SA corporate intranet development has taken a back seat to other online initiatives in recent years, mainly because employees failed to use them.
This was because few early intranets were designed with user functionality in mind, says Derek Wilcocks, joint-MD of IS (The Internet Solution) - the e-business infrastructure subsidiary of London-listed Dimension Data Holdings plc.
"Employees don`t bother to access corporate intranets which offer little more than internal marketing messages and pictures of the chairman handing out awards.
Now intranets are changing in line with trends around the world. They are becoming an essential part of employees` work day by providing them with access to applications and information they require to do their jobs effectively.
Indeed, a survey conducted recently by Forrester Research in the US found that 65% of Fortune 1000 IT executives quizzed were bullish about their intranets, believing they were either meeting their organisations` needs, or were overperforming. These respondents also expect the number of pages on their intranets to at least double in the next two years, with 12% anticipating growth to be tenfold or more.
"There are signs that a growing number of SA organisations have also recognised the potential of the intranet as more than an employer-to-employee communication channel. They are taking steps to beef up their intranets with the type of information and content users really need," he adds.
For most organisations, the main functionality on the intranet originates from the HR department. The intranet makes it possible for employees to check their leave status and apply for leave online, without having to fill in paper forms.
But because companies offer their employees an option of performing these functions in the old-fashioned way, most are reluctant to change to the more cost-effective and efficient method.
"Companies have to find ways of ensuring their employees do utilise the intranet regularly. Cisco - which arguably has the most dynamic intranet in the world - achieved this goal by taking away choice from employees. They had to go online to apply for leave and to perform other corporate functions - there was no other way.
"Once employees are online, the potential of the intranet to eliminate redundancy across the organisation can be realised. It can give all employees access to information like product evaluations, marketing campaigns and staffing plans rather than have different groups spend months reinventing the wheel - provided they know where to find that information," he adds.
Wilcocks believes the growth of phenomena such as e-learning (electronic learning) will further boost the status of the corporate intranet. Businesses will be able to use their intranet to provide online training to employees throughout the organisation.
Similarly, as intranets are increasingly used to provide employees with access to applications such as e-procurement software, utilisation of the technology will increase.
"There is also a trend for companies to provide non-work related information and services to employees on the intranet. The most popular of these at present is travel - employees can go onto the corporate intranet to make reservations for their annual holiday.
"Now there are indications that this could be extended to all types of services employees require, from banking to purchasing a motor vehicle - at rates specially negotiated by the company with the online suppliers," Wilcocks concludes.
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