SAUDI ARAMCO INTRANET:
BUILDING THE FUTURE ENTERPRISE
Muhammad Ali Al-Tayyeb* and Abdulhadi Muhammad Al-Ali*
tayyebma@aramco.com.sa
aliam0u@aramco.com.sa
* Computer Communications and Office Systems Saudi Arabian Oil
Company (Saudi Aramco) Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
ABSTRACT.
Effectively deploying a corporate Web within a large organization is a very challenging task in
many respects. On the technical level, it requires careful planning to facilitate a high degree of integration with the
existing computing and communication infrastructure, while anticipating future growth and direction. On the
organizational level, a considerable amount of collaboration, education, and training is required to increase the
integrity and quality of the information that is going to be provided and shared by corporate users. This paper
outlines the issues and considerations for the design and deployment of Saudi Aramco.Net, the Intranet for Saudi
Aramco, and the world’s largest Oil Company.
This paper is mostly based on experience gained while working on the Intranet project. The scope of the project
was to define the infrastructure required to deploy and support Intranet technology within Saudi Aramco. This
paper also addresses the advantages and issues involved in adopting Internet and World Wide Web (WWW or W3)
technologies within a large corporation. It also serves as a road map for those who are in charge of implementing
and managing an Intranet for a large corporation such as Saudi Aramco.
1. INTRODUCTION
We are living a new paradigm of information processing. Undoubtedly the Internet and World
Wide Web (WWW or W3) have caused a tremendous impact on Information Technology. This
explosion in IT is the result of an evolutionary process that started back in 1969. Since then,
several advancements in computing and communication technologies have paved the way for a
true integration between native computing and communication technologies. A combined power
of the desktop, the network, and the back-end processing, is known as Network Computing.
Network computing, as manifested in the use of Intranets, is basically a standardized
client/server-computing model. It relies on open standards, protocols and technologies such as
Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
that unite different systems into unified information architecture. This is also paving the way to
ubiquitous networking when everything will be connected to everything else, i.e., cellular phones,
personal digital assistants, pagers, home equipment. Over the next few years W3 technologies
will evolve to be the foundation of network computing.
Intranet is defined as the implementation of Internet tools and technologies to establish a Web
within the corporate networking infrastructure. The tools used to create an Intranet are identical
to those used for Internet and W3. The main objective of an Intranet is to facilitate a
corporate-wide communication infrastructure to deliver immense informational resources to each
employee with minimal cost, time, and effort.
The duality of these terms (Internet and Intranet) can be confusing to some. The Internet is both
an entity in itself (the world), and a set of standards that can be applied to both existing and future
computing investments within an organization - (Intranet).
A recent study by NetworkWorld found that 89% of organizations sampled already have
implemented or will implement an Intranet strategy in the next 12 months. The combined
corporate Internet and Intranet market will jump from $24 billion in 1996 to $208 billion by the
year 2000[7].
1.1 Benefits
The technology that enables organizations to support decentralized decision making and still
coordinate activities has finally arrived. Its adoption is easy and cheap for those organizations
that made an early investment in Client/Server technology, since they already have the
infrastructure in place [13]. Intranets provide the technical means to implement far-reaching,
effective change in a business. Some of the key benefits associated with the Intranet are to:
 Simplify internal information management and improve internal communication. Navigation
and search paradigms make it easier for users to find, create, and analyze information.
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




Integrates existing infrastructure and legacy (Mainframe) systems to leverage technology
investment and evolve information systems smoothly.
Simplifies application development, deployment, and administration to streamline
development life cycle and reduce development and maintenance cost.
Facilitate Interoperability in a diverse heterogeneous computing environment by providing a
single interface to information [8].
Reduces cost of Systems Management, Software Distribution, and Applications Development
(time to market) [3].
Provides flexible content. The multimedia nature of the Web allows information to be
presented in the most appropriate way, i.e., text, tables, graphics, audio, video, downloadable
spreadsheets or documents, etc. [4].
