A corporate intranet is the MBA of the family von Web - the Internet with a tailored suit. Intranets have received more press than Tiger Woods and his ubiquitous Nike swoosh, and with good reason. The World Wide Web greatly expanded the type of information individuals and organizations can access and share via the Internet - and intranets have done the same for companies. Indeed, it can. Most importantly, for those of us that must keep an eye on the bottom line, is the significant return on investment.
Real examples yield some impressive returns.
In just a few months, SGI has integrated its intranet so tightly with its operation that it is not only the way its employees communicate, but also the way they think - it's their virtual electronic community. The SGI intranet, named Silicon Junction, contains over 130,000 searchable pages of information and hundreds of applications - all available to employees in over 60 countries. How about a 1,427 percent return on investment. This remarkable ROI is not an isolated case. Once you look at the aspects of savings, it all makes sense - dollars and cents.