Customised Intranets

Exa has many years experience in the development of customised intranets. Through our intranet development services we have assisted to streamline the processes and applications of many organisations and corporations. Customised intranets designed and developed by Exa can improve the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your business.

What are customised intranets?

The term intranet is based on ‘intra' meaning internal and ‘net' meaning network. Therefore, customised intranets are internal networks. They act as an internal communications medium within an organisation. With customised intranets, companies create a smaller, internal version of the internet that are designed to simply and conveniently facilitate the sharing of different types of company information. Customised intranets have a similar structure to the broader internet. However, they differ in that they are smaller networks and less public, being accessible only to the members of an organisation.

Why build customised intranets?

Uploading company information and resources to customised intranets provides staff with easy access to shared knowledge and information. Customised intranets increase productivity within the company as information and knowledge are made more available. Time wasted organising and sorting files is reduced, while collective knowledge within the company is improved. Customised intranets also simplify the task of updating data and documents.

Customised intranets are usually accessible anytime from anywhere that the internet is available. To access an intranet from outside company premises, users simply require a URL and log-in details, such as a username and password. This enables staff to access information via the intranet at their convenience. As the use of customised intranets encourages information exchange, employees become more informed, empowering them with the ability to make better, faster decisions.

What types of customised intranets exist?

Intranets are generally customised to meet the individual needs of a business. There are many different types and purposes of intranets, and as such, intranets vary greatly. The below provides a brief explanation of some of these broad intranet categories.

1. Human Resources Intranets: customised intranets developed to aid the processes of the HR department. Human resources intranets generally incorporate training documentation, as well as contact databases, employee surveys, candidate applications and screening, and more.
2. Sales and Marketing Intranets: customised intranets that allow sales and marketing personnel to access accurate product descriptions, sales scripts, market analysis and research. Typically, sales and marketing intranets will incorporate pricing charts, product info and demos, contact databases, sales records, sales training and more.
3. Information Systems Intranets: These customised intranets incorporate training manuals, software and applications, technical support, resource scheduling, and more.
4. Executive Intranets: Developed to help the executive team perform a multitude of roles, such as liaison, figurehead, negotiator, delegator, and so forth, customised intranets for executives aid communication with both internal employees and external contacts. An executive intranet can incorporate departmental information, business contracts, meeting minutes, business metrics, external contact information and more.
5. Customer Service Intranets: As well as being an internal system, akin to other intranet services, customised intranets for customer service can also allow external customers limited access for various self-help requirements, such as tracking packages and checking delivery times, etc. Customer service intranets can contain customer information, order entry and tracking, stocking information, customer FAQs, technical support documents and more.
6. Accounting Intranets: Developed to assist with the processes of the accounting and finance departments, these customised intranets can be integrated with or link directly to other accounting software and systems, allowing for the automatic collation of information such as receipts, payments and other financial transactions. Accounting Intranets will often incorporate the payroll, budgeting information, asset management, accounts support, financial reports, financial policies and procedures and more.