Zentech Corp analyst Sarah Kittmer’s front cover story this month in the print magazine KM World offers a helpful explanation of the benefits of a dynamic intranet, or CMS portal. (Article online here.)
Does your organization have a web site that rarely changes and relies on email to transmit information to team members and supporters? Even adding sections for dynamic content and automated update delivery via RSS subscription may be less cost-effective and useful than recomposing your infrastructure from scratch. According the the article:
A hand-built site containing static HTML pages is the starting point for many organizations implementing an intranet. It might begin with departmental enthusiasts tinkering to create pages for colleagues. Eventually, the HR department realizes that they too can use the site to provide information to employees. Handy applications get added.
The site’s value to employees is demonstrated, but it can quickly become messy….Consequently, the ability of the site to provide information to the whole company at a low cost is undermined. A dynamic site based on Web content management (WCM) software is a good option, which can significantly improve the quality of the navigation and content.
The article goes on to discuss the following:
- Online learning management systems as mission critical levers to change the direction of an organization.
- The importance of data living in a portable format (e.g. the XML format of RSS)
- Integrating learning features into the general online work environment
- Long term savings poised to emerge from the predicted 15% annual growth between 2004 to 2009 in the $330 million global market for learning management and learning content management systems. (Numbers from Gartner VP Tom Eid in the article.)
Much, if not all, of what’s described here can be captured by a combination intranet and public web site built on blogging software with inbound and outbound RSS baked in. Organizations large and small should take note of such increasingly clear articulations of ideas already advocated for some time by early adopters. A static intranet or public web site is a huge lost opportunity in terms of learning and communication, both inside an organization and with the outside world.