Intranets mimic the way the Internet is used but are designed for accessing information within a company. Intranets allow organizations to share information, easily setup applications, send e-mail, have electronic discussions, access corporate databases, all using the same technologies that make the external Internet work so well.
Intranets are really a form of groupware using technologies from the Internet.
Considering that the markets for both groupware and Internet products are growing rapidly, this popularity is not surprising. Experts estimated that sales of collaborative products in 1995 would exceed 2.3 billion dollars, more than double the figure for 1994. It was expected that during 1995, the installed base of collaborative computing products would exceed 30 million users and nearly double again in 1996. Likewise, the use of the Internet is exploding. Today, Intranets are primarily setup to publish and access vital corporate information.