First there was the Internet; used by and useful to only those with access to mainframe computers, typically computer scientists and research and development operations in large corporations. The World Wide Web (WWW), together with the arrival of the cheap and powerful desktop computer, changed all that by making the Internet more accessible and easier to use. Just as we were getting comfortable with the web, suddenly everyone was talking about 'intranets', in effect small scale, closed versions of the WWW. Now all the talk is about extranets. What are we to make of extranets? A new fad, the next big thing or what? In order to understand the significance of extranets it is necessary to understand what the web is really all about, to understand that it is an enabling technology the full impact of which is limited only by our imaginations and creativity. This paper looks at the origins of the web before outlining the significance of extranets.
The Beginnings
The World Wide Web as we know it today is the culmination of many strands of technological development which has fundamentally and quite literally changed the way the world looks at information. Its origins can be traced back as far as 1945 when Vannevar Bush published "As We May Think" (Atlantic Monthly, July 1945) in which he prophesied a future work desk built upon hyperlinked hypermedia. In 1960, Theodor Nelson conceived the idea of hypertext and began his long-running Xanadu project, an attempt to create a worldwide network using hypertext links (www.xanadu.com). In the 1980s, Tim Berners-Lee drew on these ideas and conceived the World Wide Web when he set out to create a personal organizer using hypertext links. His ideas spawned the creation in the mid 1990s of graphical user interfaces (GUI) in the form of the web browser (Mosaic, Netscape, and Internet Explorer) which catapulted the Internet from relative obscurity into the commercial arena, in the process revolutionizing the way we handle information. Businesses began to make use of browser technology to publish information such as product information. This same technology, however, provided a cheap and platform-independent tool for publishing information within the company, and the corporate intranet was conceived. As this idea matured, it was a small step to allow third parties limited and controlled access to the corporate intranet, and so the extranet was born.
The real significance of the web is neatly explained in Robert H Reid's Architects of the Web: 1,000 Days that Built the Future of Business (New York: John Wiley, 1997). This tasty concoction of technical explanation, business analysis, and biography emphasizes that the key issue is not how to do things on the web but how to use the web to do things differently. It is a compelling read which tells the story of how research student, Marc Andreessen, set out to make something cool out of Tim Berners-Lee's fledgling World Wide Web and in little more than two years gave the world Netscape. One of Andreessen's colleagues remarked that it was "quite scary to think that just a couple of people could influence so many without really intending to." Reid counters that it might have been scarier had they actually planned it! They might not have planned it, but the harnessing of web technologies is now very much a part of business planning and strategy. Or, in Reid's words "The hissing infiltration of the Internet's open protocols and rules of engagement has already shifted the landscape of the technology industry beyond recognition. It has also given rise to one of the most dramatic successes in business history, and is building a network that will soon extend into every major organization in the world, fundamentally changing the way businesses, individuals, and perhaps even nations mind their affairs and deal with one another."
Even in 1996, Netscape CEO James Barksdale (Information Week, 7 Oct 1996) knew that the real game was not so much about the creation of web browsers as about getting businesses to use web-based products to create client-server cross-platform solutions. He had no doubt that the next big thing would be extranets--the ability to use the same software for collaborating and communicating outside the firewall as inside the firewall, with your partners and your customers. Three years later, the Extranet Strategist (third quarter 1999 at www.Extranet-strategist.com) confirmed the accuracy of his prediction: "Extranets are not a passing trend; they are part of the larger e-business future. Companies that want to remain leaders in their industry will have to make IT investments in extranet solutions that facilitate resource sharing with their partners and customers" of course the electronic exchange of information is not new, but hitherto has been based on proprietary networks and standards. Companies can now exploit their investment in intranet and Internet technology (which is open rather than proprietary) to exchange data and share applications with business partners, suppliers, and customers. Provided they are secure, extranets enable organizations to control who sees or uses what, and as a result, they give companies the control they need to share information and gain a competitive edge.
Creating the Corporate Extranet
Building a secure network that allows interaction with suppliers and customers raises many technical issues. The effective deployment of extranet technology, however, requires a thorough understanding of business processes: It cannot be grafted onto existing processes. Tracy Shuford, internet marketing manager at Aventail Corporation (see www.Extranet-strategist.com), explains that the best person in an organization to promote an extranet is someone who understands the company's business model, its goals and objectives and has technical experience, strong project management skills, a sense of salesmanship, and true leadership qualities. This demanding role covers so many areas that some organizations have made room for a CTO, or chief technology officer. Smaller companies that lack both of these titles may turn to IT directors or architects for strategic advice. But IT specialists alone cannot be responsible for the creation of effective extranets. Writing in the Financial Times ("Enterprise Resources Planning and the Web," 26 May 1999) Mark Vernon notes that the key to how and why is integration. Technologically, e-commerce is about integrating systems with the power of the browser. Commercially, e-commerce is about integrating supplier to business to customer.
In an article in the Sunday Times ("Technology is the Key to Survival-Enterprise Network," 21 Nov 1999), David Baxter, former director of the Department of Trade and Industry's Information Society initiative, is quoted as follows: "Information and communications technologies are transforming organizational structures as well as business processes. They break down organizational and geographic boundaries and are becoming increasingly vital to the success, even the survival, of businesses large and small."
For example, British customs authorities have introduced a simpler way for importers, and eventually exporters, to make declarations directly to customs using their own computer systems. The same article quotes Interforum, a trade organization set up to help British businesses profit from the digital economy (Intranets: Unleash the Power of Your Information - www.interforum.org): "Many organizations think the Internet is about static web pages that deliver little benefit. Initiatives such as electronic customs clearance are far more important because they improve business processes. Organizations need to look at developing corporate intranets and then extending them to partners through extranets... simply building online links with suppliers and customers is not enough. Business processes must also change to overcome hierarchical, functional and geographic barriers, and combat threats from new competitors in the global market." Extranets represent a significant step in the evolution of the information economy: We are moving from the stage in which we learn to do things on the web to the stage where we use the web to do things differently.
by Ian Watson. Watson is information services manager, Scottish Media Newspapers, Glasgow, Scotland. He may be reached at iwatson@cims.co.uk.
SLA Home Page | Join SLA Now | Feedback |
Copyright © 1999 SLA. All rights reserved.
RSS
Feedback form
