And they're not the virtual private networks that have been in the news recently, either. Instead, expanded intranets permit access to a piece of a company's systems behind its firewall, where registered third parties can access specific applications on specific servers. To enter the DMZ, designated parties typically must be approved and manually registered by someone inside the company. They then receive a password as well as software tools that let them navigate through, and participate in, the carefully cordoned-off community. And increasingly, expanded intranets will let partners work together in ways they couldn't on the public Web.
Some companies even use their intranets like groupware to collaborate with outsiders on the inside.
One railroad company, for example, allows contractors and partners full intranet access for cooperative design and development. U se of expanded intranets is expected to grow dramatically in the next 18 months. While the public Internet culture celebrates the principle of widespread accessibility, most companies worry that too many visitors could increase the possibility of electronic vandalism or theft. Recently, however, many businesses have come to believe that potential payoffs outweigh the potential problems. The main benefit of an expanded intranet, of course, is convenience, but intranets can also help strengthen relationships with partners or prospects.