With the recent technical advances offered by CMS solutions on the market such as Plone, Joomla, Drupal and various Typo3-based systems, designing and putting an Extranet online is now within reach for the majority of companies.
What is an Extranet?
An Extranet makes it possible to share information with a limited group of users. Unlike an Intranet, the Extranet is accessible anywhere in the world via the Internet, so users must identify themselves using a login and password to view the content available to them.
For those who are not familiar with these systems, this is how it works:
- You define a section of your website (a set of content, pages, documents, images, etc.) to which you want to restrict access for a given group of users
- You create user groups according to usage (sales representatives, suppliers, business customers, etc.)
- You define which group has access to which information
- You send their personal credentials to the users, who can then log in to the site.
There you go, you are the happy owner of an Extranet.
What is an Extranet used for?
An Extranet can be used anywhere restricted information sharing within the same group makes sense, for example:
- To share price lists reserved for the brand’s resellers
- To share meeting reports between several members of the company
- To provide installation guides or an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) to the installers of a system
- To put supplier invoices online
Users can also be invited to interact within the Extranet, by sharing photos of completed projects, talking about their feedback, or setting up a technical support forum.
Making your Extranet a success
There are several key success factors for making an Extranet successful:
- The intended use must meet a real demand and expectation from users. From the very first use, the user must quickly identify the benefit they can gain from the system; otherwise, they will not come back.
- The interface must be clear and readable, and the navigation and built-in search engine must allow a professional to quickly find the information they are looking for.
- A moderator must be appointed and trained: the system does not manage itself, but a few hours a week will be enough to keep it running.
- Automatic alert features, for example when new content is added, should make it possible to maintain constant contact with users and encourage them to visit the Extranet regularly.
The Eureos offer: the Extranet for SMEs
Eureos now offers a turnkey solution to create an Extranet tailored to the needs of SMEs:
- Integration into the company’s website
- An intuitive interface for administration, content management, and user management. This interface comes from our several years of experience in the field of managing and administering collaborative websites
- Training for the moderator
- Automatic user alert system
With the Eureos Extranet offer, SMEs can equip themselves with a competitive tool at a price specially designed for them.
To find out more: Contact Webmecanik
