Intranets

"No-one seems to know who started the trend, but small and large companies around the world are quickly joining the move towards using the Internet as a local and wide area network. Rather than have remote users access a network through a long distance connection, companies are setting up secure and password protected World Wide Web sites which can be accessed through the Internet. By dialing into the Internet from any local access number, a user can assess the content available to everyone else in a company network. Christopher Locke, an Internet veteran from Mecklermedia, MCI Network, and currently with IBM, spoke to Newsbytes about the growing trend of the intranet and the need for corporations to 'adopt the openness which characterizes the global network' called the Internet. Said Locke, 'There has been too much focus on How do we turn the Internet into TV? or How do we make it into another selling device? These are all the wrong attempts. The companies which are going to define success on the Internet are the ones that are ready to move to a new business model. ... The entire work scene is changing, claims Locke. 'We are looking at the end of jobs as we know them. Companies are using teams which consists of groups, separate employees, outside contractors, and business partners. This trend calls for a means of open communication. Sure, a company will always have its secrets, but the Internet, and now the intranet, allow a company to open its doors for less restricted communication between teams, employees, and eventually the general public.'"

Source: Patrick McKenna, "Internet Expo - Intranet Hot Topic At Show," Newsbytes News Network, February 21, 1996.