(CALGARY, AL) Do you have a strong sales intranet, but would like to enhance it by learning how other sales intranets are delivering value?

I'm looking for, on behalf of a client, organizations that have a strong sales intranet or sales home page on the intranet and are willing to information share and trade with others -- strictly confidentially, of course. Information will be treated as confidential and for information purposes only.

Specificially, I have a client that is a world-leading sales organization with a very strong intranet that is looking to share their intranet practies and best practices on:

o  Sales tools and applications
o  Sales processes on the intranet
o  Sales collaboration
o  Sales information sharing
o  Sales information structure and use
o  Sales activities on the intranet that lead to improved sales and time-to-    market

If you have or know of a strong sales intranet or culture that would like to confidentially share best practices information please contact me directly (Toby Ward - 416.986.2226 - or toby{at}prescientdigital{dotcom}

RELATED READING:

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(CALGARY, AL) For many years patrolling police officers have had mini computers at their disposal. The mobile computers allowed cops to ‘run a license plate’, or run a name against a warrant for arrest. Most of us laymen were impressed, but for many departments, these computers were (and still are for many) simplistic and highly limited to a few tasks. I know personally a few cops that have not but a few choice words of frustration for everything these computers could not do.

In recent years, these mobile police computers have advanced impressively and lead the cutting edge of mobile computing and remote intranet access.

“As he prepared for a night patrolling the streets of Portland, Officer Frank Pellerin touched the screen of his cruiser's laptop computer, calling up a list of people wanted on arrest warrants,” writes David Hench in Intranet puts data at officers' fingertips ((Portland Press Herald). “With another touch, he checked the record of police activity on his beat in the past 48 hours, then looked for any alerts about threats to his safety.”

The system allows police to check on logs from the different beats, briefings from the intelligence unit, safety bulletins and special alerts, registered sex offenders, people who are on bail and on probation, and the names and numbers of probation officers. Information about individuals typically includes photographs and recent contacts with the department.

 

Officers also can look back at what has happened on the beat since they last worked, information that might come in handy as the shift progresses.

 

A safety alert might refer to a suspected drug dealer who has a pit bull, for example, or a suspected gang member who recently tried to purchase a gun. Or an officer may want to check on the victim of a domestic assault that occurred on an earlier shift.

Read Intranet puts data at officers' fingertips

A reader recently asked me how to find and test a potential candidate to run internal communications and the corporate intranet.

I’ve helped a few clients hire an intranet manager and here are some of the key duties and skills that I suggest are necessary – based on a job posting for the slightly more prolific Editor-in-Chief (feel free to take out some duties and skills for a less prolific position):

Duties:

• Provide the editorial leadership for Intranet, editing and overseeing daily content and news production.
• Support alignment of timely and effective Internal Communications by developing and maintaining an editorial schedule and by being a key writer of homepage content including corporate news and polls.
• Develop, maintain and manage the necessary infrastructure for content publication including policies, process and procedures.
• Create and maintain standards to ensure quality control of the content on the Intranet, working in partnership with Business Unit and Divisional site administrators and content owners to enforce content-editorial policy and corporate identity guidelines.
• Chair the Intranet Editorial Board and be an active member on the Intranet Council.
• Partner with the Intranet Council, IT, Business Units, web administrators, content owners and project stakeholders to identify opportunities and implement solutions that drive usage, streamline processes and facilitate communications, ultimately developing goals and strategies for future content growth.
• Review and analyze employee feedback and site metrics on an ongoing basis, taking action where appropriate to drive usage and enhance content.
• Support the implementation of the Intranet revamp launch communications plan. 
• Support the implementation of employee communication initiatives including quarterly employee updates, employee cascades, electronic newsletters and special projects. 

Qualifications:

• Accomplished and fluent business writer and editor, preferably with experience working in a daily newspaper, publication, news, business Internet or Intranet environment
• Experience in communication management of Intranets including the use of Content Management Systems (CMS), internet content presentation and web writing style
• Familiarity with web technology and how it can be leveraged as a communication/business tool
• Strong relationship building and negotiation skills
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment with the ability to adapt to change and meet timelines without sacrificing quality
• Basic knowledge of HTML and ASP and some experience in design software and web implementation tools/languages: Photoshop, Illustrator/Freehand, Flash, html,dhtml, javascript 
• Post secondary training or a degree in a related field
• Effective interpersonal, communication, time management and collaboration skills
• 5+ years applicable experience

Keep in mind that the Editor-in-Chief is more than a writer. The Editor-in-Chief is a manager – they manage people, apply standards, and know a thing or two about stick-handling through corporate politics. Writing skills are important, but less important than management skills.