1.2 Applications
Current Intranet applications are in the areas of:
 Sales and Marketing
 Customer Services
 Planning and Research
 Product development
 Project Management
 Human resources
Although W3 technology is very flexible, it is important to note that not every computer
application can be Intranet enabled. A recent study indicated that the majority of Web
applications fall under the following categories:
1. On-line documentation
80%
2. Decision Support Systems
10-15%
3. Transaction Processing Systems 3-5%
It is expected that the last two Categories will grow by 10% within the next six months [9].
2. CONSIDERATIONS
A major success factor in any Intranet deployment strategy is to give a close look to the following
key roles:
2.1 Developers
The Internet/Intranet is a highly heterogeneous and volatile environment making the
developers task more complexes. The new environment requires a wide range of skill
set to design, test, and deploy reliable applications over the network. The skill set should
include expertise in the desktop environment, development framework,
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Inter-networking, and back-end data servers including Mainframes.
Advanced
training and project management controls are required to insure the delivery of reliable
applications.
2.2 Content Providers
The providers are those who perform the “Push” action into the Web. The requirement to extend
the Intranet to business-partners (Extranet) will soon be required immediately after deployment of
the Intranet infrastructure. A clear distinction between internal and external data should be made
before information is published. Publishing standards should be considered to provide consistent
access to information. Translation, conversion, and editing tools have to be provided to facilitate
efficient publishing capabilities.
2.3 Users
The main focus of an Intranet is the corporate-wide users. How many are there? How are they
going to get connected? What tools is available for their use? What training is required to get
them started? What mechanism is going to be used to manage their environments? Those are
major issues that have to be addressed during the planning phase.
2.4 Network Infrastructure
In almost all cases of Intranet deployment, the existing networking infrastructure will have to be
upgraded. New hardware is necessary to absorb the computing load (MIPS) required to run
Intranet applications. Storage capacity should be increased to provide room for the large amount
of documentation that will be stored in electronic format. Bandwidth upgrade is a must to
facilitate robust Web traffic that will eventually include voice, video, and data. IP and
DNS/DHCP strategy is also one of the most important infrastructure elements that has to be
considered during the planning phase.
2.5 Legacy Integration
The Intranet is a window to repositories of information. Most corporate data probably resides on
a Mainframe and will continue to do so for some time beyond the year 2000. The design of the
Intranet infrastructure should incorporate the tools/mechanism to provide access to legacy data
stores. Some of the existing technology can be leveraged to support Mainframe-based Intranet
applications. As companies adopt W3 technologies internally, they tend to concentrate on pure
information dissemination, which incorporates document conversion, document publication, and
document retrieval processes [11]. Integrating existing document management systems and
conversion of documents is also a key element in legacy integration.
2.6 Overall Management
Large scale Intranet requires a management framework that encompasses the developers,
provider, users, and the network infrastructure. Other important Intranet issues from a
customer’s perspective are: central management of database and application servers; criticality of
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network service level; desire for low cost of entry, and the need to deliver solutions faster [2].
Senior management support is a key element to staffing and funding Intranet management
functions. User awareness and commitment are also key elements to ensure consistency.
3. CHALLENGES
Managing distributed systems provides interesting challenges that are not found in centralized
environments. The biggest challenge is moving from an attitude of control to an attitude of
enabling independent decisions and actions. Without some standards to enable this process,
organizations will loose their ability to communicate effectively and coordinate their activities.
Without some level of support and knowledge, workers will be too involved in low level
maintenance activities at the expense of the high-end functions that most benefit the enterprise.
The challenge is in meeting the requirements for coordination and efficiency without jeopardizing
the independence of decision making and actions that make the enterprise strong and flexible
[13]. An immediate challenge in building Intranet for large corporations lies in the following
areas:
3.1 Managing Large Number of Clients
Large corporations may typically have tens of thousands of employees. In the majority of cases
the desktop environment is not uniform. The hardware, network connection, software
configuration, operational requirements, and awareness might differ quite considerably from one
individual to the other. The management strategy has to be open and flexible to reduce the
overhead of extended support services to users. A multi-tiered approach is highly recommended
in large corporations. Practically speaking, IS organization can only provide support to the top
level, where corporate-level, mission-critical Intranet services are a must for day-to-day
operation. The lower tier should be managed by the end-user.
