The document discusses intranet solutions for IT departments. An intranet can help address challenges IT staff face by enabling easy access to information, facilitating communication and collaboration across teams, and providing centralized management of projects and resources. Key benefits include streamlined knowledge sharing, improved coordination of complex projects involving multiple groups, effective version control, and online access to data libraries and project updates. The document provides examples of how an IT department can use an intranet for technical support, project management, software development, and more.

2. Intranet Solutions for for IT Departments
Overview
The IT process depends heavily on easy access to a broad library of technical information and resources,
usually spread across diverse and changing platforms, teams and geographic locations.
In addition to technical information, IT staff members need access to information from a variety of other
functional areas, such as field problem reports from customer service, business process information that could
influence design and quality issues that could be easily corrected by design changes. Accessing and
consolidating this information requires significant time and effort. Paper-based information, such as
technical drawings and IT change orders, is cumbersome and costly to distribute and update. Other
information may be stored in multiple databases, making it difficult to access and consolidate.
Challenges
IT management must establish, update, consolidate and
communicate many interdependent project schedules that are
constantly changing. Projects often involve multiple development
groups in different locations and time zones. Collaboration and
coordination are complex to manage. In-person meetings may be
impractical, and time differences often make telephone conferences
difficult to schedule. In addition, resource libraries are difficult to
synchronize between teams, often resulting in increased QA
expenditures and slower time to market.
Typical IT Staff Challenges:
IT management faces significant challenges in addressing important issues, including:
•
Enabling developers to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and expertise available within
the organization.
•
Managing complex development projects involving multiple teams and departments that may be spread
across different geographical locations.
•
Establishing and maintaining effective version control.
•
Access to online data libraries and repositories.
•
Communication of timely status on IT related projects to the organization.
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3. The Intranet Solution
Intranets give IT departments the technology they need for workgroup communication and collaboration,
document and resource control and project management. IT staff can share files easily through the
network. Newsgroups, e-mail, chat, groupware and multimedia technologies facilitate communication and
collaboration. Corporate Intranets also provide a means of centralizing consolidating, publishing and updating
project information that changes frequently. The IT department benefits from a dramatic reduction in paper as
well as more effective version control.
Management can consolidate information that resides on a variety of sources so the IT staff can take full
advantage of the corporate knowledgebase in real time.
IT Uses
Technical Support and Help Desk
Publish FAQ’s, help desk contact phone numbers,
procedure documents, and entry forms to support
requests, feedback, or to report a problem. Publish
intranet/help desk resources and their schedules.
Benefits from Intranet Deployment
• Intranet FAQs are efficient and avoid repetition of the
most common questions for the help desk.
• Published numbers are effective in routing calls to the
correct contacts in IT.
• Procedure documents give employees advice or
steps to on how to request new computer equipment,
a computer repair, or extended network access.
• IT Dept can utilize forms to track what people are
doing or asking
IT Operations And Network Support
• Hardware Asset Tracking
• Software and Hardware Maintenance Agreement
Tracking
• Backup Tape Library Management / Rotation
• Vendor Support Contact Information
Product development and project
documentation
Publish both current and historic artifacts such as
product design studies, drawings, and specifications for sharing by project team. Provide a central
location for team resource assignments, project
schedules, action items, task lists and
progress reports.
• Speeds the updating and distribution of information
related to product development resulting in faster
time to market.
• Speeds the dissemination of critical project
management information.
• Increases team effectiveness because participants
are aware of assignments, critical schedules and
responsibilities.
IT Change Orders
Post Change Orders in a central location for access
by IT and business functional areas.
• Eliminates the wasteful mistakes and redundant
Workflow management
Implement groupware applications that provide
effective management of project workflow.
• Speeds the review and approval process.
efforts that result when people unknowingly work with
obsolete information.
• Enhances version control.
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4. IT Uses
Benefits from Intranet Deployment
Standards and methodology
Provide a central location for design standards,
development methodologies, acceptable use and
security policies.
• Ensures consistency and quality throughout the design
IT information and Development knowledge
libraries/repositories
Establish central repository of code, specifications,
objects, tools, utilities, configurations, errors
and tasks.
• Improves productivity by leveraging existing resources.
QA feedback
Receive real-time customer feedback through
service and support teams.
• Improves quality and time to market by accelerating
Technical papers
Post in-process technical papers for review and
comment. Publish completed papers for use by all
functional areas.
• Improves document quality by encouraging input from
Software and applications shared
development and delivery
Provide central repository for in-process work to
enable a sharing of work by development, test,
quality assurance, documentation and other groups.
• Takes advantage of time zone differences to work
and development process.
• Ensures consistency and quality of technical/security
policies and procedures.
• Improves consistency and quality through reuse.
the delivery of customer feedback to IT development
and design teams.
a broader audience.
• Provides a valuable source of technical information for
IT staff and customer service.
multiple shifts each day without requiring overtime.
• Shortens product and documentation development
cycles and allows faster time to market-giving the
company a competitive edge.
• Provides user documentation for the broader audience.
Prototype applications
Make prototype software available for initial review
or proof of concept. Place models, drawings and
digital video of physical prototypes online.
Multimedia-base training
Place digital video of training modules geared to
train users at beginning or intermediate levels
• Centralizes distribution of prototypes for review or
discussion.
• Provides secure environment for confidential information.
• Allows for knowledge transfer in a multimedia format.
• Augments user documentation.
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5. Weidenhammer Intranet Solutions
In today’s world of instant access to information, Weidenhammer provides services and solutions
that improve organizational communication, collaboration, and workforce productivity through the
establishment of web-based gateways. Through a combination of industry and technical expertise,
and leveraging “best of breed technology” from partners such as Microsoft and IBM, Weidenhammer has assisted hundreds of clients in delivering improved business performance and functionality
in the areas of Portals and Intranets. Weidenhammer provides solutions that help connect people,
processes, and information, ensuring that information reaches recipients quickly, through the most
appropriate medium.
Microsoft Office SharePoint Technologies
Microsoft Office SharePoint Technologies provides a single, integrated location where employees
can efficiently collaborate with team members, find organizational resources, search for experts
and corporate information, manage content and workflow, and leverage business insight to make
better-informed decisions.
SharePoint Technologies provide services that enhance:
• Collaboration - Allow teams to work together effectively, collaborate on and publish
documents, maintain task lists, implement workflows, and share information (including
wikis and blogs).
• Search - Quickly and easily find people, expertise, and content.
• Document management – Including integrated records management, version control,
and Web content management.
• Workflows and electronic forms - to automate and streamline your business processes.
• Information worker access - to critical business information, data analysis and review,
reports to make more informed decisions.
> For more information, visit our website at www.hammer.net.
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