Understanding Intranets (Strategic Technology Series)

Tyson Greer's clear writing and engaging personality make riding the intranet learning curve fun. She starts with a good-natured rant about the confusion caused by the term "intranet." Greer then gives you an overview of intranet basics, a brief history of how intranets evolved from "mainframe culture" and then a look at the considerations that should go into developing a corporate intranet. She examines the option to trade information with other organizations through extranets, publicizes the risks inherent in intranet systems, and discusses a variety of worthwhile uses for intranets, from corporate publishing to distance learning.

Greer then goes into more of the nitty-gritty of intranet development, including planning, developing a business case for the system, implementing a system, and performing ongoing evaluation and maintenance of an intranet. This book will not turn the average person into a technical whiz, but it will help a marginally technical businessperson understand what an intranet involves and what it can offer to the organization.

Aside from being well written, Understanding Intranets is also so well constructed that you can get all the key information within a half hour. Short summaries of each paragraph run down the book's wide margins, making it easy to skim for main ideas or quickly review a chapter. But don't just skim the summary lines--that would be cheating yourself.