What is the relationship between intranets, extranets
and e-commerce?
The answer has three parts. First, intranets, extranets and e-commerce have
in common the use of internet (predominantly web) protocols to connect business
users. Intranets are more localized and can therefore move data faster than
more distributed extranets. (Bandwidth limitations also apply to e-commerce.)
Third, the amount of control that network managers can exert over users is different
for the three technologies.
On an Intranet, administrators can narrowly prescribe access and policy for
a fixed group of users. For example, a company could specify Red Hat Linux as
its standard desktop operating system, and Netscape Communicator 5 as its standard
browser and mail client. The company could then write intranet workflow applications
that leverage the uniform computing environment, over which it exercises strong
control.
On a business-to-business Extranet, system architects at each of the participating
companies must collaborate to ensure a common interface and consistent semantics
(data meanings). Since one company cannot reasonably enforce standards on its
trading partners, extranet application developers must take into account a wider
range of technologies than is the case for intranets. For example, one company
participating in an extranet might be using Microsoft Internet Explorer, another
Netscape Navigator 4.5, and another Navigator Gold 3.x. In order to collaborate
via extranet the applications have to perform adequately on all represented
platforms.
The same is true, only moreso, for e-commerce, in which the trading partners
may be completely unknown to one another. This is the case when you walk into
a supermarket: the common interest in communication is based on the need to
transact business, and not necessarily on a long-term trust relationship. Thus
e-commerce applications often support a level of security and transactional
integrity (for instance, non-repudiation of orders) not present in intranet
or extranet applicationby Robert Christensen, reprinted by permission, Atlanta
Computer Currents, May 1996.
Many people think the Intranet is simply Internet-misspelled. But some Industry
experts claim that Intranet business will be several times larger than the Internet.
Is the Intranet another technology fad - or is it a Megatrend?
Intranet or Internet?
Confusing Intranet with Internet is natural -- the technology, like the spelling,
is nearly identical. Both require the same network protocol (TCP/IP) and both
use email and world wide web standards.
What's the difference? The Intranet is essentially a private Internet operating
on your company's internal network. Intranets exploit the incredibly popular
and low-cost Internet tools to gain strategic advantage over competitors, cut
costs, and improve operational effectiveness.
An Intranet typically has three features lacking on the Internet:
- Speed - broad bandwidth
- Security - private internal network (LAN/WAN), protected from Internet users
by a firewall
- Control - Enterprise network management to ensure reliability
The Intranet can be viewed as an information utility for the enterprise. It
doesn't matter whether you're using a Mac, Windows or a UNIX workstation -
you plug in to the Intranet and find what you need, from documents to email
to data to audio and video. Corporate and department information is accessed
via the standards of the Internet: e-mail (SMTP), WWW, file transfer (ftp),
and other Internet services.
How big is it?
How big will the Intranet get? According to Cecil Murray, who designed an
Intranet to support over 16,000 users and 450 servers for one Fortune 500
company, "The Intranet will be ten times bigger than the Internet - its
impact on how corporations do business around the world is immense."
Driving Forces
The information utility concept has broad appeal. It enables everyone to be
a 'knowledge worker' by providing real-time information access to all published
documents and data in the corporation. That strategy is working for Atlanta-based
Turner Broadcasting. "Turner's strategy is to make the Intranet as necessary
and useful as a telephone in disseminating information among divisions"
according to Dan Horn, Director of Technology, Turner Home Entertainment.
"Providing enterprise-wide access to information is the key," according
to Murray. "Intranets overcome many of the organizational and technology
barriers that were created in the past. Web solutions overlay the departmental
LAN systems, with their own security and domains, and make information available
to everyone in the corporation - without changing the LAN security structures.
That provides a huge benefit."
The rapid and near-universal adoption of Internet standards is producing an
avalanche of new products and refurbished, web-enabled applications from all
major applications vendors. Microsoft's recently announced Intranet products
and aggressive pricing strategy, including free Internet Exchange browsers,
a robust Exchange Server, and Internet toolkits will capture a large share of
the market - and fuel dramatic growth.
What's the future?
For Turner Broadcasting, "We're interested in making it even more of a
utility. Right now, for some people, it's an interesting endeavor - but it is
becoming the way of doing business. Turner's business is distributing our content
in a multi-user, interactive manner. This technology helps move us forward in
knowing how to execute on that mission." - Dan Horn
"The Intranet is reaping huge benefits by making information, once buried
in hundreds of places in the organization, available to everyone. It has the
power to change the whole business culture." - Cecil Murray
There is little doubt that the Intranet is revolutionizing corporate computing
- providing a bold new infrastructure for communication. As quickly as corporate
bandwidth expands, audio and video applications are waiting to devour it. The
real challenge is in managing fast-growing Intranets for maximum corporate advantage.
