The Corporate Intranet

Citation

Deaver, M. (1998), "The Corporate Intranet", Campus-Wide Information Systems, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 68-68. https://doi.org/10.1108/cwis.1998.15.3.68.1

What is an Intranet? What do I need to set up one? What is a Webserver and how do I configure it? I do not even know how to write HTML, how am I going to set up an Intranet within my company? With nine chapters and four appendices of real‐world step‐by‐step instructions, The Corporate Intranet, sets out to answer questions such as these. This book is intended for both the person who wants to learn the meaning of the new buzzword “Intranet” as well as the individual focused on pioneering the effort within an organization.

For beginner users, and those new to Web technology, this book is helpful because it begins at ground zero by demystifying the Internet. The concept of an Intranet is more easily understood if one has a good grasp on the concept of the Internet. Such headings as “Don’t you ever forget it”, explaining such concepts as “The Internet is nothing but a bunch of wires”, and “Nobody ‘runs’ the Internet”, put the Internet into perspective by speaking in layman’s terms. Descriptions of how TCP/IP works are also provided early to set up a common base for future explanations. The beginner user will also enjoy a quick and dirty guide to how HTML works while being guided by the book in creating a homepage.

For Web‐savvy individuals, this book will prove useful by illustrating how Web technology can be applied to a network scenario. It explains how and why to use Web technology as the basis for a network within your company. It goes into details as to the Web addresses of some demonstration and beta Webservers which readers can use to test this technology. The necessary software is listed as well as the companies’ Web addresses for easy downloading. Intranet guidelines are provided to illustrate the differences between the Internet and an Intranet. One principal difference stressed is that less importance should be placed on glittery graphics and more focused on easily accessible content. The author recommends that the “look and feel” of the pages be harmonious by using consistent headers, footers, and navigational buttons. In other words, there’s no need to impress people within an organization with fancy programming; it is the utility of the pages which will bolster corporate support for an Intranet.

There are many good points about this book. Useful diagrams, listings of helpful Web addresses, and clear, step‐by‐step instructions for running your own information server make this a potent resource. “Chapters at a glance,” located at the beginning of each chapter, summarize information and provide a bulleted synopsis of the following chapter. “Where do we go from here?” is a recurrent chapter‐ending title that the author uses both to transition into the next section as well as to pique curiosity about why to read on into the next chapter. Many useful diagrams include screenshots that feature examples of Intranet and Internet homepages and Webserver set‐up screens. Further, the use of visual models aid in explaining more difficult topics such as the difference between the “Traditional client‐server model” and the “Typical Web client‐server model.”

The few downsides to this book stem from the rapid changes that occur almost monthly in the arena of Internet technology. Netscape 2.0 and Mosaic browsers were used at the time of writing, whereas Netscape and Microsoft both have version 4 browsers readily available for downloading with Web page writing features built in. Further, in terms of Web addresses, some of the recommended demos and betas are no longer available, underscoring the need to keep all Web pages current as well as illustrating why books are not always the best way to provide resource materials for Internet and Intranet applications.

To conclude, The Corporate Intranet by Ryan Bernard is an excellent choice for learning about an Intranet as it relates to and differs from the Internet. Intranet ideology, implementation, and resources are explained, building on a knowledge foundation established in the first few chapters of the book. Articulated explanations combined with relevant screen shots and HTML appendices make this a good starting point for learning how and why to develop an Intranet strategy in your company.