3.2 Preventing Information Overload
The end-user’s tendency to publish is stimulated by the ease of use of the wide range of
publishing tools available on the desktop. Although users are encouraged to participate and
contribute to the Web, there should be some control measure to reduce duplication. A typical
example found almost in every large enterprise is the electronic phone book. Core business
information should be consolidated and managed centrally to eliminate redundancy.
3.3 Ensuring Information Integrity
Soon after the deployment of the Intranet infrastructure, corporate users will start to rely on the
information available on the Web. In the long term the Intranet will be the most strategic tool to
carry out business processes. The information provided on the Web will be an integral part of
decision making. There has to be a very clear and strategic approach to ensure that the
information is secures and up to date. A secured database approach with dynamic Web access is
found to be the most effective.
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3.4 Getting Non-Technical Users Started
In a large corporation the computing skills of end-users varies quite considerably. Assessing the
technical capabilities is not an easy task. A variety of training and educational programs have to
be established to support the end-user’s skills. One approach is to use the Intranet to educate and
train users across the corporation. Intranet-based Computer Based Training (CBT) is one of the
means that has been found very cost-effective.
3.5 Connecting To Needed Information
The Intranet is the designated repository for corporate information. The information volume of
data will increase exponentially and will contain all kinds of data types such as text documents,
graphical information such as maps, video and voice clips such as presentations, training
materials, and others. A key component of any Intranet is to provide users with search and
navigation tools. There should be only one search engine. The engine should be
industrial-strength to index more than one data type and allow user-based customization.
4. ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
Effectively building an Intranet is similar to building individual intelligence. It requires:
learning; applying the learning to practical decision making; acting on the intelligence with solid,
clear tasks and responsibilities; modifying the learning for improved performance in the future,
and making sure all of this is communicated all of the time to everyone [12]. The Web is a new
source of power. The dynamics of how the Web is adopted and used will change over time. An
Intranet offers a new option for more effective coordination of organizational activities in a
distributed decisions-making environment [14]. Often Web usage starts informally with one or
several groups using it for different purposes. Eventually it gets to the stage where it becomes a
formal part of the corporate business processes. The most important issues that need to be
addressed on the organizational level are:
4.1 Distributed Vs Centralized
Legacy computing environment, manifested by the use of Mainframes, has empowered, and
positioned IS department as a key player in corporate decision making. Strategic IT directions
that are traditionally taken by the IS department use to be pushed upward to corporate
management and dictated downward to users. With the shift of computing power to the desktop,
Client/Server technologies, and the Web, IS departments are facing a tremendous pressure from
corporate management to narrow the backlog and meet the computing demands of the end-users.
Also decentralized computing started to emerge when the majority of end-users started to build
their isolated island of computing services. There are disadvantages in both computing
situations; therefore, it is highly recommended that the core business process continue to be
managed centrally.
Other non-mission critical business processes that do not have
cross-functional integration requirements with other processes can be considered as a suitable
candidate for decentralized management. A core Intranet group should be established and
represented by members from all business units. This is a critical element in building and
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managing an Intranet in a large organization. Senior management commitment is a key element
to support the team’s scope, size, purpose, roles, and responsibilities.
4.2 Publishing Guidelines
A Corporation’s publishing guidelines does not change on the Web. However, you need to
address questions such as: Can anyone publish? What are the publisher’s responsibilities? Who
is going to maintain the content? Is there a business driver/need for the information published?
Taking into consideration the large number of users and the criticality of the situation, publishing
guidelines have to be established before allowing individuals to post information on the Web.
4.3 Consistency and Standards
Today, publishing tools are incorporated into the office suite of applications found on most
desktops. They are intuitive and very users friendly. This will tempt large numbers of users to
post information on the Web with or without a business driver/justification. The amount of
information that is going to be published will soon grow very large. A wise approach is to set
standards for publishing based on the use of templates that are designed and approved by a
corporate publishing authority.
4.4 Data Quality / Management
Data management has always been a crucial function for the IS departments. Centralized control
over corporate data will continue to be more efficient and reliable. Publishing should be
dynamic in nature. The use of databases as the back-end for publishing is the most reasonable
approach today.
5. TECHNICAL ISSUES
According to the industry’s standards, the Web year is 3 months. The direct implications for this
high rate of change will be on adaptation speed of new technology. It requires a fundamental
transformation in the way a business operates to accomplish new ways to deliver value [17].
