Collaborative Intranet: open source tools save resources, decrease stale content & increase productivity

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The Problem

Intranet's are great ideas which when implemented tend to gather stale content. This is because the job of updating and deleting out of date content falls on the heads of departments focusing on producing the companies mission critical work, the public Web site.

This was the case for WR Hambrecht + Co, and the Web team was overloaded with requests to add or update content. What they wanted was an easy way to allow co-workers and department heads to add to and manage their own content. Why should HR have to formally request a change from the Web group just to change the status of an open position?

The Solution

Based on Interviews with management, employees and department heads we recommended that they go with a collaborative, openly editable format for part of their Intranet and keep the more formal, less frequently changing areas as a standard HTMl site.

This allowed various levels of permitted users to securely update pages in sections such as HR, IT desktop support and development as well as emerging markets where fast, collaborative communication was essential.

Open source software was used so cost was controlled and the look of the main Intranet was mirrored using a system similar to the Joe 10 Group's in-house publishing system.

Results

Usage was up again, and stale content was a thing of the past! The Web Development group was able to operate more efficiently due to their reduction in intranet maintenance and keep their attention on the public site. IT was able to respond to support calls faster and track status reports in a Web environment where the person requesting support could monitor progress and thereby reduce repetitive inquiries.

Further Reading...

If you wnat to read and see more about Twikis and their features, visit the screen capture tour of the WRH Twiki or try one out in person at http://twiki.joe10.com.