Intranet as Groupware

By Mellanie Hills

Build groupware capabilities into your intranet without expensive commercial groupware products Intranet technology is an inexpensive and easier-to-use alternative to groupware products like Lotus Notes and Groupwise. But simply installing an intranet doesn't automatically endow an organization with collaborative computing. In Intranet as Groupware, intranet pioneer Mellanie Hills shows you how to take that crucial next step. With the experiences of 13 leading companies, including JC Penney, AT&T, Bell Atlantic, EDS, Texas Instruments, and Turner Broadcasting, she: * Shows you what you can do with groupware on an intranet * Examines intranet groupware products as well as Web-enabled proprietary groupware * Provides step-by-step guidelines and checklists for planning and implementing intranet groupware * Discusses how to overcome the people and change issues that make groupware difficult to implement Visit our Web site at: http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471163732
• ISBN13: 9780471163732
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A handy guide and reference book for Intranet managers.

"The problem with groupware is that it's been very expensive and difficult to implement. With the introduction of cheap and easy-to-construct Intranets, that's no longer the case," begins Melanie Hills in her new book, "Intranets as Groupware." Intranets and groupware can help employees communicate more effectively, capture and share their knowledge, and learn and innovate. Melanie Hills is an Internet technologies consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and a founder of consulting firm Knowledgies. In this material, she builds on her earlier book - "Intranet Business Strategies" - and goes beyond basic Intranet installation to address building groupware capabilities into Intranets. Case studies are drawn from Intranet implementations in AT & T, Texas Instruments (TI), J.C. Penney, and EDS.The material is well-presented, and includes checklists for choosing Intranet products, implementing groupware, and appointing Intranet facilitation consultants. 11 chapters cover a wide range of issues including advantages and disadvantages of Intranets, groupware product reviews, implementation paths and challenges, and the impact of groupware on workflow. Some of the first organisations to create internal Webs included Lockheed, Hughes and SAS Institute. According to some estimates from International Data Corporation, there may be 4.7 million Intranet servers in existence by the year 2000, and the revenues for collaborative software will reach $6.6 billion that year.Factors leading to the necessity of Intranets include worldwide acceleration of user expectations due to globalisation and spread of the Internet, and increasing needs for improving internal communication and knowledge worker productivity. Intranets can be fast, easy and cheap to implement, scalable, and flexible; they can capture and share expertise, create new business opportunities, and help leverage Extranets for purposes like EDI.Possible disadvantages of Intranets include the potential for chaos, security risks, management fears, business culture clash, information overload, wasted productivity, and hidden or unknown costs.Intranets have already been successfully deployed in numerous companies. EDS has acquired the right to place the U.S. Patent Information Services database on its Intranet; it also provides its employees with a customised news report service called infoAlert via PointCast, and uses chat as part of its Global Communicators Network and IRC for a CIO weekly chat. Bell Atlantic's Intranet saves several hundred thousand dollars through consolidation and reduced printing. Silicon Graphics has reported savings in processing requisitions via its Intranet, Silicon Junction. J.C. Penney's Intranet, jWeb, helps cut costs in communicating between its offices in 37 countries. AT & T uses its Intranet as a virtual meeting place. Booz Allen says its Intranet has helped leverage its intellectual capital by recording its expertise and providing conta

I go back to this book for insights again and again

With so much hype about intranets and groupware, it was amazing to find a book on these topics whose author: 1) writes from experience; 2) isn't a biased booster; and 3) balances technology issues with a first-rate understanding of the needs of people and organizations. If you want a hands-on, practical, step-by-step guide to understanding groupware and using an intranet to create it, I don't think you will be disappointed with this book. I recommend it highly and happily.