Following is a list of key areas where technical dynamics are a must:
5.1 Network Development
Web development is taking advantage of all the computing technologies available today. It
integrates with the legacy systems, follows a client/server model, is based on object-oriented
paradigm, and uses a network-centric computing model. The combination of these technologies
is the key behind the power of the Web; however, this requires a mindset change. The way we
approach systems analysis, design, and development processes should be network-centric in
nature. It should take advantage of all resources available while maintaining an acceptable
degree of reliability. It is very important for developers and users to realize the shift from
centralized computing to Network-centric computing. It is highly recommended that awareness,
education, and training programs are launched to highlight the differences and risks in both
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models. This will control the user expectations of what the technology could offer and ensures
long term user commitment to change.
5.2 Security
Security issues remain the primary concern of corporations considering making their Intranet
accessible by internal users as well as suppliers or business partners [18]. The more resources
you incorporate into one solution the higher the vulnerability of the system. Secured
communications over the Web cannot be facilitated without encryption and authentication. This
will add an extra layer of complexity into Web applications, however, it should only be
considered for applications with requirements for that level of security. Other security measures
can be applied on the database layer and operating system layer. It encourages information
sharing. Your company’s policy should be flexible enough to encourage publishing of
corporate-wide, general-use information. According to the industry, this amounts to
approximately 80% of the Web applications [9].
5.3 Staffing
New roles and responsibilities are required to complement the Web development and support
infrastructure. Roles include content providers, Webmasters, graphic artists, publishers, editors
and authors who are all required carrying out publishing activities. On the systems development
side, Web developers require knowledge in development tools, desktop operating environment
and tools, network operating environment and protocols, as well as Object-oriented analysis and
design paradigm. It is very advisable that the skills of the developers are assessed and leveraged
towards that direction. The anticipated period required to leverage the skills should not be less
than six months or greater than 18 months.
5.4 Configuration Management
How would you react to the following question: Why my updates did not appear? How do I
restore the previous version of my site? Is there someone else overriding my changes? Who
changed this site and when? [10]. As discussed earlier, network-centric development has a wide
range of development tools and components, which leads to component-based development. This
implies that version control is necessary to ensure continuity of development and support
functions for Web-enabled systems or sites. A good Intranet strategy should provide a long-term
vision of how the configuration management system will integrate with the development life
cycle and the existing frameworks. Based on the variety of data types that can be built into an
application, I strongly suggest that a policy for change is developed and enforced. In turn,
Object-oriented approach/tools should be considered for effective change management. This
should allow the maximum level of flexibility for future growth.
5.5 Volume of Data
Digital’s AltaVista search engine indexes approximately 66 Terabytes of information over the
Internet. It was reported that in several implementations of Intranet in large corporations, the
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initial amount of information is well over 500,000 pages. On the assumption that the average
page size is 100K, this will amount to 50 Gigabyte of information, and, this is just the Intranet.
As a corporation extends the Intranet to Extranet and Internet, this number will grow very rapidly.
This simple calculation is based on text only; no images, video, or audio clips are included. This
implies the need for tools to manage this increasing amount of data. A look into Object-oriented
databases and tools will prove to be quite effective. OODBMS will also provide performance
improvement based on the higher level of indexing and data manipulation power.
5.6 Bandwidth
Technology changes faster than infrastructures, and there is nothing you can do about it. If your
company has plans to increase the bandwidth then you are on the right track; however, you
should strongly consider launching an on-going network upgrade program. It is very hard to
cope with the consistent demands for bandwidth without such programs. As for geographical
areas where the bandwidth is limited, we strongly recommend the use of proxy servers and
replication techniques.
5.7 Monitoring, Workload, and Performance Management
Although one cannot argue over the immediate benefits of the Intranet, one cannot assume that
they exist on their own. There are other services on the network such as Mainframe, E-mail, and
Client/Server applications traffic. HTTP traffic will be generated by thousands of users and this
will have a direct impact on the performance of those other systems that are considered mission
critical. It is extremely important to thoroughly address this point and position your network
support staff with the tools to monitor the traffic. Identifying performance bottlenecks will ease
the network planning and demand forecasting functions.
