Intranet Blog

Blogging to employees – on the Internet

Toby Ward — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:27:28 -0800

Some inventive and enterprising organizations like Alaska Airlines and the U.S. Army used to maintain their intranet home page on the public Internet (though they’ve both since closed off the home pages to the public).

Others organizations, in attempt to find scales of economy, use a single web platform or tool (often a CMS or a portal solution) that serves all audiences, and serves up content based solely on the audience. So whereas there is a single home page for customers, employees, vendors, etc., content is additionally served-up based on the identity of the individual (often requiring the person to login to see that customized or ‘personalized’ view). The Internet, intranet and extranet sites are merely one-in-the-same but the content is different for each audience.

SYNNEX Canada CEO Jim Estill started his own blog on the public Internet nearly 3 years ago. Estill’s blog, CEO Blog - Time Leadership, though has a multi-audience focus. Though his blog is external, his employees are one of his primary targets, and comprise some 25% of his total readership.

Read the entire case study: Blogging case study: SYNNEX Canada

Estill presents this case study at the upcoming 2008 Social Media Summit Canada Conference in Toronto, ON from March 31 - April 2, 2008).

Do any of your executives maintain an external blog that is also aimed at employees? Do you have multi-audience web platform that serves as both intranet and Internet (and possibly extranet) sites? Drop me a line at toby at prescientdigial (dotcom) and I may feature it in an upcoming feature.

U.S. provides safety for al-Qaeda intranet

Toby Ward — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:56:51 -0700

The SITE Institute is an organization that tracks terrorists. Since its inception in 2004 SITE has primarily used the Internet to “swiftly locates links among terrorist entities and their supporters.”

Specifically, SITE has been particularly adept at infiltrating Internet chat rooms frequented by Islamic extremists. SITE, in fact, has been particularly helpful to the U.S. military in finding terrorists and uncovering potential plots. Unfortunately however, according to a report in the Washington Post, (see Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets), a Bush administration leak has botched a campaign and unnecessarily alerted al-Qaeda.

SITE apparently was the first to uncover the latest Bin Laden video, and it accordingly notified the White House… who then allegedly acted highly inappropriately in such a manner as to tip off the terrorists:

"Within 20 minutes, a range of intelligence agencies had begun downloading it from the company's Web site. By midafternoon that day, the video and a transcript of its audio track had been leaked from within the Bush administration to cable television news and broadcast worldwide.

The founder of the company, the SITE Intelligence Group, says this premature disclosure tipped al-Qaeda to a security breach and destroyed a years-long surveillance operation that the company has used to intercept and pass along secret messages, videos and advance warnings of suicide bombings from the terrorist group's communications network.

"Techniques that took years to develop are now ineffective and worthless," said Rita Katz, the firm's 44-year-old founder, who has garnered wide attention by publicizing statements and videos from extremist chat rooms and Web sites, while attracting controversy over the secrecy of SITE's methodology. Her firm provides intelligence about terrorist groups to a wide range of paying clients, including private firms and military and intelligence agencies from the United States and several other countries.

The precise source of the leak remains unknown. Government officials declined to be interviewed about the circumstances on the record, but they did not challenge Katz's version of events. They also said the incident had no effect on U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts and did not diminish the government's ability to anticipate attacks.

But privately, some intelligence officials called the incident regrettable, and one official said SITE had been "tremendously helpful" in ferreting out al-Qaeda secrets over time. The al-Qaeda video aired on Sept. 7 attracted international attention as the first new video message from the group's leader in three years. In it, a dark-bearded bin Laden urges Americans to convert to Islam and predicts failure for the Bush administration in Iraq and Afghanistan. The video was aired on hundreds of Western news Web sites nearly a full day before its release by a distribution company linked to al-Qaeda.

Computer logs and records reviewed by The Washington Post support SITE's claim that it snatched the video from al-Qaeda days beforehand. Katz requested that the precise date and details of the acquisition not be made public, saying such disclosures could reveal sensitive details about the company's methods.

Apparently the activity triggered by the alleged White House leak has caused al-Qaeda activity “the al-Qaeda intranet” to go quite… and force security experts to go back to the drawing bored."

It is widely regarded that Al-Qaeda is largely dependent on the Internet, and its dark ‘intranets’, for co-ordinating much of their intra-cell activity. "They don't exist without the Web," says Naval Postgraduate School professor John Arquilla.

As noted by Wired magazine writer Noah Schachtman, “everything from recruiting to training to propaganda is handled online. According to the New York Sun, the video disclosure effectively shut down the window into those activities.”

