Creating an IT-centric portal can be a boon to any IT department. Done correctly, intranets can highlight IT efforts, helping to enhance IT's role as a strategic asset.
Since the conception of the private Internet in 1995, the intranet has morphed into a myriad of communications tools. It's a private browser-accessible space for employees to manage documents, share calendars, and collaborate 24/7, as well as a place where remote workers, suppliers, partners, and clients can collaborate and share critical business and commerce information.
For IT managers, it can also serve as a tremendous communication vehicle that can enhance user relationships, as well as put IT efforts and accomplishments on centre stage.
Intranets can make IT bulletproof
Discovering new ways to promote an IT department is more critical than ever, according to industry and marketing experts, as it can make the IT contribution very clear to both users and corporate chiefs.
"IT numbers and staff are being cut, outsourcing is happening nationwide," said Meta Mehling, managing principal of US-based Meta Mehling & Associates, which specialises in employee and marketing communications.
Mehling said IT executives need to figure out how IT is contributing to the bottom line and bring that message across. An intranet is a great way to highlight how IT is helping to reduce costs, increase revenue, achieve customer satisfaction, and build customer loyalty.
She explained that if an IT manager "can get the conversation around IT being a strategic asset, a strategic weapon for the enterprise, then it will make IT powerful and indispensable."
But while building and designing the actual intranet can be easy, the actual promotion/marketing effort usually doesn't go as smoothly.
"Promoting IT within the organisation can be quite difficult; but it's actually one of the keys things to focus on if you want to build a successful IT organisation," said Akim Canton, VP of planning and IT strategy at Cable & Wireless Panama. Canton, whose team built an internal IT intranet, believes it is a key way to accomplish the goal.
"As part of our intranet, we found it valuable to create internal pages to promote IT as a core area, and to promote our services across the whole organisation."
The payback on the effort can be multipronged, according to Elton Billings, manager of Web production at Remedy, a service management software company based in Mountain View, California.
"If such an IT intranet is done well, its impact on the enterprise can be tremendous," noted Billings, who runs an intranet discussion site called Cluebox. He explained that by providing people with access to information, the intranet allows them to help themselves, and, at the same time, speed the overall IT effort.
"By making it easy to request help on a project or with a problem, the focus of efforts can be on the business, and not on figuring out how to deal with the IT department."
Putting IT in the spotlight
John Gerstner, CEO of Intranet Insider, a popular resource for intranet professionals, said an IT intranet also has another good benefitâ€"it puts a spotlight on the usually unnoticed work of the IT staff.
"Since IT departments are often misunderstood and underappreciated, this is a good way to get the word out about critical trends, changes, and needs [pertaining to IT] along with the IT vision," he said.
Linda Giang, an independent program analyst and Web developer in Silver Spring, MD, knows first-hand the importance of an IT-centric intranet. She worked on an extensive effort for Intel's treasury department a year ago. Giang said the site did wonders for her and her fellow staffers.
"The intranet definitely had a positive impact on the IT staff in terms of generating a sense of pride," she said, adding, "by publishing group or individual achievements and accomplishments, it acknowledged the worth and value of the IT employees."
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