5.8 Training Users
Corporate users are an important success factor for building reliable and consistent information
on the Web. However, there is resistance to change. People who have done their jobs a certain
way may be uneasy thinking that customers have direct access to information. They may feel
overwhelmed at the thought of having to answer queries by e-mail, or provide support on a
24-by-7 hour basis [6]. It is an absolute must that users are sufficiently trained to use this
technology most effectively. A corporate-wide training program should be launched to leverage
user skills in publishing, designing and navigating the Web. The desktop environment contains
several tools that can effectively be used in the training program. The Intranet itself can host
courses such as CBT, Video, and Audio.
5.9 New Technology
Once you are done with your first attempt to deploy an Intranet within your corporation, you will
soon realize that you have only just started and the job is incomplete. The technology is
undergoing a fast evolutionary process that one cannot ignore. Ongoing evaluation of new
technologies should be considered as a top priority for the Web management team. Staying
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abreast of the technology is a must for continuation, especially at the current stage. Use of the
Internet has proved to be a very crucial element for downloading and evaluating new software
packages or releases.
6. LIMITATIONS
Web technology is simply over-hyped, which is a typical conclusion in the IT world. Only when
you really start your initial Intranet project, do the limitations start to surface. Most of the major
issues can be dealt with as part of your initial deployment plan. However, there is some
fundamental technology limitations that cannot be addressed or resolved within the scope of the
project. For example, the industry has not yet matured to address limitations in areas such as:
increased server and bandwidth cost/challenges; security; availability of robust development
tools, and availability of configuration management tools. This is not an invitation to wait until
those tools are made available. It is rather a reminder and a warning about the pervious and
current technology hypes that caused failures in adaptation of Client/Server technologies,
Object-oriented paradigm, or the Web. If you have not yet started, then you should start
immediately. However, the essential success factors will be centered on your senior management
support and your short and long-term implementation plans. The following project highlights will
address the major steps used to accomplish this task.
7. THE PILOT HIGHLIGHTS
In August 1996, the Executive Director of Computer Communication & Office Services
(CC&OS) requested the initiation of the Intranet Pilot Project. The scope of the project was to
define the infrastructure required to deploy and support Intranet technology within Saudi Aramco.
The project objectives where to:
 Recommend the Hardware and Software Platforms for Intranet solutions.
 Recommend Methods for Intranet Applications Deployment and Support (Roles and
responsibilities for CC&OS Vs User).
 Verify the recommended solutions though a Pilot Intranet Solution.
 Provide a full Implementation Plan for the recommended solution that included
Implementation Strategy for In-house development Vs Out-source.
 Insure Transfer of Skills if the pilot implementation is contracted out.
 Classify and Recommend the type of solutions that can be included under Intranet
technology.
 Establish Policy and Guidelines for Intranet publishing within Saudi Aramco.
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7.1 Starting Point
Step 1 - Team Building
Build a cross-functional team. Our team members have knowledge in the following areas:
electronic massaging, network support, operating systems support, access control and disaster
recovery, data management, computer applications (C/S and Mainframe), technology planning,
graphic art, security, user services. It is also very essential to include one user organization for
the pilot study.
Step 2 - Scoping and costing
Develop the project costing and allocate funds. To determine the cost, look into areas such as
server and client hardware/software, consultation fees, and training. Allocation of funds should
be an indication of senior management support for the project.
Step 3 - Project Plan
Develop the project plan. A key element in the plan is to break the activities into phases. In our
example, we had three phases:
Phase I: Implement a static information retrieval application, where documents such as
corporate General Instructions (GI’s) are converted into HTML format and stored on the
Web Server for general access. This phase will create the foundation for the hardware,
software, and networking environment. This will soon be your most important asset in the
project. You will start dealing with issues such as authoring and publishing standards,
version control, naming standards, support, Web browsers/ servers, publishing tools,
search and navigational tools, server connectivity and performance, user connectivity,
training, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) and Domain Name Services
(DNS) setup, client setup and configuration, and vendor’s technology evaluations.
Phase II: Implement a dynamic information retrieval component, where the contents of
HTML documents are dynamically loaded from C/S databases or Mainframe data stores.