"One intelligence officer who requested anonymity said in an interview last week that the intelligence community watched in real time the shutdown of the Obelisk system... [the] network of Web sites serves not only as the distribution system for the videos produced by Al Qaeda's production company, As-Sahab, but also as the equivalent of a corporate intranet, dealing with such mundane matters as expense reporting and clerical memos to mid- and lower-level Qaeda operatives throughout the world.

While intranets are usually based on servers in a discrete physical location, Obelisk is a series of sites all over the Web, often with fake names, in some cases sites that are not even known by their proprietors to have been hacked by Al Qaeda...

By Friday evening, one of the key sets of sites in the Obelisk network, the Ekhlaas forum, was back on line. The Ekhlaas forum is a password-protected message board used by Qaeda for recruitment, propaganda dissemination, and as one of the entrance ways into Obelisk for those operatives whose user names are granted permission. Many of the other Obelisk sites are now offline and presumably moved to new secret locations on the World Wide Web."

What a shame. The defense community, security intelligence community, the American public, and people of the free world deserve better.

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$9 Billion Bugs for U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (back issue)

Toby Ward — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 09:50:27 -0700

Most I.T. projects have some hurdles or bugs. The $9 billion U.S. Navy-Marine Corps intranet (NMCI) is no exception.

Of course the military would use an acronym like NMCI, but I was hoping that we would be privy to one of those cutting-edge mission names like Mission Intranet Freedom or Mission Global Information Dominance... Ooops! That moniker might be letting the cat-out-of-the-bag....

Speaking at a conference of 1,200 military vendors in Norfolk, Virginia, the NMCI head honcho Rear Admiral James B. Goodwin III lamented about some of the challenges. As reported in the Virginian-Pilot, some of the bugs have included e-mail problems for Admiral Michael G. Mullen, President Bush’s nominee for chief of naval operations.

Rear Adm Goodwin joked, ““Probably not the e-mail I wanted to see from my new boss, but it’s one of the realities right now.”

For those not familiar with the project, EDS was hired to work with the Navy and Marine Corps to build a "comprehensive, enterprise-wide initiative that will make the full range of network-based information services available to Sailors and Marines for day-to-day activities and in war.”

The $9 billion project is in its fifth year.

NMCI features more than your average run-of-the-mill secure access to US Armed Forces information and systems and “universal access to integrated voice, video and data communications.

While it is not complete the Navy Marine intranet will "afford pier-side connectivity to Navy vessels in port. And it will link more than 360,000 desktops across the United States as well as sites in Puerto Rico, Iceland and Cuba.”

The Navy and Marine Corps use the NMCI to achieve "a number of critical objectives:

Enhanced network security
Interoperability with CINCs and other Services
Knowledge sharing across the globe
Increased productivity
Improved systems reliability and quality of service
Reduced cost of voice, video and data services

Want to know more? The public can visit the intranet home page at www.nmciinfo.usmc.mil (updated URL).

Home intranet access (back issue)

Toby Ward — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 06:37:44 -0700

A great report from Ipsos-Reid reveals that Canada continues to be a world leader with a highly connected population – right up there with the Scandanavian countries, the United States, Korea and Hong Kong (did you know in a study of e-business readiness conducted by IBM and the Economist, Azerbaijan ranked 50^th out of all countries? Who knew?!?!).

73% of Canadians are now connected to the Internet; 62% of households have high-speed access. Similar numbers are reported from the other leading countries.

What does this have to do with the intranet? Glad you asked...

A vast majority of organizations still only extend intranet access to a percentage of their employees. It often ranges from 33% to 75% of employees have access. With some exceptions (Cisco, IBM, Xerox and some other financially strong, leading-edge appreciators of technology), this is largely due to the fact that many, many employees, in most industries, do not have or work with a computer. In most organizations, no computer = no intranet access.

While some companies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, have established intranet stations or kiosks for employees without computers, the success of joint or shared workstations and kiosks have largely been lackluster. (One exception is Dutch Railway company NedTrain with an employee workforce of 4,000, the majority of which do not have dedicated computers. Despite the limited computer access, the company encourages employees to use centrally located touch-screen kiosks to access the intranet. The result: an astounding 2.5 million quarterly visits – or 200 intranet visits per employee per month).

Given the cost and cultural challenges of extending access to employees who don’t have computers some companies are extending intranet access to the employee at home (many companies offer home intranet access via a VPN or dedicated or password protected connection but often this privilege is only extended to executives and middle managers).

