Welcome to The Year of the ExtraNet
| Category: Database Marketing | Date: 2001-07-24 |
A recent issue of Information Week asked the question, "Is 1998 the Year of the Extranet?" and then answered, not yet. Before weighing in with our own opinion, well answer a lead-in question some readers might have: What is an extranet anyway, and how does it differ from an intranet?
An intranet is an internal network in which users access corporate information and enter data from the familiar interface of their Web browser. Using mouse clicks and hyperlinks, they can update personnel records, do research or exchange email depending on the way the intranet is set up. Theres a productivity benefit because intranet designers can use the same "front end" for a variety of computing functions; in fact, most users probably dont know when they are accessing internal vs. external data.
Think of a situation in which two (or more) companies open their intranets to each other, and you have an _extra_net. A good example is a database of machine parts which can be accessed both by internal users (who post the part numbers and update the inventory as needed) and external customers (who can look up product information and availability). Security is important (you wouldnt want to give your customers access to internal payroll records, for example) but easy to handle with available software.
According to a survey conducted by Forrester Research, 70% of large companies interviewed are now using extranets for product and marketing information. But Forrester expects this function to become less important over the next two years as more and more companies use extranets for electronic transactions. Another analyst, from Gartner Group, predicts that 80% of such electronic commerce will be conducted via extranets within 5 years.
The promise of extranets for future e-commerce is why Information Week reached its "not this year" conclusion. But as an organization which is driven by marketing, not transactions, we at M\S have a somewhat different point of view.
Any good salesperson knows the most important part of the sale is the information exchange and confidence building which takes place before the order book ever comes out. And this is where extranets--in their present form as a way to exchange product and marketing information--will score a breakthrough in the same way the World Wide Web opened the Internet to millions of new users.
So join us as we break out the champagne and proclaim 1998 the Year of the Extranet, at least at M\S Database Marketing. Were already making key information available to our customers via the M\S ExtraNet. Take a look at msdbm.com/extranet/
About the Author.
Robert McKim.
:To contact see details below.
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
An intranet is an internal network in which users access corporate information and enter data from the familiar interface of their Web browser. Using mouse clicks and hyperlinks, they can update personnel records, do research or exchange email depending on the way the intranet is set up. Theres a productivity benefit because intranet designers can use the same "front end" for a variety of computing functions; in fact, most users probably dont know when they are accessing internal vs. external data.
Think of a situation in which two (or more) companies open their intranets to each other, and you have an _extra_net. A good example is a database of machine parts which can be accessed both by internal users (who post the part numbers and update the inventory as needed) and external customers (who can look up product information and availability). Security is important (you wouldnt want to give your customers access to internal payroll records, for example) but easy to handle with available software.
According to a survey conducted by Forrester Research, 70% of large companies interviewed are now using extranets for product and marketing information. But Forrester expects this function to become less important over the next two years as more and more companies use extranets for electronic transactions. Another analyst, from Gartner Group, predicts that 80% of such electronic commerce will be conducted via extranets within 5 years.
The promise of extranets for future e-commerce is why Information Week reached its "not this year" conclusion. But as an organization which is driven by marketing, not transactions, we at M\S have a somewhat different point of view.
Any good salesperson knows the most important part of the sale is the information exchange and confidence building which takes place before the order book ever comes out. And this is where extranets--in their present form as a way to exchange product and marketing information--will score a breakthrough in the same way the World Wide Web opened the Internet to millions of new users.
So join us as we break out the champagne and proclaim 1998 the Year of the Extranet, at least at M\S Database Marketing. Were already making key information available to our customers via the M\S ExtraNet. Take a look at msdbm.com/extranet/
About the Author.
Robert McKim.
:To contact see details below.
DBMarkets@aol.com
http://www.msdbm.com
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