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Developing an Internet Strategy For Your Company (Part 1)

Today we will begin a series of articles designed to help you understand the options and develop a web strategy for your company that will address the Internet, your intranet, and whether you need an extranet.
Background

“The Internet” has become one of the hottest buzzwords in companies of all sizes, in countries around the world. You have been told that you have to “Move your company to the ‘Net” to keep from getting left behind.

Is that true? And what does it mean? Just what is “The Internet” really; how do I move my company there; and how does that help me make more money?

Let’s take a look at some possible answers to those questions as they pertain to your business.
The Internet
In the strictest sense of the word, the Internet is a network of networks. It is a linking of millions of computers, around the world, into one vast collection of information. It had its origins in academia and the US federal government, but has become more of a business tool in the last few years with the development of the World Wide Web.

The World Wide Web (or the Web for short) is a part of the Internet. It is not the same thing AS the Internet. The Web is the collection (network) of computers that are set up to exchange text, graphics, and sound files in a particular style that is easier for most people to deal with.
How do I “Move My Company To The Internet”?
Well, you don’t really MOVE anything. This expression means to equip the people in your company to utilize the Internet’s capabilities as a data storage and as a communications medium. By using these capabilities, your people become more efficient and more productive, and the company becomes more profitable.
Is it True? Do I Have to Move to the Internet?
The short answer is “No.” You don’t have to move to the Internet to survive in business. However, and with the clear understanding that I am a strong proponent of the Internet as a business tool, you have a greater chance to prosper if you do.
Why Move to the Internet?
If your only reason for moving to the Internet is because “everybody” says you have to, don’t do it. In order for your company to successfully move to the Internet, you have to have a solid business purpose for making the investment.
However, there are several compelling reasons why you should evaluate moving to the Internet. Properly applied as a business tool, the Internet has the capability to:
•    Make your employees more productive
•    Make your employees more effective
•    Reduce your cost of doing business
•    Increase your competitive advantage
•    Improve communications within your company
•    Improve communications between your company and its suppliers
•    Improve communications between your company and its customers
Reasons To Not Move To The Internet
If you do not have a strategy, and just allow the Internet to seep into your business practice, the Internet can have negative impacts on your bottom line, because the Internet:
•    Has a lot of data, but the relevant information can be hard to find
•    Can cost a lot of money to get started
•    Can cause people to waste a lot of time by just “surfing” the Internet
•    Can allow outsiders to sneak into your company’s data
•    Requires skills that your present staff may not have
COMING NEXT

Part 2. Developing your own strategy. How to determine whether you need to move to the Internet and when to make that move.

In Part 3, we will look at how to implement an intranet within your company. Finally, in Part 4, we will review how an extranet can save you money and make your company more agile


Developing an Internet Strategy For Your Company (Part 2)
Developing your own Internet Strategy to determine whether you need to move to the Internet and when to make that move.
Last Week in Part 1 of this series, we looked at what the Internet is and what it means to business.
In this installment we will review how to decide if you need to move your business to the Internet and, if so, when.

Business Purpose
Do not consider moving your business to the Internet until and unless you can explain a solid business purpose for doing so. If you can't stand up in front of your Board of Directors and make a legitimate case for it, don't waste your money.
However, there are many solid reasons for moving your business to the Web. The original "20 Reasons To Put Your Business On The Web" lists a good many of them. Ultimately, the Internet will become (is?) simply another way to reach your customers, like radio and television before it.

Strategy
Just like you would develop a plan before spending thousands of dollars on a TV advertising campaign, you need a plan before you invest in an Internet presence for your company. Of all the reasons for businesses to move to the Internet, which apply to your specific business? What do you want to achieve by doing so?
Your strategy will be very different if you just want to establish a presence on the Web than if you want to advertise, market, take orders, fulfill orders, invoice and collect payment over the Internet.

Should I Move to the Internet?
Start with some standard investment questions:
Do I have a solid business reason to make the move?
Is there a better way to achieve the same business goal?
Am I doing this for a better reason than "everybody else is"?
Can I defend this decision to my Board, managers, employees, stakeholders?
Then examine the issues specific to the technology:
Will buyers of my product look for it on the Internet?
Can I adequately demonstrate the value of my product over the Internet?
Do I have, or can I get, the necessary skills in the time frame my plan requires?
And finally, look at the return:
Can I successfully compete in this new market space?
Does the potential return justify the risk?
Can I make a profit from the Internet?

Timing Your Move
The Internet is a new market space, but it is no longer frontier territory. A lot of business is already being conducted over the Internet and that amount is growing quickly. When you "jump in" has to be decided by the business cycle of your business and its products, but remember that time on the Internet is measured in months not years.
•    If you plan to "create an Internet presence" for your business, you are already too late. Do it now.
•    If you intend to create an "electronic storefront" on the Web, the time is right. The software and systems are commercially available today. You can start as soon as your plan is in place.
•    If you are going to Internet enable your entire business, including your suppliers as well as your customers, you should start the planning now. You should plan to implement your strategy within the next twelve to fifteen months.
COMING NEXT

Next week, in Part 3, we will look at how to implement an intranet within your company. The following week, in Part 4, we will review extranets and how they tie your suppliers into your plan.
John --

Developing an Internet Strategy For Your Company (Part 3)
Do you need an intranet, and how can it help make you more profitable?
In Part 1 of this series we looked at what the Internet is and how it effects business. In Part 2 last week, we developed our own strategy for deciding if and when to take advantage of the Internet as a business tool. This week, in Part 3 of the series, we will review what are sometimes called "The Internet behind a firewall" - intranets.
Intranets. What are they? Do you need one? How do you get or make an intranet for your organization? And, most importantly, how do they help you make your organization better and more profitable?