There are a number of personality and management tests that could be employed for testing these skills. My suggestion and one of my favorites is the DISC Profile Personality Test. This is to test apptitude, personality, and management skills. Other writing and skillset tests would be above and beyond this DISC profile test.

Learning from best practices and case study leaders is highly important to delivering highly effective intranet and Internet websites.

Here are just some of the conferences, seminars and webinars on both intranets and Internet websites that I or one of my colleagues at Prescient are conducting over the next few weeks:

(Vancouver) The Best Intranets of 2006 (BC Communications Forum)

January 29, 2007  Vancouver. BC

(Vancouver) Social Media: Are you in?

UBC Robson Square, Vancouver BC, January 30, 2007

(Calgary) Social Media: Are you in?

The Fairmont Palliser, Calgary, AB, January 31, 2007

(Toronto) Managing Change using Intranets, Blogs and Wikis - What the Professional Communicator needs to know Toronto, Ontario, February 6, 2007

Intranet Insider World Tour: British Airways

Webinar (Communitelligence.com), March 15, 2007

2nd Annual Alberta Communications Forum

Calgary, Alberta, March 1st, 2007

IntraTeam – Event 2007

Copenhagen, Demark, March 08, 2007

Selling A New Intranet to Senior Management

Webinar (Summers), February 27, 2007 (Download the registration form)

Social Software: Assessing the Value to MyBusiness

Toronto, ON March 7, 2007 (Download the registration form)

Attracting Site Users and Improving their Online Experience

Toronto and Vancouver, March 15, 2007 (Download the registration form)

--

Kudos to my friend and colleague James Robertson for promoting his upcoming events and availability for clients during his next European trip. As for my availability for other speaking events or consulting to your organization, please contact me sooner than later (particularly for my upcoming European trip starting in Denmark) as I’m 85% booked over the next 8 weeks.

Toby Ward is an intranet consultant (Internet consultant too) and the founder of Prescient Digital Media. He has worked with and improved many, many company intranets including Amgen, HSBC, Mastercard, Manulife, PepsiCo, Royal Bank, etc. Toby and his company are consultants for hire and can help improve your intranet… if given the right amount of time and motivation J You can e-mail him at toby{at}prescientdigital{dot-com}

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For more intranet news visit www.IntranetReport.com

© 2006 Toby Ward - Prescient Digital Media

HP has been an innovator for decades. With 150,000 employees in 170 countries supporting thousands of different projects, the intranet has to be solid and a unifying force in such a diverse and disparate company.

@hp is the unifying center of the employee intranet experience – the portal for all employees – with one-stop access to 1,850 intranet applications.

Please see the complete article on the Intranet Insider on Communitelligence.com: Intranet case study: HP.

Also note the next Intranet Insider World Tour stop is British Airways on February 21st... please see Intranet Insider World Tour: British Airways.

When an intranet malfunctions, the ramifications can be severe. One such extreme example is the intranet of the Malaysian Meteorological Department of the Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry which, according to the Malaysian news website Sun2Surf (see Malaysia red-faced over mistaken tsunami warning) triggered a Tsunami warning and beach evacuation on the Malaysian coasts of Kedah, Perlis and Penang.

“The advisory issued shortly after 11am was on an earthquake/tsunami alert Level 2 with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale which had “occurred” at 10.45am near northern Sumatra, with the centre of the earthquake being near Pekan Baru, 250km southwest of Kuala Lumpur.

 

It also stated that tremors were expected to be felt in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia with a small possibility of a local destructive tsunami which could affect the coasts of Kedah, Perlis and Penang.

 

It also advised people to stay away from the beach and to be on standby for further instructions from the authorities.

A seismology division spokesman said this was the first time that such an error had occurred.

 

“We apologise for the confusion that has arisen from this advisory but this is not due to a typo error. Whenever there is an earthquake, we key in the necessary information into our own intranet system which is then sent to the relevant agencies, including the media.

