July 15, 2002 New Thinking:
The lifecycle of intranets

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1. The lone evangelist
2. A few seeds
3. Vibrant organic growth
4. Management by community
5. Weeds sprout everywhere
6. Pruning and ordering, or anarchy and chaos
7. Maturity or decline

In the mid-Nineties, most management did not understand the potential benefits of intranets. Evangelists waited for management to 'get it.' When nothing happened, they decided to act. Often in their own time and without any budget, they built the first intranet. Then they went around telling everyone who would listen about the great things an intranet could do.

Slowly, a few seeds of enlightenment began to grow. Others grasped how the intranet could be such a powerful tool of communications. They began to build their own intranets. All of a sudden, intranets were sprouting up everywhere. It was a dizzying, exciting time as people embraced the intranet with enthusiasm.

Management looked on in puzzlement. Here was something that they had not planned. Here was something they didn't control. Here was something they still didn't quite understand. Some managers ignored what was happening. After all, it wasn't taking up much budget.

Others became casual converts. They embraced the buzzword of 'community.' This was counter traditional management thinking. It was about the staff self-organizing. And it was the late-Nineties. The Internet was changing everything. So, these managers embraced the concept that the intranet was an organic entity. The best way to manage it was not to manage it at all.

Time passed. The non-converts began to complain. They said that the intranet was a waste of time. You couldn't find anything. What you did find was often badly written or out-of-date. There were no standards, no control. A few intranets were indeed well managed, but most delivered little real value to the organization.

Management found itself at a crossroads. It could allow the intranet to continue its organic growth. Or, it could try to manage it in a professional manner.

Many intranets that I have come across are at this crossroads today. I have talked to managers who simply don't care. I met one manager whose organization has 1,000 separate intranets. He joked that 990 of them are useless. He intends to do nothing about it because he doesn't see the intranet as strategically important to the organization.

Other managers are rising to the challenge. They realize that too much control can kill the energy that makes the intranet a powerful force. Such managers are pursuing a strategy whereby the architecture of the intranet is centrally planned and managed. However, the publishing of content is decentralized to the local level, once basic publishing processes and standards are adhered to.

The best intranets are doing their pruning and ordering. The other intranets are falling into anarchy and chaos. The best intranets are implementing measurables for success. They are proving themselves as a powerful business tool, and are getting more budget and senior management support. The anarchic intranets are falling into a chaotic decline.

Gerry McGovern

 

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