Industry News—Impact of Intranets
By Raha Naddaf, Staff Writer
Survey
Says: High Speed Helps in Business
According to a recent survey, "Broadband Internet: Removing
the Speed Limit for Canadian Firms, " high-speed access
gives companies an edge, enabling them to access advanced
information and communications technologies (ICTs) more effectively.
Sixty-six percent of Canadian companies now have high-speed
(broadband) Internet, up from 48 percent in 2001. The study
found that companies with high speed were more likely to
- Have a web site—50 percent for businesses with
high speed in contrast to 29 percent without
- Sell online more frequently—firms with high speed
accounted for 97 percent of the value of online sales in
2003
- Use other communication technologies such as an intranet
or Extranet—27 percent of companies with high speed
had an intranet, compared to 7 percent for those who did
not have broadband access
- Make purchases online—56 percent of companies with
high-speed access made purchases online in 2003, compared
with 35 percent of companies with low-speed access.
Source: CanadaOne Magazine
So
Just How Many Intranets are There?
The writer of this article sets out to calculate the number
of intranets in existence. According to a study carried out
by the Department of Trade and Industry that covers 11 countries,
with 3,000 businesses surveyed in the U.K. and 500 in other
countries, the country with the highest intranet use is reported
to be Canada with 58 percent of businesses having an intranet.
The U.K. figure is reported at 52 percent (compared to 9 percent
from the National Statistics survey) and the U.S. figure is
48 percent.
Source: Econtent
NMCI
Officials Refuse to Release Polling Questions
The Navy Marine Corps Intranet project is refusing to release
customer satisfaction survey questions that have produced
controversial results. Several national polling experts criticized
the decision to withhold the questions and encouraged the
use of an outside auditor to validate the survey results.
Texas-based defense contractor EDS is developing the system
to connect all Navy and Marine Corps uniformed and civilian
personnel. NMCI, the largest intranet in the world, could
eventually cost the Navy more than US$8 billion. During an
NMCI press conference last week, Navy officials said releasing
the questions would compromise the program's ability to conduct
future surveys because they want to measure user opinion on
the same issues over time.
Source: GovExec.com
'Google-Mania'
Ignites Search Technology
The fervor around Google's IPO has turned search technology
into a hot commodity. Vendors with tools for searching corporate
intranets and web sites are trying to capitalize on the moment.
Microsoft, too, has added to the search mania with its rumblings
about forthcoming technology for searching desktop resources.
If there's one thing all the parties can agree on, it's the
need to make it easier for users to find information. Half
the time, information retrieval technology fails to find what
users are looking for, according to Delphi Group. Among 300
respondents to a recent Delphi survey, 60 percent said it's
easier to find work-related information today than it was
two years ago. But 68 percent said it's still a difficult
and time-consuming task. On average, respondents spend between
two and four hours each day using computers to search for
work-related information.
Source: NetworkWorldFusion
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