“However, our system had some form of failure and the wrong message was sent out through the intranet system. Our ICT department is currently running checks to determine how this could have happened,” she added.

 

She said a revision of the earthquake information was sent out later on an earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale which occurred south of Java, 225km southwest of Yogyakarta, 1248km south of Kuching at 10.44am with no tsunami threat. A Reuters report from KUALA LUMPUR:  Malaysian authorities mistakenly issued a tsunami warning today, and their embarrassment only deepened when beachgoers failed to receive it.

 

“It’s a technical glitch. The system broke down and it issued an old warning to everyone including the media,” said the science minister’s press secretary Ainon Mohd.

 

“We are asking the press to ignore the warning,” she said.

 

But one local media group had already issued the warning twice via its nationwide text-message service. The warning came from the meteorological department, part of the science ministry.

As I said, this is an extreme example of an intranet glitch gone wrong. I need not go into any rant about why executives should spend more money on their intranets because it may evacuate local beaches… but they should spend more money on their intranet J

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: I’d like an intranet that gave large wave notices for employees… so they know when best to ditch work for the surf. Executives should spend more on the intranet so that we can all have more quality surf time…

I haven’t seen much football this year (neither version), but I did watch the last half of the Colts-Patriots game. One of the best games you could ever see. Legendary. Of the other kind of football (the ‘real’ kind), I wish Arsenal could play Manchester United more times in a season. That was another extraordinary game with Arsenal and Thierry Henry beating the Bombers in extra time for the season sweep of their majesties from Manchester.

It’s birthday season with my 6-year-old having turned of age, with the party to follow in two weeks, and the baby to turn one in a couple of weeks. The carnage of present unwrapping since Xmas continues unabated… but the girls are worth it J Happy Birthday girls!

Is it wrong to keep heaping praise on the Phoenix Suns? 13 in a row… Also, how about those Vancouver Canucks over their past 13 games?

Anyone know why I can’t order Conn Iggulden’s last installment in the Emporer series (in Canada) until March 27th? I did find one site that will deliver Emperor: the Gods of War (Emperor) on February 1. Yeah, I know how it ends of course, but this is a great biographical series on Caesar and a worthwhile read. His new series is on Genghis and Kublai Khan. I’ve already ordered the first one, Wolf of the Plains …

Other books I’ve finished of late include For Whom the Bell Tolls (Hemmingway; great read), JPod (Copeland; an average read but very good in its mocking of Vancouver and the software industry in general), Creating Competitive Advantage (Smith; average but with a very worthwhile message and takeaway for entrepreneurs), and I’m halfway through A Complete History of Nearly Everything (Bryson; struggling with this one) and Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky; brilliant and maddening all at once).

Dostoyevsky isn’t necessarily bedtime reading (though he is brilliant in putting you inside the mind of a madman, hence not always good before bedtime) so last night I instead decided to unwind with a movie… the Exorcist II. Yeah, not my best choice. An appalling bad movie, but quite spooky in some parts if you saw when it first came out the original as I did some 25+ years ago. That movie scared the #$@*! out of me and still does. I put The Shining as a close second.

I’ve read a lot of classics in the past year or two: Tale of Two Cities, War and Peace, The Great Gatsby, The Old Man and the Sea, For the Good of the Cause, and a raft of others… given the above, can anyone recommend another classic that you’d think I’d like? I’m out of top-of-mind choices that move me to read it…

The world’s biggest intranet, the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI, with a total price tag of about $10-billion) serves more than 500,000 users – mostly marines and sailors in the field.

The end users are happy with the intranet – whether its dependability, support, or the ability to find information – user satisfaction is about 70%. Mission accomplished. Or is it…

NMCI is viewed as a failing project. A report by the Government Accountability Office (see GAO-07-51) is critical of NMCI for never implementing a plan developed in 2000 to measure and report project progress. GAO says that NMCI intranet has met a paltry three of 20 performance targets set for the intranet.

"By not implementing its performance plan, the Navy has invested, and risks continuing to invest heavily, in a program that is not subject to effective performance management and has yet to produce expected results," auditors said.

But the real damning evidence is from management. In two different satisfaction surveys with naval and marine commanders, the intranet was shot to pieces.

