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116 P P a r t I I I : a r t I I I : W h a t Y o u C a n D oh a t Y o u C a n D o

Intranets are a great way to reduce the amount of paper that is used in-house.
Intranets are a lot like the Internet. But whereas files stored on the public Internet are
accessible to anyone, files on your private intranet are only accessible to you and your
coworkers.
What to Include
You can put, really, whatever you want on your intranet. As mentioned before, you can post
the HR manual. Maybe you have a spot on there where you list the cafeteria’s daily specials.
The following lists some content you might consider putting on your intranet:

• Often-used documents, templates, and proposals that can help prepare a project
• Frequently asked questions about the organization
• Company bulletin board, where employees can share messages
• CEO blog, to serve as an informational line to the organization
• Staff directory, including personal skills (for example, Sally Johnson plays the banjo)
• Company calendar, with employee birthdays and upcoming events

This is certainly not the limit of what you can put on your intranet, but it gives you an
idea of where to start. Whereas the preceding is somewhat benign, there are some more
important data issues you should consider before publishing them on the intranet. You also
need to think about the following:
• Security Do you plan on publishing sensitive documents on the intranet? If so,
you’ll likely need to establish password-protected areas of the site. Now’s also a
good time to figure out who will manage access to that site.
• Usability Is the site easy to manage? We’ve all seen horribly designed sites that
were impossible to navigate. Think about how the site will be designed and how it
can be optimized.
• Publishing rights Who will be allowed to post to the intranet and how reliable
will the information be?
• Ownership Who is responsible for information on the intranet? Will an approval
system be needed before information is posted? How will content be maintained
once it is posted? It’s recommended that you assign one person to be the intranet
coordinator whose task it will be to manage the information on your intranet.
• Backup plan Don’t forget to have a backup plan in place. If your system gets hit
by a virus or somehow gets damaged or lost, do you have a plan in place that can
restore the system?

Building an Intranet
When you’ve decided to build your organization’s intranet, it needs to be composed of
specific hardware as well as certain software. Let’s look at what you need to build your
intranet.