We'll see an explosion of interactivity in 1998, and most of it will come from corporations improving relationships with their employees and customers. BlairLake and another Kansas City-based Web developer, Cephas Multimedia, have intranets that not only give employees company information but allow managers to track employee time sheets and the progress and budgets of specific projects. But intranets exist on closed networks accessible to limited audiences like employees and business partners. They typically include job postings, corporate communications, news releases and internal classified advertisements. Intranets usually grow from a basic posting of human resource information or an electronic employee handbook.
Companies expand access and content gradually, allowing departments to develop their own postings.
Costs can depend on existing information systems. Observers say intranets should be easy for both viewers and content providers. Because outsiders won't see the pages, the approval process should be easier and quicker than that of external communications, they say. We take ourselves a little less seriously, and employees appreciate that. Various departments post information in accordance with guidelines posted at the site, said Mic Giess, director of Sprint's Intranet Services Development Group.