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> Fellow travelers,
>
> Do any of you have experience working with intranets? If so,
> could you explain to me if they are really like a private
> Internet for your organization, complete with company-wide Web
> server, or something completely different? Do you find them
> useful for information distribution and retrieval within your
> organization, moreso than say Lotus Notes or cc:Mail bulletin
> boards?
>
> Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
>
>
> - Dennis Callaghan
> SunGard Capital Markets Inc.
> Philadelphia, Pa.
> dcallaghan -at- sungard -dot- com
Intranets usually are just like an internet within your organization.
They run off a web server, but usually behind the corporate firewall.
Their usefulness depends on what you make available and how you make
it available. If you have a homogeneous environment, only MS Windows
users, for example, then Lotus Notes and email bulletin boards can
compete effectively in many areas. However, if you have a
heterogeneous environment, UNIX, MS Windows, and Mac for example,
then you can't beat an intranet as a medium for information
distribution.
Intranets really shine in a heterogeneous environment, however,
when you begin to deploy formerly platform limited enterprise
applications newly re-written in Java. This lets users run
traditional MIS applications (or anything else) from any platform.
Cheers,
Bruce Covell
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking.
Bruce Covell Cooper and Chyan Technology Inc.
brucec -at- cctech -dot- com 1601 S. De Anza Boulevard
408.342.5630 Cupertino, CA 95014
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