expert on the use of the Intranet discusses why organizations utilize them “Key goals include reducing paperwork, disseminating information quickly, streamlining business operations, and providing easy access to critical information” (Shacklett 72).
Intranets provide a useful role for internal communications, but not just because they make communication faster, easier, and better than traditional methods of sharing information. They also enable an organization to selectively deal with security and accessibility issues, since only those users who are authorized can access particular databases of information. Firewalls, honey pots, and other security devices can be put in place to prevent external intrusion or hacking. Nonetheless, despite these benefits, most companies employ Intranet-oriented technology and programs in order to save time and achieve a higher level of efficient and effective communications throughout the organizations. The costs of doing so can be considerable, but so can the cost-benefits from doing so. Because of these and other reasons, many governmental agencies and organizations have turned to Intranet technology as their primary form of internal communication. In Tampa, Florida, city government chose Okemos, to implement their Intranet technology. One of the city’s biggest communications challenges is providing city managers with revenue and expense reports which total 200 and 1,500 pages respectively (Intranet 7). Okemos setup the technology to be able to have the reports made available in html on the city’s Intranet server. As Steve Cantler, the city’s Management Information Systems manager, notes regarding the benefits of the faster, better dissemination of reports “We have achieved substantial cost savings. The greatest savings have come from eliminating the need to print the reports. We saved staff time by eliminating travel and distribution of the reports. Service has also improv...