profit organisations etc. In Information and Communication Technologies@ Reshaping the Voluntary Sector (op. cit.), about 2% of not-for-profit organisations claimed to be using extranet technologies.  Whereas intranets would often benefit from, but do not require additional use of technology, extranets often require additional use of technologies such as:

• XML (eXtensible Markup Language, an extended form of hypertext which enables web pages to function like database records).
• Java (a web-friendly programming language).
• Password security, database extensions, common gateway interface (CGI - see previous chapter) interactivity.
• Other add-ons which go whoosh and ping to enable you to show off to your peers.

The table below sets out a (far from exhaustive) list of examples showing possible extranet uses for not-for-profit organisations.

Extranet Uses

Potential rewards and benefits

The potential rewards and benefits from the use of extranets in not-for-profit organisations are similar to those arising from those listed above for intranets, and also:

• Operational time saved – mostly arising from encouraging constituents (e.g. members, volunteers, grant holders) choosing “self-service” and other efficient work methods.
• Effort and cost savings through e-procurement – both efficiencies in processing and economies of scale arising through “clubbing” (such as forming procurement consortia or providing shared services with other like-minded not-for-profits).
• Improved effectiveness in comparatively intangible areas of your work, such as advocacy and community liaison.

The following is a list of potential risks or pitfalls from the use of extranets in not-for-profit organisations:

• Agreeing scope – any reader who has ever tried to get a not-for-profit consortium of any kind moving will recognise the difficulties in finding and agreeing common ground (high risk of never agreeing on a basis to get started).
• Cost sharing – you need to find ways of fairly sharing the costs of a collaborative development and its ongoing maintenance.
• Harmonising expectations – it’s hard enough to manage realistic expectations within one organisation, but in this instance you need to manage those expectations across several.  Further, different organisations might have very different goals from the initiative.
• Security – each participating organisation needs to take responsibility for its own IT security, but the “club” needs to set procedures and minimum standards to ensure the integrity of the “clubbed” information.

Summary

• Intranets and extranets enable you to extend the use of internet technologies to benefit your own organisation and/or your not-for-profit “community".
• Intranets have the potential for relatively high rewards for a relatively low investment in cost, effort and the management of risks (but do manage those risks).
• Extranets have the potential for high rewards but tend to require a little more technology and a greater investment in collaboration.
• Agreeing the scope of initiatives and managing expectations are once again key factors in ensuring success with intranets and extranets.