Now, however, people are beginning to recognize that Notes and intranets offer strengths and weakness, and some companies are leveraging the benefits of both technologies. The main advantage that Notes and other groupware products have today is their ability to replicate. Indeed, many companies are using both Notes and an intranet. Most of the 20,000 online users at Tyson Foods, the world's largest chicken producer, based in Springdale, AK, are connected by the company's intranet. Clarifying Costs Because intranets can piggyback on existing infrastructure, they may prove to have much lower startup costs than other new technologies.
Some companies express surprise over the ease and low cost of intranet development.
We found it simple. Many components of an intranet, such as Web browsers and Web server software, are free or nearly free. These protocols demand capable routers and greater memory in desktop PCs. If an intranet Web server becomes intensively used, the LAN may have to be reconfigured. However, some observers say an intranet may not follow the classic models for cost justification.