Future Intranet &
the Future Intranet Manager
JMC Intranet Manager Breakfast
Paris, February 2009
Jane McConnell

Discussion points
• What direction are intranets moving today?
• How do you make your intranet
“essential”?
• How is the Intranet Manager positioned in
the organization?
• What knowledge & skills should an Intranet
Manager have?
• How do Intranet Managers see their future
role?

What direction are
intranets moving today?

Intranet change drivers
• Portal technologies - bringingunified user
the global
and the local together into a
view
• Social media - energizing the intranet &
making it more relevant
• Application essential work tool the
integration - making
intranet an
• Increased awareness of senior & business
management
• ....

Business change drivers
• Virtual teams - internal + external
• New expectations: “like Google”, “like
NetVibes”
• Tele-working
• PDAs and smart phones
• Global the money - follow the sun,
context: 24/24
follow
• ....

Result....the intranet is being
stretched
• Today’s typical intranet is not sustainable
• Arthritic - too hard to publish
• Closed - limited to employees
• Sedentary - limited to office, limited to PCs
• Too top-down - still too coporate
• Not people-oriented - insufficient user-generated
content
• ....

(3 stages of intranet maturity, figures from 2008 Global Intranet Strategies Survey)
22 % (n=49)
stage The intranet is “the way of
working” now.
3
43 % (n=96)
stage
2 It will be soon: “in 1 or 2 years”
35 % (n=79)
stage
It will be later: “in 3,4 years or more”
1

How do you make your
intranet “essential”?

View from inside Stage 1
“ Our focus this year and last year is around
communication, navigation and self
service, as these are areas we have the
most control over. Our next step will be
integrating many of the business applications
and activities into this framework.”
stage
1
35

View from inside Stage 2
“ Our biggest challenge for next year is to
change the culture of the company to
not use email for example as a
communication/collaboration medium for
projects and teams etc.”
stage
2
34

View from inside Stage 3
“ Portal usage is included in personal
KPI for our performance management
system.This included measurements on
quality / quantity of project updates,
information published, etc.
This has encouraged people to integrate the
portal into their respective business
processes.” stage
3
36

How is the Intranet
Manager positioned
in the organization?

Can you judge a book by the cover?
Different titles on business cards give very
different impressions
• Intranet Coordinator / Manager / Leader /Gatekeeper /
Overseer
• “Intranet Producer”, “Content Manager”, “Editorial Webmaster”
• “Director of Intranet Services”, “Global Intranet Services
Manager”
• “Interactive Communications Manager”, “Online
Communications Officer”
• “Manager, Enterprise Web Management”
• “Manager - Internal Web Capability”
• “Business Change Manager - Intranet”

Where is the intranet manager
in the organization?
• Which function?
• IT, Communications, HR, Business, Other....
• What level?
• How far from the top? Reports to whom?
• What context?
• Internet & intranet together?
• ....

What knowledge &
skills should an Intranet
Manager have?

Knowledge required by intranet manager
'extremely important' (in percentage)
Technology
Stage 3
Stage 2 Tools
IA 60
Stage 1
50
40
30
20
Business proc.
UCD
Finances, ROI
Need anal. tech.
Org. dynamics Business cases
n = 224 Q330 ©2008 Jane McConnell
Business orientation and information organization considered
extremely important in Stage 3

Skills required by intranet manager
'extremely important' (in percentage)
Communication
Stage 3
Stage 2 Marketing
Project
Stage 1
20 40 60 80
Creativity Analytical
Leadership
Negotiation
Strategic
n = 223 Q331 ©2008 Jane McConnell
Communication & project management skills considered
very important in Stage 3

How do Intranet
Managers see their
future role?

View from inside Stage 1
“ Needs to be recognized as a real job.”
“ There’s a lot of growth opportunity for
someone in this role.”
“ Filling the gap between collaboration,
classic intranet, social networking and
document management.”
stage
1
35

View from inside Stage 2
“ The intranet manager will become
increasingly marginalized because business
leaders assume anyone can build a web site.
It is key for the intranet professional to
position himself as the creator of
productivity, innovation, efficiency,....”
stage
2
34

View from inside Stage 3
“ I think you will see ... intranet manager
roles turning ino senior leadership positions
across organizations or at least within those
who will be at the forefront of success in the
next decade.”
stage
3
36

End of formal
presentation

Points discussed following the
presentation:
The following slides describe situations the breakfast participants are in.
As a group, we did not necessarily provide answers.
Most of these points are open issues.
If you have experiences to share in these areas, please open a discussion on
NetJMC & Co Linkedin group for intranet managers.

The proliferation of tools
• There are many different tools availableor
throughout organizations for the same
similar purposes, especially for
collaboration.
• The spread of social media is in part responsible
for this.
• Should the intranet manager take control of the
situation?
• It is essential to get people to start with their
purpose, then choose the tool.
• Should enterprises impose tools or allow choice?

Note from Jane on proliferation of
tools
(survey data*)
• Organizationsand use ofthe most mature in
who are
collaboration social media (Stage
3) emphasize 2 things more than the other
enterprises:
• The choice of tool is highly regulated
• The right to open a collaborative space is
controlled (procedures & guidelines)
Global Intranet Strategies Surveys: 2007 and 2008

Personalization “out of control”
• One intranet manager described a situation
where personalized services (content feeds
based on implicit and explicit
personalization) are causing information
chaos and overload
• Too many parts of the organization are providing
these services; there is no overall strategy.
• Is it possible to have a strategy in this area?
• Is it preferable to leave a high degree of autonomy?

Creation of a CIO position
• One organization on external
that has historically been
focused primarily
communication is now creating a CIO
position (Chief Information Officer)
focused on internal needs.
• What profile should they look for?
• How should the job be described?
• Where should the job reside in the organization?

Suppression of the intranet
manager role
• Onerole of Intranet Manager to eliminate
organization has decided
the
• The different business and functions in the
organization are now responsible for defining their
needs regarding internal web capacities
• IT then provides the solution.
• There is no defined role responsible for the overall
strategy.

End of open points

Consider joining...
The 2009 Global Intranet Strategies Survey
and receive “Global Intranet Trends for 2010”
www.netjmc.com/survey for more information
The Linkedin group dedicated to
Intranet Managers
The Twitter group “IntranetWatch”
Jane McConnell
jane@netjmc.com
www.netjmc.com
cell: +33 (0)6 1203 6634
39

Thank you!
NetStrategy/JMC
Jane McConnell
Intranet & portal strategy consultant
- Strategy Workshops & Roadmaps
- Customized Diagnosis & Action Plan
- “Global Intranet Trends for 2009”
(see www.netjmc.com/survey for more information)
jane@netjmc.com
www.netjmc.com
cell: +33 (0)6 1203 6634
39

Reference Slides

Stage 1
• The intranet will become the “way of working” in
3 or 4 years or more.
• Information flows are primarily top-down.
• Few business applications have been integrated.
• If the intranet “goes down” for 1 or 2 hours,
40 percent are disrupted in daily work
activities.
8

Stage 2
• The intranet will become the “way of working” in 1
or 2 years.
• Reported major leaps in last 12 months in
integration of business applications into the intranet.
• If the intranet “goes down” for 1 or 2 hours,
60 percent are disrupted in daily work
activities.
9

Stage 3
• The intranet is the “way of working” today.
• Many business applications and process support
tools are integrated into the intranet.
• Stronger usage of collaboration tools and spaces.
• If the intranet “goes down” for 1 or 2 hours,
90 percent are disrupted in daily work
activities.
10