“Specifically, on a scale of 0-3 with 0 being not satisfied, and 1 being slightly satisfied with the contractor’s support in meeting the mission needs and strategic goals of these organizations, the average response from all organizations was 0.65 and 0.76 in September 2005 and March 2006, respectively. The latest survey results show minor differences in the degree of dissatisfaction with the four types of contractor services addressed (cutover services, technical solutions, service delivery, and warfighter support),” says the GAO report.

Users can find information and do most of the things that they want, but the intranet is failing to live up to its purpose. If an intranet fails to achieve business objectives and deliver on the priorities of management, then the intranet fails. It’s money wasted, and opportunity squandered.

Design and usability are important, but both are tertiary values compared to planning, performance and content (including governance, process and resources). Despite the incredible hype and emphasis on look-and-feel and usability testing (specifically these ridiculous awards reports and ceremonies), colors, pictures, blogs, and podcasts are all for nothing if the intranet does not have well executed plan that supports management objectives.

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For more intranet news visit www.IntranetReport.com

© 2006 Toby Ward - Prescient Digital Media

I’m not a big fan of predictions and soothsaying, but I still read those that are well thought.

Tony Byrne has developed his Predictions for 2007 which include:

• Google de-googles its appliance
• AJAX UI backlash
• Web managers embracing the delete key
• Falling seat prices
• Rediscovery of workflow
• Portal platforms will diversify

I agree with most of Tony’s predictions, but I think there are bigger ones at play. I know I said I don’t do these predictions but since my company is called ‘Prescient’ I feel compelled to become a hypocrite.

The year 2007 will see:

• Microsoft crank-up the marketing of Sharepoint leading to more and more customers buying without seriously examining alternative solutions
• Standalone portal products will continue to be considerably out-done by CMS solutions
• More vendors delivering a complete all-in-one solution that includes robust content management, search and portal functionality
• Continued market consolidation with many more CMS vendors being bought, merged or disappearing
• Dramatic growth in open source implementation and increased profile and functionality for bigger name solutions such as Zope, Alfresco, OpenCMS, and Plone
• More and more organizations will convert PDF and MS-Word forms to online submission forms with a mixture of in-house and outsourced solutions
• The search engine market will experience less growth than previous years as more organizations realize their current engine suffices and instead focus on content tagging, categorizing, process and policies
• Discussion and focus on Knowledge Management (KM) will continue to decline as more organizations instead narrow their attention to specific tools such as Web 2.0 applications
• More organizations will implement blogs and wikis, but they will still be part of a minority group; social bookmarking and podcasting will still remain little more than a fad on the intranet

Agree? Disagree? What other predictions will come true? Post your comment or question below.

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For more intranet news visit www.IntranetReport.com

Intranets don’t deliver good ROI; applications deliver great ROI. Or so we’re told.

Why do stores like the Gap, Target, Nordstrom’s, etc. locate in malls? Malls exist because they attract a lot of shoppers and therefore retailers like the Gap are willing to pay a lot of rent to realize the sales and ROI that come from those shoppers. If the shopping mall doesn’t exist, a lot of retailers lose out. The stores don’t get the sales, and they don’t get the ROI.

The intranet benefits applications as the mall benefits stores. Intranets drive traffic to applications which reap the big ROI.

One of my favorite application ROI examples is the fantastic SuperSleuth sales lead tool on the SodhexoUSA intranet (see Best practices case study: Sodexho USA). SuperSleuth is an intranet application that encourages employees to submit sales leads and prospective clients via the intranet. Successful leads submitted via the SuperSleuth intranet page generate cash rewards of up to $1000 for the person making the submission. Sodexho says it has contributed to a 100% increase in sales leads in the past year and led to US$90 million dollars in managed volume (net client sales including sales by client).

The Sodexho intranet home, compliments of SodexhoUSA

("Revolutionizing Employee Communication", Angelo Ioffreda, Sodexho USA)

SuperSleuth is an intranet based tool that would be no means receive that volume of leads nor generate the dollars it does without the intranet to drive those leads. The intranet home page promotes the tool and generates the traffic that reaps the reward.

