As public-facing websites on the Internet have proven to be a successful part of most businesses, many organizations are exploring Intranet and Extranet solutions to streamline communication. But what exactly is the difference between these two terms? Show An Intranet is a private network accessible only by members of an organization. A private network can include employees, contractors, or even customers who have access. An Intranet typically uses the same infrastructure as the Internet but is restricted by some type of login authentication, VPN, or firewall. On the other hand, an Extranet is a less private network that allows access to authorized members of an organization as well as authenticated 3rd party organizations. What is the Purpose of an Intranet?There are many types of Intranets your organization may benefit from. Intranets support people in finding the information and resources they need to do their jobs, for example:
An Intranet provides a secure way for employees to access company information and resources. If you feel that a lot of knowledge about your organization is “tribal” and relationship-based, you might find that a well-managed Intranet helps your organization scale. Example: Internal Communication IntranetThe Internal communication department at BASF’s needs to keep over 100,000 employees around the world on the same page about company wide news and developments. BASF picked Concrete CMS to build a new internal communication Intranet that was a pleasure to read and easy to manage. This destination needed to be secure and follow a demanding style guide developed by the Germany-based HQ, while being flexible enough to let different departments present information in ways that made sense for their needs. Login requires BASF employees use their single sign on (SSO) solution which includes a USB based identity card. Example: Sales Training IntranetThe Home Depot needed to keep front line sales people continually up to date with the best information on the wide range of appliances they sell. This includes features and specifications, but also current deals and promotions. By having an Intranet that can be quickly updated from HQ, it’s easier for Home Depot to move inventory quickly. Blue Atlas Interactive created an innovative online training solution that would empower sales representatives at Home Depot with better product information and warranty plan details. An Intranet like this runs on computers within a physical location, so it could be secured either with an individual login or with generalized VPN/Firewall authentication that simply checks to make sure the visiting computer is on the local store network before rendering the website. What is an Extranet?An Extranet is a website that securely shares part of an organization's information or operations with suppliers, vendors, partners, or customers. Think of an Extranet as an Intranet that extends to include authorized outsiders. Extranets differ from Intranets:
Types of ExtranetsThere are three primary types of Extranets:
Extranet Use CasesExtranets serve many different purposes. Some common uses for Extranets include:
Benefits of Using an ExtranetBusinesses can benefit from using an Extranet in many ways. Here are some benefits of using an Extranet:
Example: Partner Product Information ExtranetWeyerhaeuser.com makes hundreds of products for the building industry that have complex features and specifications. Picking which type of manufactured lumber is the correct choice for a given application requires a great deal of knowledge about a constantly changing range of products. Weyerhaeuser used Concrete CMS to build a large marketing site sharing as many resources as they can about their products. They also built a native iOS mobile application that connects to the website to get access to a complete document repository. Users have to create an account to access this data, which they can then organize into binders for projects. 3rd party sales reps can put together packages for specific projects, making it easier to close more deals. Authentication is easy. Much of the content is available without login on their website, but using the app requires users make an account. Weyerhaeuser can see analytics data about who is using the system and use that to drive their own sales efforts. Intranet and Extranet: which is right for your business?The answer to this question depends on the type of problem you’re trying to solve. Not all company information should live on the Internet, but you can create some dramatic efficiency improvements by taking a more open approach. If you are not sure where to start, we can help. We’re always happy to hear about your project ideas and suggest different ways you might achieve your goals within different budgets.
The term intranet is comprised of two words: "Intra" means internal and the "net" represents the network. The Intranet, therefore, can be defined as the internal network. It is a private network with access limited to the authorized users only. The Intranet can be as simple as a private website or it can be as big as private organizational infrastructure, accessed by only the authorized users. The intranet may not necessarily be connected to the Internet but they usually do. In typical intranet architecture, there are specific computers in a defined parameter where each computer in the intranet plays a specific role to provide common tools and features to every computer connected to the intranet. There are vendors that provide the intranet portal software like Share Point, Igloo, and Huddle. The intranet and the Internet are similar in many ways. The intranet can be considered as the sandboxed version of the Internet. The intranet users can collaborate with other users within an organization via the software run by the servers hosted on the intranet. The intranet works on the same principle as the Internet. It uses the same protocols like TCP/IP for communication, FTP protocol for file transfers, and HTTP for web queries. It can run similar programs like Java, XML, Flash, and HTML. The users can have a similar web interface just like they have for the Internet. Although the intranet is an internal network, it can be connected to the Internet to communicate with the outside world. An intranet is an isolated network with security appliances to provide security to the internal network from the external threats of the Internet. The other way to connect to the intranet remotely is through the extranet. The extranet requires the user to have credentials, authorization, and in some case the secure channel like VPN. Intranet is used mostly by universities and organizations. For example, a company that develops web applications may require all of its employees to work in development and test environments before pushing live to the production environment. The intranet makes this requirement possible. The developers may test and update the code and share the updates with others through an intranet. The graphic designers may test the designs and upload them to the development server. Similarly, there are e-commerce companies having employees with segregated duties. Each employee share data with others about the orders, packaging, shipment, and tracking within the Intranet. Similarly, the intranet is used in the universities for sharing information amongst the students and the colleagues, helping students with the coursework, updating the students portal, and more. Although the intranet is limited to the organizational boundaries with a limited audience, the benefits of the intranet are enormous. Whether it is spreading the information company-wide or communicating the goals to the employees; or it is about maintaining the company policy and documents online; the intranet is the solution.
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