Portals, Intranets, Extranets and All That Stuff!
Many businesses find the terminology of IT compeletely baffling even though they may know exactly what they need. A portal, extranet or intranet are all essentially similar - a user is required to log in with a username and password. After the user has identified themselves by logging in, we know who they are and we can present them with a view of the web site content which is tailored for them, and them alone. For example, we’re working on a new portal called ‘Everything You Wanted To Know’ on behalf of a client who works closely with the Department for Education. The site is designed for students - those currently at university, or those shortly about to go. There will also be sections for parents, and teachers as well as the students themselves.
It’s clear that while we’ll have lots of information on which are the best night clubs to visit, this might not be what the parents want to see (..or maybe it is!). Using the user’s log in identity, we can customise the view for visitors depending on whether they are a student, a parent or a teacher. You might have another use for this approach - you might want to offer certain of your clients a discount and so have them view the ‘discounted’ catalogue or price list, whereas all other customers will be presented with the non-discounted price list.
Extranets - Reach Out With an Extended Network
It may be that you simply have a number of users that are located across the county, or even across the country. Everyone needs the same information, so there’s not the same need to personalise the data for each user, but you may have difficulties sending consultation documents to a large number of people in a short time, for example. Or, you may have problems scheduling meetings at a time convenient for everyone. The answer in this case is a variation of a portal, called an Extranet.
Document Libraries, Discussion Forums and Online Diaries
If you need to consult on documents, we can provide a secure online Document Library which will allow your (registered) users to ‘Check Out’ Word documents, or Excel spreadsheets, for example. While they are ‘checked out’ and downloaded, they can be read by others but cannot be downloaded or amended. When the document is ‘Checked In’ ahain, it once more becomes available for download by another user who may ‘Check it out’ for amendment. This approach allows a document to be uploaded in minutes so that it is accessible by dozens, or even hundreds of people across your organisation. Similarly, we can provide online private discussion areas, and online diary applications.
Intranets - An Inward Looking Company Network
The same features can be provided for company staff, either on your local in-house server, or hosted on a remote server if you have a number of working locations.