It’s no longer acceptable for an accountant or techie to tell you that you can’t count the ROI on the employee directory, or online expense form, or sales lead generator as intranet ROI. The intranet begets the tool that delivers the value and as such should be recognized as a successful delivery platform that delivers ROI.

While some tools like online benefits enrollment might still generate a high ROI without the foundation that is the intranet, others like SuperSleuth depend on the intranet. It’s fair to say, based on my anecdotal and measured observations, that many applications owe 50% of their value to the intranet.

Without the mall, many stores would scramble for customers – many enterprises are without a business model. Like the mall, the intranet ensures the success of its application stores and makes possible a business model that wouldn’t exist without a supporting foundation.

To measure and increase the value of your intranet, please dowload the free white paper, Finding ROI.

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For more intranet news visit www.IntranetReport.com

© 2006 Toby Ward - Prescient Digital Media

I receive many, many questions about different content management systems and portal products and asked for my opinions on one product or vendor versus another. My response, in short, is: who cares!!

Okay usually I’m a little more polite than that, and I try not to foam at the mouth or have a hissy fit (hey, I’m only a product of my environment and I have two young daughters). My long response is a little more intelligent: it doesn’t matter what a product has or can do, what is more important is what it can do for you. More specifically, how does it meet your organization’s specific user, business and functional requirements?

Sharepoint promotional slide (Microsoft.com) with the requisite

stock photo to make me want to buy... she's cute but...

The number one vendor I’m questioned about is Microsoft, particularly Sharepoint. I know some friends and colleagues at Microsoft will give me a tough time on this, but I am completely technology neutral. Neither my company Prescient nor I have any technology partnerships or reseller (VAR) agreements with any vendor. That makes me and Prescient a very rare breed. The vast majority of even the small web design shops have partnerships with one or several vendors like Microsoft; making those firms bias. I am not and have no axe to grind with MS. In fact, I like Microsoft, I admire the Sharepoint team, and I like Microsoft’s own corporate portal (MSWeb).

However… I am not yet intimately familiar with the latest version of Sharepoint. But I am not a fan of the previous version, and I do not like the Microsoft CMS. The previous version of Sharepoint and CMS were very simplistic and limited; fine for very simple document management, but in my opinion, not very good for an enterprise intranet. Sharepoint is a fine product for some organizations, but wouldn’t be a good fit for many others.

Here’s the crux of my point: what works for one organization is sure not to work for yours. Everyone organization is unique with unique needs. This is not just true for Microsoft, but for ALL vendors and products. We’re working with a client that uses Plumtree. And frankly, this implementation, like most of the Plumtree implementations that I’ve seen, is brutal. However, I’ve also seen a very good Plumtree implementation for GlaxoSmithKline (I’ll be doing a case study article in the coming weeks).

But forget about what I have to say about Sharepoint, or what IT says, or any other company (including Microsoft). Best spend your time determining what you need to do, and then match those needs to the available solutions.

If you’re planning a new intranet – or extranet or website – take a few weeks to really thoroughly document your user, business and functional requirements for a CMS or intranet platform and then match them to several different vendor offerings. There are thousands of potential solutions to power your intranet. Take the time to thoroughly understand and document your needs and a few of these vendors.

The best way to find the best solution for your organization’s needs is through a *detailed* RFP. Get the vendors working for your business… don’t just look at the product offerings of a couple and make a decision. It might be that Sharepoint or Plumtree works for you in the end, but why not make certain. It’s just too expensive and complex a decision not to spend a few weeks gathering requirements and evaluating a few vendors accordingly.

NOTE TO VENDORS: Please don’t spam me with your sales pitches on why Sharepoint or your solution is the cat’s meow. This is not a critique of Sharepoint, Plumtree or any other solution. It’s a recommendation for following a *process* to choose Sharepoint, Plumtree or another solution. I’m not above being bribed thoug; but I’ll still remain technology neutral  Good case studies are always welcome though and frequently featured here.

About the author: Toby Ward is an intranet consultant (Internet consultant too) and the founder of Prescient Digital Media. He has worked with and improved many, many company intranets including Amgen, HSBC, Mastercard, Manulife, PepsiCo, Royal Bank, etc. Toby and his company are consultants for hire and can help improve your intranet… if given the right amount of time and motivation J Toby is also available to watch or play just about any sport – including the culinary sports J You may contact this intranet consultant directly.