Others like Alaska Airlines have put their intranet on the public Internet – that’s right, a .com site on the Internet! Knowing that most of their employees work ‘on the road’ they got smart and put it on the public Internet (of course, secure areas are password protected and reside behind their firewall). It’s also a great way to tell the world, “We have nothing to hide! Come check us out.”

Check them out at AlaskasWorld.com.

Now why didn’t you think of that? What’s stopping you now?

Kiosk access for non-desk workers

Toby Ward — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:51:00 -0700

Intranet access continues to be a major, major intranet challenge for most organizations with manufacturing or remote employees. Remote, manufacturing and retail employees very rarely have access to a computer. Therefore in some organizations a huge chunk of employees do not have access to the intranet.

If a large chunk of your potential audience cannot access the intranet, the intranet’s value to your company is severely limited.

For those in this position, there are three principal options:

1-    Virtual Private Networks (VPN) – can be expensive

2-    Internet-based portal – inexpensive but security often a concern

3-    Central kiosks – moderately expensive, moderate security concern

I really don’t want to spend too much time on VPNs as this is my least favorite of the options – though it serves its purpose well – and there’s tons available for reading on VPN by just doing a simple search. Besides, it’s more of the “executive” solution most often related to senior management or senior sales staff who are afforded a laptop when away from the office.

Internet-based access via a .com site that requires a user id and password is becoming more and more de rigeur.

In most western countries, access to the Internet is available to a majority of the population. Some like Canada, the U.S., Japan, Korea and Scandanavian countries enjoy penetration rates in the 70^th percentile. So why not just put your intranet on the Internet?

Alaska Airlines have put their intranet on the public Internet – that’s right, a .com website. Knowing that most of their employees work ‘on the road’ they got smart and put it on the public Internet (of course, secure areas are password protected and reside behind their firewall). Employees have ubiquitous access from any connected computer and it also shows the world, “We have nothing to hide! Come check us out.” (Visit the Alaska Airlines intranet at www.AlaskasWorld.com.

The U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps also have followed suit with similar .com intranet portals – and so too have many others.

Kiosks have also become highly effective tools for remote access users where the intranet has become an essential business tool.

“Organizations are continuing to do away with hard copies in favor of a digital medium, porting company and employee information onto their intranet,” says Paul Chin, a writer and former intranet manager at a prominent aerospace manufacturer. “But this leaves employees without a PC in the dark. It's unfair to deny them access to these resources simply because of circumstance. This creates a gap between the digital haves and have-nots."

In writing “Providing Equal Access: Implementing Information Kiosks” Chin argues that there are a lot of choices when buying a kiosk and you don’t necessarily have to break the bank:

“You have a lot of choices when it comes to kiosks. But it's not necessary to buy and install high-end, freestanding kiosks such as those found in public settings like retail stores, tourism offices, self-service government offices, where presentation plays an important role. For internal corporate use, the most cost effective way to offer PC-less employees basic access to the Internet, e-mail, and intranet, is by using inexpensive network appliances (sometimes referred to as network PCs) with little-to-no local processing power and storage, or a secured desktop computer. Shared printers can also be provided within proximity of the kiosk stations.

In order to set up a truly dedicated kiosk, you should consider the installation of third-party kiosk security and configuration software such as SiteKioskor NetStop Pro. They will enable you to configure browser behavior, mange what users will have access to, and specify the actions they're allowed to perform on the kiosk stations.”

In establishing in-house kiosks Chin recommends eight key priorities:

1. Network Membership – integrate with existing corporate network (firewall, proxy servers, etc.)

2. Browser Access – lock down kiosk browser options

3. Preventing Software Installations – lock down any software downloads or plug-in installations

4. Access to Kiosk Hardware – decide whether or not you want to allow use of CD-Roms, USB ports, etc.

5. Protecting the Underlying Operating System –NEVER allow access the underlying O/S.

6. Implement a Timeout – configured to automatically log users off after a pre-determined period of inactivity (e.g. 20 minutes)

7. Number of Kiosks – how many do you need? (e.g. one per 50 – 100 employees)

8. Location of the Kiosks – never place in high traffic areas, near heavy machinery, or in overly noisy areas

One other thing: this is the intranet and anonymity is not an option.

What percentage of your employees have access? What are you doing to increase it?

World’s Biggest Intranet

Home Intranet Access

$152 million U.S. Army Intranet Contract (back issue)

Toby Ward — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 19:46:00 -0700

Already outmaneuvered by the massive US$9 billion U.S. Navy-Marine Corp Intranet project (read my most recent blog on the NMCI) the U.S. Army has announced a more austere intranet contract of $152 million.

