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Intranets--Not Dreams, But Reality
The importance of intranets for
document management and workflow
By Robert Smallwood
A year ago, the industry was teeming with activity and talk about the possibilities of using Internet technology for managing documents and work. How could it be done? What would be the benefits? What about security? What if it was an image document? Those were among the questions asked.
Well, now we can talk about real applications that seamlessly provide information that may reside elsewhere, possibly at a Web site. We can see that intranets will provide that bridge to our customers and suppliers--both internal and external--over disparate systems.
While document management and using Web technology was a flashy demo as little as a year ago, it has become de rigueur today. It is now a common corporate requirement to manage and control document collections over intranets.
PC Docs (Burlington, MA) maneuvered quickly by buying DataRamp to gain Net technology, shipping its first implementations early this year.
Saros/FileNet (Costa Mesa, CA) has already installed a few dozen intranet projects and benefited from a heavier server orientation, allowing for more rapid implementation of the thin client model. New players such as NetRight (Chicago) shocked the mainstays by bringing bidirectional updating and extensive Web capability right out of the gate.
Workflow vendors have also worked to improve their three-tier capabilities over the past year. The newly released Staffware (Wellesley, MA) Global application is a Java implementation that allows for systems of any type to participate in the work process, protecting legacy system investment.
Staffware already has several customers running live applications with its new Staffware Global product. The company lists rapid deployment, central control and reduced client administration among the software's benefits.
Goliath Microsoft (Redmond, WA) played catch-up after being stunned by the aggressiveness (and market valuation) of David Netscape (Mountain View, CA). Microsoft has successfully adjusted its strategy and resources after rethinking the impact of the Web. In fact, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates rewrote the ending of his book on his view of the future in the book's second release.
Just when it looked as if there would be only two combatants in the browser war, Sun Microsystems (Mountain View, CA) released its HotJava 1.0 browser, written entirely in Java. In the short term, this may not have much effect on the browser war, but it could help Sun over the long run. Sun has managed to gain much publicity and widespread support for Java, while Microsoft has again been fighting persistent unfair marketing practices charges, and most recently, security problems in its browser (not unlike Netscape a number of months ago).
For Sun, a strong browser means it does not have to negotiate with browser vendors over Java implementations, avoiding compromise or delay. In a departure from other browsers, HotJava can allow applets to access system resources locally, based on the applet's signature. Unlike Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer, no Sun logo appears on HotJava; instead, organizations can customize it with their own logo, even customizing use for departments or divisions. Some significant players have already rushed to sign up for HotJava, including Oracle (Redwood Shores, CA), IBM (Armonk, NY) and Mitsubishi (Cypress, CA).
With HotJava, even mainframe-centric applications can be moved over to embrace Web technology. Host screens can be dragged and dropped onto a Web page template, where Web tools can be used to create a Web-enabled application. With newly-available software, each mainframe data element becomes an object that the developer can control and link with Java, if desired, or with ActiveX or Visual Basic scripts. Still, other software now enables companies to deliver reports created with business applications to Web browsers.
So, today a new day has dawned, one in which there are limitless possibilities to provide business-to-business electronic commerce securely across heterogeneous platforms, to access the entire electronic library of the World Wide Web, and to ultimately provide faster business cycle times and direct links between customers, corporations, government and suppliers.
Following, we have assembled a few key innovators to describe their approaches to intranet technology. These are a few players that truly stand out and have something unique to say. Indeed, we have come a long way quickly.
Robert Smallwood is a partner with Imerge Consulting (New Orleans) and a member of the AIIM International Board of Directors, 504-525-4500, fax 504-525-9040, E-mail 102077.315@compuserve.com.
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