What is an intranet?
An intranet is a private network of computers, connected together to share information and resources within a closed organization. (If the network includes some regulated external participation it is called an Extranet, and we shall discuss those next week in Part 4.)
Normally an intranet uses physical connections to link its networked computers. This can be by done by a variety of copper cabling methods or, more recently, fiber-optic cable. If the computers to be connected are separated by large distance, telephone lines may be leased from the phone company to provide the connections.
It is possible also to use the Internet backbone to connect some of the computers in your intranet. As long as your network is connected BY the Internet, but not TO the Internet it is still an intranet.
Does your company need an intranet?
First of all, you may already have one, but call it by another name. If your organization has a LAN or a WAN or has some of its computers connected together already, you have at least a rudimentary intranet. You would only have to repurpose it.
How do you implement an intranet for your organization?
There are a lot of companies that will design and build an intranet for you. You have probably been approached by several of them already. You may even have the necessary talent in your organization already.
As you implement your intranet, make sure it serves its business purpose. Don't allow your employees or contractors to put things on your intranet just to have them there. Intranets are not an "MIS thing", they are a business tool, and should function toward that end.
Wrapping It Up Next Week

In Part 4 next week we will examine Extranets. How can these latest wrinkles in the Internet/intranet technology actually reduce your cost of doing business while, at the same time, make your organization more agile? Come back next week to find out.
John Reh--

Developing an Internet Strategy For Your Company (Part 4)
How an extranet can save you money and make your company more agile
Already in this series we have looked at how the Internet effects business and developing a strategy to use the Internet as a business tool. Last week we reviewed the benefits of intranets. In this final installment we will look at how EXTRANETS can reduce your cost of business and make your company more agile.
While the Internet is wide open to anybody, an intranet is private. Held behind the corporate firewall, the intranet allows select, familiar individuals access to the corporate information store. An extranet is a hybrid of the two in that it restricts access to the information, but it extends beyond the protection of the firewall to allow suppliers and partners to work more closely with us.
What is an extranet?
An extranet is the practice of sharing some corporate information with trusted individuals over a computer network. It's biggest benefit is that it can reduce cost. It's biggest risk is possible security problems. An extranet is a business tool that uses technology to make people more effective.
Risk in an extranet?
Of course there is some risk. Name one business practice that doesn't carry some risk. As with all the others, the key here is to manage the risk and to weigh the benefits against the resultant risk.
The biggest risk in an extranet is the possibility that someone will use it to access company information that you would rather they not. The best protection involves a discussion among your computer manager, your business manager and your lawyer. (Or VP of Operations, IT Director, and Corporate Counsel).
The computer manager can tell you the mechanics of protecting the information: firewalls, proxy servers, passwords, encryption, etc. The lawyer can draw up necessary warnings to deter causal intruders and agreements to protect your company in the event of misuse of the data. The business manager needs to keep it all in perspective. Does what we are trying to do justify the risk we are undertaking? If all we want to share with our suppliers is order information, why can't all that data be put on a single computer and that's all they have access to?
Benefits of extranets are huge
Despite the possible risks, the benefits to a well planned and executed extranet can be huge. By connecting to your suppliers through an extranet you can decrease the time it takes to place an order and the time it takes to get it filled. By placing structured orders through a limited number of suppliers you reduce their costs and increase their revenues. You can, and should, expect that to be reflected in lower unit costs to you.

Your people will spend less time in the repetitive tasks involved in preparing, placing, receiving and processing an order. This also reduces your cost.
If you turn it the other way, you can use an extranet to make it easier and cheaper for your clients to order from you. This reduction in their cost will likely result in more revenue for you, increased market share, and higher profits.
This article provides a good summary of the benefits of an extranet.
Real life examples

Liberty Mutual Insurance group was able to expand its business into Latin America using an extranet that let Brazilian brokers access quotes on policies, track claims and print forms online instead of using paper.
This article describes how extranets were used successfully in the auto industry and in Heineken's brewing operation to reduce costs and get products to market sooner.

Netscape has made a conscious effort to help businesses implement extranets by coordinating an industry group to produce Extranet Standards. They are not industry wide or de facto standards, but they are a good place to start.
In Netscape's Directory Server Deployment Guide, the directory design examples includes this one for Enabling the Extranet.
Sharing YOUR experience
For those of you who have implemented an extranet at your company, why not share the experience with this community by posting it to our "Conference Room Bulletin Board"? What worked, what didn't? What was the greatest risk in your case? What was the biggest benefit? We would all like to hear the first hand experiences.


http://management.about.com/library/weekly/aa022498.htm