Promote your department's stature with an IT-centric intranet (continued)
Elements of a successful intranet
One of the hurdles in actually getting an IT intranet up and running is deciding exactly what it should incorporate, and what it should offer to and for end users and the IT staff itself. Essentially, a case for everything and the kitchen sink could be made for inclusion, according to intranet creators.
For example, the tech intranet at Central Provident Fund Board of Singapore provides photos of IT staff and management.
"It was set up to introduce our IT division's mission and vision, and we included photos so users know who we are and which department we work for," explained Stephanie Ng, an assistant director of IT strategic planning and innovation. "In addition, we introduced an online newsletter to raise users' awareness through articles on our in-house developments, plans, directions and market trends, and new technologies."
At Cable & Wireless Panama, Akim Canton and staff had some different ideas when it came to their tech-centric portal. "We set up an IT portal within the corporate intranet. We publish IT security and virus news; tips and techniques to improve work, customer surveys, and how IT is working in different initiatives to improve infrastructure and compliance of SLAs for customer satisfaction."
Canton added that the material is updated weekly, and users receive an e-mail alert to check out the latest news posted.
Max Burgstahler, director of MIS at Decatur Public Schools in the US, has a staff of 13 providing service for 2,000 PCs. His intranet goal was to make certain his staff was getting its due. He and his team created an intranet site called "MISWeb", which features the following elements:
- Latest news about technology changes
- Frequently asked questions
- Hardware standards and purchasing guidelines
- Software standards and purchasing guidelines
- Explanation of the Help Desk process
- District's technology plan
- MIS policies
- Current upgrade projects
- IT vision, mission, and strategies
- Contact info
"The site really helps us communicate very clearly with our customers," said Burgstahler, adding that "very often, instead of lengthy explanations of projects and policies [in meetings], we can say, 'Hey, why don't you check out our intranet for that info?' and that info is consistent and timely."
The tech leader added that the site has proved to be a great morale booster for the staff.
"We decided that we would post pictures of ourselves involved in personal hobbies instead of the usual boring work pictures. One staff member is pictured on her motorcycle, another in her garden.... I'm sitting behind my drum kit!"
Meta Mehling believes that IT staffers should be encouraged to have fun with their intranet, as that tone will help build a relationship with other employees and keep them coming back for more.
"Why not offer a Web camâ€"ever wonder who's there [in IT] at 2am when you're trying to download something, and it's not coming through and you're pissed? So the intranet could say, 'Here's the night shift!' It could also include 'Did You Know' facts, such as "We have this many servers online...or did you know that every night we back up as much data as fills the House of Congress?"
A transformative vehicle
Intranet Insider's John Gerstner even goes a step further on how an IT-based intranet can add value for the IT staff.
"The intranet could and should be a key channel for showing what's going on in the company and in the industry [to the higher level leaders]." He said there is immense value in understanding and contributing to the CEO's vantage point. Mehling agrees that the IT-centric intranet should support a firm's corporate productivity goals, such as how IT is helping cut costs and bringing in ROI. It could also provide a place for the Web stat knowledge base and explain how IT is tracking overall customer trends and usage while disseminating that information into useful bites for high-level players in the firm.
"This kind of thing will help executives forecast their corporate strategies more efficiently, and ultimately make the company more competitive," explained Mehling.
Mehling noted that while most IT staffers are responsible for support issues, there are some interested in bringing transformation within the industry.
"Look at what IT is doing for Apple Computer; they're changing the rules of the game," he said, noting that Apple's i-Tunes Music Store has seen over five million songs downloaded, and sold its one millionth iPod digital music player since launching this past April.
"Think of what IT at Apple has to be accountable for," said Mehling.
"If the IT people at Apple just sat back and just said, 'We're an IT computer company and something like this has never been done here,' then Steve Jobs would've fired the lot of them I'm sure."
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