They use simple forms to access their Web sites directly and publish changes on the intranet anytime they wish. Dynamo, a Java-based Web engine connected to various databases, packages that information and delivers it to each student who needs it. The streamlined approach allowed IT to cut nearly all management positions and trim its workforce in half, to about 45 people. In hiring people to work in a new development environment, Rogers gave a written test, asking applicants to explain such things as the difference between Java and JavaScript. That's not the only efficiency the intranet has brought.
Faculty can go online and browse a digitized library of videos using keywords.
A professor can type a few comments on a form, press publish, and the video and comments will pop up on the personal Web page of every student in his or her class. Previously, a professor would need to call the audiovisual department and arrange for a time when all his or her students could watch the tape in a classroom, said Rogers. Harvard Business School also is extending the intranet to other constituencies. In April, alumni will be able to log on to the intranet to read class notes, join discussion groups and access other information. Joe Mullich is a free-lance writer based in Los Angeles.