Classes of software for intranet implementations

Intranets are about giving staff access to company documentation.  There are many different ways of implementing an intranet, depending on the needs of the organisation, its size and its current infrastructure.  This article gives an outline of the main approaches used.

Help authoring systems: Microsoft controls the format for help on Windows platforms and has published a number of primitive tools to allow developers to generate that help for their Windows applications. The tools didn't have to be more than primitive because they were aimed at developers.  But very soon people realised that you could use Windows Help ('WinHelp') for standalone documents like intranets.  Products started to appear that made it easier to generate WinHelp, and they are still being used for this purpose.  For intranets:

• advantages: cheap - most of these tools require you to buy a single software license only; fast response - because the whole WinHelp file is published, individual pages load fast
• disadvantages: expensive - even the best of these tools requires a trained operator; restrictive - in most organisations, the publication using these tools is handled by one person or one department, so it's not possible to give document owners edit access directly; too open - there is no control over readership

HTML conversion tools: There are a number of tools around (including Word itself) which will convert Office and other documents into HTML; some will do so automatically such that any document that is put into a particular folder is picked up and converted whenever it's changed.

• advantages: cheap - only a single license is required; flexible - the same Office document can be printed when necessary
• disadvantages: too open - there is no control over readership; expensive - the control of layout using these tools requires training

HTML authoring: You can view an intranet as just a special case of web publishing, and use tools designed for web publishing for your intranet.  There are a wide variety of these, from Notepad up to expensive site-management tools.  Some offer readership and editorship control.

• advantages: cheapish - only a single license is required; flexible - some products allow edit and read control
• disadvantages: restrictive - printing of online content as a book ('single sourcing') is difficult, or impossible

Document management and groupware tools: These allow very flexible controls on who can edit or read documents, and most of them also provide conversion to HTML on the fly.

• advantages: control - excellent control of readership and editorship
• disadvantages: cost - these tools tend to be very expensive, even more so since they often require a per-user license

At the end of the day the answer to a particular document management problem depends on the problem.  For example:

• One of our clients, a major engineering company with branches spread across Australia, needed complete control of documentation for compliance tracking purposes.  They also needed to single-source printed and online versions of their documents.  We implemented a combination of a document management system with a help authoring tool to give them what they needed.
• Another nationwide client needed to show large numbers of users self-paced training material which are maintained centrally.  We implemented an HTML conversion tool, with a set of procedures for the training department to allow them the (low level of) control they needed, at minimal cost.

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