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118 Part 1 Introduction

3 Implement or expand self-service. Re-engineering process to enable self-service is
‘The most significant way intranets cut costs for organisations is by enabling admin-
istrative processes to be reengineered – particularly in the HR area – and migrated
online via the intranet. This can make processes far more cost-efficient (and effec-
tive) for the organisation and individual users’. They give the example of how the
British Airways intranet has achieved some impressive results following its re-launch
as a self-service intranet:
100 per cent of internal recruitment is now carried out on the intranet
100 per cent of staff travel is booked on the intranet
33 per cent of staff training is delivered through the intranet
80 per cent of employees update their contact details on the intranet
The most popular self-service application has been the relatively simple e-Pay
tool where employees access their payslip. This alone delivered BA savings of
£90,000 per year.
4 Target further design, print and distribution savings. Reduction in physical and
distribution costs through moving towards a ‘paperless office’.
5 Improve usability. Making it quicker to find information through improving information
architecture and ‘findability’, i.e. better browsing and searching functionality.
6 Revamp HR content. As indicated by the examples given above, improvements to
HR functionality often give the biggest benefits to the employees and the business.
7 Create content for customer-facing staff. The example is given of the UK-based
insurance group Prudential which has used its intranet to provide content and tools
that help contact centre staff respond to telephone, e-mail and postal enquiries
from customers. It allows advisers to search the information there quickly, including
by product code which is then integrated with the Prudential CRM system
8 Create internal helpdesk content. Costs of internal helpdesks for example, for IT,
HR or Finance can be delivered more efficiently via the intranet. The IBF suggests
it costs about £8 to £10 to respond to each request for help by telephone, and
about £5 to do so by e-mail.
9 Enhance the employee directory. The IBF say: ‘A good people search can be a killer
app: many intranet experts agree that, more than anything else, staff want to use
the intranet to get in touch with one another.’
10 Put senior leaders online. This is costly in geographically dispersed organizations.
But intranets make it easier and more cost-effective for senior leaders to communi-
cate their ideas and ‘walk the virtual floor’ – for example through blogs that allow staff

to comment on posts, or through a regular online webcast or chat Q&A sessions.
11 Leverage online meetings. This is web conferencing which although not directly
enabled by the intranet, should facilitate web conferencing.
12 Measure savings. The IBF state that: ‘Few organisations have made progress in
measuring the cost savings they can attribute to the intranet, or even to parts of it.’
This is partly because it is difficult to measure cause and effect. But the study does
give some examples:
Ford estimates that online training delivered via its portal will drive down training
costs to an average of $0.21 per class, down from $300–$2,500 per class.
Cisco cut the cost of processing employee expense reports from $50.69 with
the previous forms-based system to $1.90 three years later. Total corporate
savings by that third year were $7m. The average elapsed time for processing
each expense report dropped from 21 to 4 days.
BT’s implementation of e-procurement enabled 95 per cent of all its goods –
including desktop computing, stationery, clothing, travel and agency staff – so
reduced the average purchasing transaction cost from £56 to £40 inside a year.