Publication Date: February 17, 1997 (Page 1) Copyright (C) COMMUNICATIONSWEEK 1997 Section: Top of the News
Top of the News Publication Date: February 17, 1997 (Page 1) Copyright (C) COMMUNICATIONSWEEK 1997
INTRANETS REACH CRITICAL MASS -- Businesses Ride the Wave By Tim Wilson
If intranets were water, American businesses would all be wearing goggles and swim fins.
All over the country-and in some cases all over the globe-corporations, medical facilities and universities are diving into their private Webs as a means of improving communications and smoothing business processes.
Most are finding that the water's just fine.
While some users deploy intranets to reduce the time, money and resources required to accomplish specific internal operations, others are expanding their intranets to improve communications with partners and customers.
More Mission Critical
"When we brought up the first [internal] Web page here, the initial reaction was 'that's cute.' Now, if you took it away, there would be a lot of business functions that people wouldn't be able to do," says Don Cronin, manager of telecommunications at Stratus Computer Inc., Marlboro, Mass. Stratus' intranet extends across its U.S. sales and manufacturing sites, enabling users to more effectively access information on products, corporate activities and benefits.
"It's a tool, just like the phone or the PC, but it's hard to think that way about it out of the box," says M. Graeber Jordan, senior manager of electronic commerce deployment, information and support services at Boeing Co., Bellevue, Wash. "It's like asking the people who invented the automobile to envision suburbs."
Boeing has embarked on one of the most ambitious intranet projects in any industry to date, the Boeing Internal Web, which encompasses many business partners as well as thousands of Boeing employees.
"IT needs to look at information throughout a company, wherever it is currently stored, as a resource. When properly organized and secured, all that information can be made available to employees, customers and partners," says Pete Solvik, vice president of information systems and chief information officer at Cisco.
Cisco plans to process about 30 percent of its business through Web commerce by the end of this year in a concerted effort to involve its customers in its intranet deployment.
Internal use of Web technology is growing at a phenomenal rate, especially compared with the implementation rate of other software and network technologies. International Data Corp. estimates there will be 233.3 million devices accessing Web servers by the year 2000. The Gartner Group estimates that more than half of large enterprises will internally deploy Web technology by 1998.
The low cost and easy implementation of Web technology has caused many businesses to bring intranets up quickly, without waiting for standards or corporate directives.
"I'd guess around 35 percent of the companies we deal with have already put up some kind of internal Web site," says Laura Knapp, networking consultant at IBM's Networking Division, Research Triangle Park, N.C. "And I'm not just talking about large companies-we see intranets being put into companies with 25 or 30 people."
Nor are intranets limited to one or two industry sectors. Whether it's a corporate giant or a local community college, there's a good chance you'll find an intranet project under way.
Intranets are in hot demand on Wall Street and in the financial community in general. Intranets are helping banks and investment companies-such as Merrill Lynch & Co., T. Rowe Price and Dreyfus Corp.-pool information with partners, and in some cases, share that information with customers.
Health Care Remedy
Health care providers such as hospitals, medical groups and managed care facilities are using intranet technology to disseminate information so that they can deliver better care and save on operating costs. Intranets are making it possible to share administrative and clinical information, track patient appointments, link doctors with students, and facilitate negotiations with suppliers such as pharmaceutical companies.
"Intranets are a turning point when its comes to health care's ability to get systems in place quickly and to provide common user access to information. You still need your legacy systems to do the fundamental grunt-work processing of this information-those are typically systems you don't want to reinvest in. But the front end is where you start developing your logic and algorithms based on what information the clinician needs to deliver care," says Robin Weiler, CIO at Good Samaritan Hospital, Lebanon, Pa.
Many in the health care industry believe an intranet linked to their legacy systems will carry them into the information age, a time where physicians can make decisions after consulting all of a patient's relevant data.
The intranet may finally provide the glue needed to link specialized proprietary systems like lab reports, X-rays, procedure orders, patient histories and insurance information in one place for physicians to access.
Automakers Drive The Market
Automobile makers are leading the intranet charge in the manufacturing industry. Chrysler Corp. has already installed some 30,000 Netscape servers in an internal pilot project, and Ford Motor Co. is among the top implementors of intranet technology as well.
Although you may not find intranets in your local shopping mall, retail companies are quietly deploying the technology across their enterprises. J.C. Penney Company Inc., for example, has established an intranet that lets its 1,238 stores share sales information across the country.
And U.S. universities are taking the plunge as well. Intranet technology already is helping some students perform time-consuming tasks such as class registration and bill paying, and teachers are using intranets to distribute research materials and other resources.
The bad news is that implementing intranet technology is not a lay-up, especially in larger enterprises that seek to standardize technologies such as E-mail and directory services across the organization. Security also is a big sticking point for many industries, as is network monitoring.
But intranet technology makes employees' jobs easier and improves productivity. "The return on investment studies we've seen say that the initial intranet technology investment-which may be anywhere from $100,000 to $1 million at a large company-is recouped within six to 12 months," says IBM's Knapp.
"Of course, that doesn't take into account the cost of maintenance, which adds significantly to that investment. But it's still very encouraging."
John Evan Frook and John Fontana contributed to this story. Next week: Financial Services
Copyright © 1997 CMP Media Inc.