The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is the latest to announce their decision to build their intranet based on the open source content management platform Zope (see Royal Bank of Scotland opts for open source intranet).
RBS’s decision follows a recent string of announcements from larger organizations who chose Zope or Plone (based on Zope) to power their intranet or content management platform. Other organizations now using Plone include the BrazilianParliament, UNC Healthcare and the government of
Plone is emerging as the real leader in open source web platforms. Plone features enterprise content management with workflow, role-based content, a search engine and even a wiki application. Non-techies can easily use Plone with little training. The system includes templates for news, events, documents, and photos. An additional 200+ templates and tools are also available for download.
In addition to complete platforms and content management systems, there is a plethora of open source applications for plugging into your intranet including:
- Employee directory (yellow pages)
- Project management systems
- Document management systems
- Help desk
- E-Learning systems
- And many, many more
Check out FreshMeat.net and do a search on intranet for an extensive listing of available open source intranet applications.
Caution: most open source tools are not ‘plug and play’. They require a lot of care and skilled people who know how to care for them. Nor are all open source tools created equal – extensive research and care in selecting such applications is tantamount to success.
Finally, don’t put the cart before the horse:
- Identify requirements
- Build a plan
- Develop evaluation criteria
- Rate and score solution options
If open source is a new game for you or your organization, don’t hesitate to hire an outside hand (for more information contact me through Prescient Digital Media).
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© 2006 Toby Ward - Prescient Digital Media