This document recommends adopting Google Sites as the intranet for NFI based on its low cost, accessibility, and ability to meet basic needs. It conducted research on effective intranets, defined user needs, and created an internal IT pilot site. For Google Sites to be successful, the summary says sponsorship, governance, user training, and support are needed to manage content and ensure the intranet is effective long-term.

1. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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Prepared for: CIO
Prepared by: Jamie Barton
Executive Assistant
Goal:
a. To define what makes an effective intranet.
b. Research and outline how Google Sites would work for NFI
c. Coordinate a Google Sites User Group within I.T.
d. Create an Internal Pilot for I.T.
Recommendation Summary:
Since NFI is already paying for this application in the Google Apps Suite, it is
best to take advantage of it. Here is why:
! Simple to use
! Accessible Anywhere
! Meets basic intranet needs of NFI Employees
! Collaborative and social in nature
! Live updating
Cost Summary:
Google Sites is basically free…as long as NFI continues to pay for the Google
Apps Suite as part of Gmail. The cost incurred would be soft dollars- resource
time to design, maintain, and support the company intranet.

2. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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A. Effective Intranet
After researching the web, reading a few books, and talking with members of our
Google Sites User Group, it has been determined that the following make an
effective intranet:
• Employee Experience- Clear Navigation, Purposeful Design, Organized
Structure
• Sponsorship- Executive sponsorship that sustains the intranet
• Governance- Create a clear set of rules that dictates what is acceptable
and unacceptable
• User Needs- Specific needs of users accessing the intranet
• Content Management- Someone(s) will need to be responsible for the
collection, management, and publishing.
• Fun to Use- Add a couple of features that people will enjoy to use
• Employee Training- Spend time showing people how to use it and solicit
feedback
• Support- Someone will need to have the know-how to keep things running
smoothly
User Needs, Defined by User Group within NFI I.T.
Need Example of Use
Document Repository SLA’s
Knowledgebase/Wiki Support Solutions
Collaboration Project Documentation, RFP’s
Alerts/Workflow Change Control, New Employee, Site Shutdown/Start up
Calendars Important Dates- Monthly Maintenance Window/ Benefits Due, Etc.
Directories Hierarchy, Contact Information, Customer List
Company News Important Things to Know
Blogs Forum to informally discuss successes, issues to look for, etc.
Reporting Metrics on site visits to know if content is good
Bulletin Board Forum to post information
Full Text Search Ability to find solutions by searching across site and docs

3. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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B. Google Sites for NFI
Tool Recommendation
It is my recommendation that Google Sites will make a good intranet for NFI.
Here is why:
! Simple to use
• Single click page creation
• Customizable look and feel
• Dozens of Templates
! Accessible anywhere- with more and more staff bringing their own tools
to work, working from home, or on the go…this matters.
! Meets basic intranet needs of NFI Employees- While not ALL needs
are met I think it is important to consider that there is no additional cost to
implement a Google Sites Intranet and if managed correctly we can
stretch the capabilities.
Need Google Sites Comments
Yes No
Document Repository x (Stretch) Google Sites allows you to
link to Google Docs which
acts as a Document
Repository. The limited
search capability makes this
weak as you cannot search
across the site only a page.
Knowledgebase/Wiki x (Stretch) Google Sites supports very
basic version control. In
addition the search
capability is very limited.
The knowledgebase/wiki is
a stretch for Google Sites.
Collaboration x Google Sites supports
document sharing and basic
version control. Multi-user
authoring is provided by
Google Apps. Google Sites
also offers IM and Notes.
Alerts/Workflow x This is not “out of the box”
but with basic programming
the integration can be done.
Calendars x Ability to insert calendars
within a site.
Directories x Google’s sync tool is limited
and does not support
hierarchies and does not

4. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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expose additional fields (ie
manager, department,
admin etc.). However,
current directories can be
housed in a Google Docs
Repository.
Company News x This can easily be
communicated on a Google
Sites Announcement Page
Blogs x (Stretch) Announcement pages allow
users to comment. This is
similar to and often used as
a blog within Google Sites.
Reporting x Google Analytics offers
reporting capabilities worth
exploring.
Bulletin Board x This is not a feature within
Google Sites.
Full Text Search x There is limited text
searching available. You
can search for text on the
selected page only.
! Collaborative and social in nature
• You can see who is viewing a document at the same time as you
• Chat with each other if necessary
• Leave notes and so forth
• lows you to skip the email
! Live updating- whenever a document gets updated, the new document
shows up almost instantaneously on the site.
o It’s basically free- as long as NFI continues to pay for the Google Apps Suite as
part of Gmail. The cost incurred would be soft dollars- resource time to design,
maintain, and support the company intranet.
Administration- things to consider before getting started
Description Recommendation
Permissions Set at a Global Level. Options
are everyone can create a site or
only Administrators
Highly recommended that
Administrators create sites and then
assign a user rights to that site/page.
Otherwise, risks increase of losing
data because if a user is terminated
the site will also be terminated.
Site Privacy and
Security Controls
Google Sites are either public or
private. Users are unable to
make a single page, or page
area, or a field in a list “private” or
“permitted only for a certain user
role.”
All NFI Sites should be made Private
to avoid leaking information to the
wrong people.

5. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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Configurable
Storage and
Quotas
Google provides 10Gb of shared
storage for sites in a domain, plus
500Mb for each Premier Edition
user account but storage quotas
cannot be set.
Understand what this means to NFI
and if purchasing more storage is
obtainable if needed.

6. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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Set up- Recommendation based on Google’s Permissions
An intranet is created within Google Sites by creating a Master domain and linking other sites to
it. Each linked site can have different assigned permissions. See Example below:
*Please note that workflow is not an option, therefore, someone should govern the content.
In the diagram above, the Administrator would create the domain for the Site Owner and link it
to the Intranet Domain. The Site Owner would then in turn assign page permissions AFTER
creating the page to the Page Owner.
Page OwnerSite OwnerAdministrator
NFI Intranet
IT Dept
Jamie Barton
Support Services
Jason Tres
TMW
Franck Gerard
HR Dept
Jessica Jung
IT Service Center
Jane Gilson

7. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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C. Google Sites User Group within I.T.
A User Group was set up within I.T. with the intent to share tips and tricks about Google Sites.
The majority of the employees that joined the group had little to no experience. The
participating members included Abe Hudson, Josh Handler, Steven Lentz, Alex Savitz, and Fred
Morley. We started in May meeting twice a month and dissolved at the end of August. The
groups focused steered to support the following:
• Define an Intranet
• Determine what makes an Effective Intranet
• Understand Google Sites capabilities by participating in training led by L-Tech
• Outline what they would use an internal IT Page for
• Outline what they would communicate out to an external NFI employee Intranet?
• Reviewed, provided input and approved the NFI IT Department Pilot Site
• Assigned content creation
The group was very helpful until we approached the outlining content. It seems that finding time
to create the content is a constraint. When balancing competing priorities, the internal
site/newsletter falls to the bottom.

8. Google Sites Recommendation
December 31, 2012
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D. Internal I.T. Department Pilot- Replacing Newsletter
An I.T. Department Site was created and presented to the I.T. Management Team in July. The
Site was launched to ALL I.T. Employees in August, primarily focusing on the I.T. Department
Meeting. I am continuing to make progress on the Fun to Use, but the User Needs and Content
Management is not there. In order for this to be effective, Sponsorship is needed. I met with
Jeffrey Berger on this when he first joined the I.T. Team and he recognized it as a concern.
The site address is: https://sites.google.com/a/nfiindustries.com/nfi-information-technology/
E. In Summary
Google Sites is a cost effective way for NFI Employees to communicate, collaborate, locate,
share, and learn. However, it is important that all items defined in Section A. Effective Intranet
are considered. Without consideration, the Intranet may not be successful.