What Do You Use an Intranet For?

Intranets can distribute just about any type of information within a company. Intranets use two basic types of applications:

• Publishing application: Information is posted in the form of pages that you can view from any computer with access to the intranet. This type of intranet application is commonly used for company newsletters, policy manuals, and price lists, for example.

  Tip 

  Publishing applications are simple to set up. In fact, you may be able to set up one yourself without a lot of outside help from highly paid computer consultants.

• Transaction application: Information is gathered from users of the intranet who file online expense reports, report problems to the help desk, or enroll in employee benefit programs, for example.

  Warning 

  Expect to spend big bucks on computer consulting to get an intranet transaction application set up.

Here's the key difference between these two types of intranet applications:

• In a publishing application, information flows in one direction. It flows from the intranet to the user. The user requests some information, and the intranet system delivers it.

• In a transaction application, information flows in both directions. Not only does the user request information from the intranet system, but the intranet system itself also requests information from the user.