You should have several candidate applications to choose form for the pilot. Issues such
as integration, Web management tools, document management, access control, security,
database connectivity, and user administration will be identified here.
Phase III: Implement interactive information retrieval with imbedded JAVA
applets/applications. The capabilities of the current programming framework have to be
tested. Some tools might be extended, others may be replaced. Issues such as
leveraging the skill set, transitioning, Internet programming languages (JAVA Vs
ActiveX), development procedures, versioning, and application development and support
environment (development, test, acceptance, and production) should be identified.
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Step 4 - Project Execution
Start the execution of the project phases. Assess every team member’s skills and request full
time participation. Identify areas where there is a lack of expertise. Divide the members into
two teams: the infrastructure team and the application development team. Make sure your
division is inline with the individual’s targeted area of responsibility, skills, capabilities, and
interest.
An essential element to cater for in the beginning is the learning curve. A highly competent staff
will take approximately 8 weeks to pick up the technology. Keep your teams focused as much as
possible, there will be a tendency from the individual to loose track of the main goal and
concentrate on trivial things such as creating very fancy graphics or inclusion of video clips.
Order the necessary H/W, S/W, and consultancy services. Develop and execute a training plan
for your team members. Measure progresses and adjust your plan accordingly.
Step 5 - Project Deliverables
Pilot project deliverables. At this final stage you should be ready to deliver the project final
report with the Intranet Infrastructure design document. The document should at least include
the following sections:
1. Introduction:
Executive summary, Intranet technology, publishing guidelines, and
standards.
2. Intranet Infrastructure: H/W, S/W, Server topology, and configuration.
3. Intranet Development: Tools, roles, security, best practice, procedures, guidelines, and
Integration.
4. Intranet Administration: Roles and responsibilities, security, users, and tools.
5. Intranet Implementation: Set-up cost, On-going support cost, deployment plan, future
directions.
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8. THE INTRANET INFRASTRUCTURE
Today Saudi Aramco has started to deploy the infrastructure as described in Figure 1. The
corporate tier, or enterprise level, consists of one corporate server, a server for each business
line, search engine server, and electronic resource library server, all of which have been linked to
the ATM ring. It is also physically located close to the application server, database servers, and
the Mainframe. The IS department will assume full responsibility for supporting and
maintaining this section of the Intranet. It will include mission-critical applications that require
24-by-7 support. It will also host all corporate-wide information such as engineering standards,
and internal policies and guidelines. The departmental tier can host more departmental level
information and applications where departments are not necessarily required to comply with all of
the standards. The support is also handled by the user departments.
Corporate
Web
Servers
ATM Ring
Corp.
Library
JAVA,
Images,
Tools etc
Index/
Search
Engine
M/F DB/2,
IMS, VSAM
CICS
Corporate
Tier
Application
Server
ORACLE
Departmental
Tier
.
Figure 1 - S. Aramco Intranet Tiers
9. RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Don't deploy Internet technology for its own sake. Design around and extend the technology
for practical business goals/benefit.
2. Don't open up all data to the entire company. Not all users need access to strategic business
plans, for example.
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3. Don't wait for heavy remote usage to bog down the network. Deploy replication or proxy
servers to cache pages and optimize performance.
4. Build an Intranet team. You need a specific mix of people who together can identify the
most creative and effective ways of accomplishing what you're trying to achieve with your
Intranet. A core set of players should be part of any Web initiative.
5. Develop a user-training program, encourage publishing from other groups within the
enterprise, and promote Intranet use inside the company.
6. Demand adherence to standards, TCP/IP, and HTML isn’t the only important Intranet
standards. Use senior management for support of this function.
7. Plan for Increased Traffic.
8. Intranet Security is an Onion. You can build security into the database so that the Web and
tools change and you are not rewriting things. The second layer is encryption, point-to-point,
and controlling users' physical access to the environment [7]. Setting up a Web server
properly can provide another layer of security.
9. Limit Intranet seeding, you don't need many servers to provide a powerful infrastructure.
10. Design your server with the ability to change content frequently, remotely, and easily.
11. Highlight Intranet limitations and control user expectations accordingly.
12. Deploy the Intranet as part of an overall framework, it does not stand by itself.
13. Think tactically to avoid getting locked into one proprietary solution.
14. Integrate key technologies together (Desktop, E-mail, Web, C/S, Mainframe)
15. Implement Extranet. Establishing electronic connections to suppliers and partners can result
in key savings in time and money [15].
