Web-usability consultant Jakob Nielsen, whose Nielsen Norman Group, in Fremont, Calif., annually honors 10 outstanding intranets, has recently noticed that more small companies are making the list. Says Nielsen, "That proves it's possible to get good effect out of an intranet without being a huge corporation."
Other experts call the trend evolutionary, saying that it is picking up speed as companies conduct more and more business online. Nearly everyone can use a Web browser, which means that nearly everyone can adapt almost instantly to a Web-based network. And small companies can now choose from a broad range of intranet options, from cut-rate do-it-yourself models to cutting-edge, custom-designed systems. Admittedly, the trend's leaders tend to spend freely to launch, staff, and maintain their private Web sites. Initial five- or six-figure investments aren't unusual, and some ambitious companies may well spend more. But there are plenty of less pricey options, ranging from having a savvy staffer do the job in-house to renting the service. (See " Spin Your Own," below.)
Perhaps the most remarkable cultural change is how many entrepreneurs are overcoming their natural reticence to share information, inside the company or out. Brian Chavis, CEO of ARGroup, a Web and intranet developer based in Leesburg, Va., says that he used to have to pitch the idea of private networks to his customers. "I don't have to do that anymore," he says. "Our clients are telling me that they want this."
What they want, as the leading examples show, are new and better ways to connect with customers, employees, and partners. Rather than blindly following the late-1990s mantra to endlessly hurl money at their public Web sites in hopes of expanding their reach, many companies now look inward for ways to better serve customers they've already got. "Companies are saying, 'Let's really strengthen those relationships as much as possible," says Ray Boggs, vice-president of small-business and home-office research at IDC, in Framingham, Mass.
Randy J. Hinrichs couldn't agree more. Hinrichs, group research manager in learning sciences and technology for Microsoft Research and author of Intranets: What's the Bottom Line?, says intranets and extranets provide the perfect environment for small companies to create and nurture the partnerships they need to thrive. He makes the goal sound almost romantic. "You make long-term, meaningful relationships by saying, 'We can share each other's data,' and knowing that it's going to be consistent and trustworthy," he says.
Executives at Atlanta IT-consulting firm Extreme Logic consider it critical to forge long-term commitments with both employees and customers. So the company sends both to its combo intranet-extranet for performance reviews. The system hasn't directly affected Extreme Logic's revenues, which topped $30 million last year. But it's improved the company's own showing in two top-priority areas: retaining star performers and nurturing all employees. When workers leave -- whether they're hired away by competitors or fired for poor performance -- the company spends as much as three times an employee's annual salary to find and train a replacement. Getting quick online feedback directly from customers lets Extreme Logic reward its stars and provide specific improvement goals for everyone else.
The approach seems to work. Mike Williams, who oversees human resources, says the company's turnover rate is 5% to 10% lower than the IT industry standard. And since the company added the performance-evaluation feature to its intranet, 18 months ago, about 80% of its employees and managers feel that they're working toward the same goals, compared with 52% before, according to an internal study.
For TemPositions, making connections quickly is what counts. The company, one of 350 temporary-staffing agencies in New York City, has begun bidding against the big boys -- including $4.1-billion Kelly Services -- for major contracts. To compete against the industry giants, TemPositions focuses on what CEO and president James Essey calls its core strength: delivering the perfect worker faster. And to do that, TemPositions relies on an intranet that, much like a dating service, instantly matches customer requests with the best available contract employees.
If, for instance, a client company needs a registered nurse with pediatric experience, the TemPositions intranet automatically E-mails the job offer to the best-qualified candidates. The system excludes temps who are already on assignments or unavailable because of vacation or illness. When contractors accept gigs, the intranet automatically E-mails them a link to their own personal job bank sites, where they find assignment sheets with dates, prices, a map, and supervisor contact information. When temps reject offers or don't respond, the intranet solicits the next person in line. Corporate customers can even make their own temp requests online. Essey says the do-it-yourself convenience "cements us to the customer in a big way because once they get into the system and see all the information there, they're less likely to go to a competitor."
That's a far cry from the traditional temp-placement process, which typically requires hours of telephone tag. (Customers call the agency with a personnel request, and then agency employees dig through paper files, call candidates, and wait for return calls.) And the streamlined process, in turn, has allowed the 40-year-old company to go after huge long-term contracts it couldn't even have considered before. At press time, TemPositions was competing for a contract to supply the New York City schools with more than 1,000 temps in a variety of areas, including curriculum and course development and counseling. "We couldn't bid on it if we didn't have these tools," says Essey. "We'd need enough employees to fill a football-field-size call center."