The aerospace giant Lockeeed Martin (they now call themselves a “technology systems integrator”) was awarded the contract the Army Knowledge Online enterprise Web portal (or AKO) and will subcontract to Computer Sciences Corp. and Science Applications International Corp.

When I think of Lockheed Martin I don’t necessarily think ‘intranet consultants’. What leaps to mind are visions of missiles, fighters and covert sales teams in dark trench coats and metal briefcases (LM’s most recent press release:

U.S. NAVY AWARDS LOCKHEED MARTIN-LED TEAM MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT TO DEMONSTRATE KEY TECHNOLOGIES FOR BALLISTIC MISSILE SYSTEM).

The three amigos will provide “systems operations and maintenance, network communications, hardware and software integration, and around-the-clock help desk support for both the Non-Classified IP Router Network and the Secret IP Router Network,” according to GCN.com (“Army intranet portal to be managed by Lockheed Martin”).

On the surface it seems like a relatively small project compared to the gushing billions spent on NMCI (how many of us are working with small $152 million intranet budgets?! Most of us, right?!?). However, $152 million is for only ONE YEAR. There is an option for six additional years.... now we’re talking!

This is a big intranet. U.S. army ‘employees’ login to the intranet approximately 500,000 times per day.

Interestingly enough, this contract is labeled as a performance-based contract.

"Combining the great things that AKO has done in the past with the net-centric future that Army modularity will provide — this is a great opportunity for the Army," says Kevin Carroll, the Army's program executive officer for enterprise information systems, in an Army news release.

According to the army, AKO the project will see the integration of hundreds of applications and services “across a common enterprise portal.”

"AKO prides itself in service to soldiers supporting Army operations around the world. Through the hard work of countless IT pioneers, AKO has steadily grown to a world-class intranet service in a few short years, and our team looks forward to the continued evolution of technological advances to meet the needs of the Army—active duty, Guard, Reserve, civilians, retirees, family members and other users," said Greg Fritz, acting director of AKO, in a statement.

Want to see the U.S. Army intranet? Okay...

Actually, you can get to the main home page yourself as it is on the Internet at: http://www.army.mil/ako/.

World’s Biggest Intranet

Converging the intranet, extranet and Internet (back issue)

Toby Ward — Mon, 29 Aug 2005 21:35:28 -0700

Six years ago I wrote an article for Virtual Business Magazine where I espoused the need and likely convergence of the intranet, extranet and Internet. Now, an Internet lifetime later, more and more companies are deploying a single platform to manage the corporate, intranet, extranet and Internet Websites.

Single platform deployment for multiple audiences is not just for large corporations. More and more medium-size and even small size companies are using a single platform to run multiple sites for multiple audiences.
The San Diego Blood Bank is a case in point. It just announced it is deploying a single web content management platform from OpenText to manage its various internal and external websites.

“The solution will provide a central Web content management platform for the organization's website, and will also manage a planned intranet/extranet that will serve the more than 50 area hospitals that depend on the San Diego Blood Bank,” says the press release from OpenText (supplier of the platform). “The intranet/extranet will give hospitals information on blood supplies and automate blood orders, utilizing workflows and document management capabilities.”

”A key requirement for the San Diego Blood Bank is having one content repository to help ensure accurate information and timely updates to Web content, whether it's published to the website or the intranet/extranet. This is critical to meeting regulations on issues such as providing current information on blood donor requirements.”

See the Full Release

"The challenge in the next decade will be to leverage the Internet and existing IT investments to move beyond the isolated intranet, surrounded by its moat-like firewall," says Hewlett-Packard's William Murphy in Don Tapscott's best-selling book Blueprint for the Digital Economy.

"In this new era of e-business on the Internet, an isolated, centrally managed intranet is not sufficient. The same decentralized business models that have enabled the rapid adoption of intranet technology must be inter-networked beyond the firewall through the use of secure authorized access by authenticated individuals."

In other words, intrusive barriers such as firewalls will be altered or torn down in order to facilitate enhanced collaboration between internal and external groups while allowing for more seamless navigation between an organization's intranet, extranet and Internet sites.While a consensus is building for better integration of e-business technology, people and expertise across Internet, extranet and intranet platforms, there is no convergence blueprint forthcoming. Corporate demand for efficiency, savings and scales of economy will encourage further integration of traditionally separate platforms, but complete integration will continue to face barriers from those that emphasize security and usability.