Assessing intranet cost-benefits

Why is cost-benefit analysis necessary? A method for calculating cost-benefits Scoping your intranet Establishing some basic facts & figures Analysing costs Forecasting benefits Analysing the results The cost-benefit calculator

Scoping your intranet

• Information publishing: using the intranet to deliver news and other information in the form of directories and web documents.
• E-mail: implementing an e-mail system that integrates seamlessly with the intranet, allowing information to be both 'pushed' and 'pulled'.
• Document management: using the intranet to allow users to view, print and work collaboratively on office documents (word-processed documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc.).
• Training: using the intranet to deliver training at the desktop.
• Workflow: using the intranet to automate administrative processes.
• Databases and other bespoke systems: using the intranet as a front-end to organisation-specific systems, such as corporate databases.
• Discussion: using the intranet as a means for users to discuss and debate issues.

Pretty well every organisation will implement the first of these – information publishing. The majority will have ambitions to extend their intranet to cover the rest of the list at some stage. Don’t be distracted into predicting too far into the future - apart from anything else it will make your calculations more difficult and less useful. Concentrate on what you expect to achieve in the first major wave of implementation – let’s say the first year.

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