16. Establish Business Rules Server.
17. Provide users with a Road Map of your Intranet use and services.
18. Learn from Existing Web sites. Internet is the best example.
19. Limit the use of graphical, video, and audio contents.
20. Measure the impact of Intranet traffic on existing applications.
21. Consider a strong backup and disaster recovery capabilities.
10. FUTURE OUTLOOK
The 1997 February edition of the Communications of the ACM looked at the next 50 years of IT.
A collection of powerful commentaries from wide range of participants with ubiquitous interests
was included. There is almost a consensus in all of the articles that the coming “net years” will
have immense implications on our social fabric. Digital networks and cyberspace together with
perhaps fossil-fueled transportation, electricity, and television seems to satisfy a truly
differentiating technology with far reaching consequences for society.
[16] Currently the information overload on cyberspace is a major setback to Internet credibility.
This is caused by the Web trying to fill the dual role of being both a private and public
information and communication medium.” [17] A new generation of information appliances will
emerge that will be interwoven in our daily lives making it impossible to imagine life without
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them. The emerging Network Computer or NC will make it possible for entirely new applications
to challenge the skills of corporate IT organizations. These will have for example true distributed
computing, dynamic Webs, virtual applications, and interactive narrowcasting. Java and push
technologies will be the first to be affected, which will be followed by a wave of applications
developed specifically for the Internet. While today’s Intranets typically comprise soft content
(e.g. telephone directories, human resources information, press releases, etc.), demand is already
taking shape for Intranets and Extranets to assume tasks traditionally associated with client/server
environments. In the next few years we will witness dramatic changes in the following areas:
1. Corporate Intranets will replace dedicated corporate Wide Area Networks (WANs): Intranets
offer several advantages over traditional networks, although they often share the same
architecture and technologies as LANs. First, they rely on standard browsers; second, an
Intranet can serve as a gateway to the Internet, with near-universal access to everyone with an
e-mail address; and finally, intranets are IP-based, which is supplanting other proprietary
network protocols such as Banyan Vines, and AppleTalk.
2. The Intranet can be used as a data warehouse by placing a database on the back end and
allowing people to use their browsers on the front end to send queries and generate reports.
3. The Intranet represents a new opportunity for outbound communications [5]. It can easily be
extended to specific, authenticated outsiders, Extranet. By allowing secure access to
customers, for instance, the Intranet can be used as an Inter-business WAN. This can be a
benefit for many business partners who may need to engage in a limited amount of
conferencing, chat sessions, research, or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
4. Legacy applications integration with Intranets is one of the most cost-effective means to
leverage the mainframe investment. The industry is yet to find a simple solution to the
Middleware.
5. The paper-less office has long been an unrealized dream, but the Intranet partially achieves it.
Begin building Intranets by implementing applications that eliminate paperwork and thus can
provide a fast return on investments.
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11. CONCLUSION
The Web can save costs and increase productivity, and is essential to be competitive in the future.
Effective long-term, wide-scale use of the Web will not happen without care and support [8]. As
stated in the beginning of this paper, creating an effective Intranet requires attention to the
management and technical infrastructure as well as to the content creation process. The focus of
this paper has been on the technical and organizational issues to be considered when building a
large scale Intranet. The discussion outlined describes an approach rather than a specific tool
implementation.
Intranets are rapidly becoming the primary information infrastructure for enterprises. To
effectively utilize this infrastructure, we must be prepared to undertake a major change in our
traditional methodology for handling information processing. We need to be as proficient at
managing content and coordinating our actions on our Intranets, as we are at managing content
and coordinating our actions using paper today. The considerations, challenges, and issues
above were put forth to provide the first few steps in this direction.
12. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Intranet Team for their dedication and contribution, and
Computer Applications Department/ Computer, Communications, and Office Systems of Saudi
Aramco for support of this study.
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13. REFERENCES
[1] Evans, T. “Building An Intranet”, 1996, A Hands-on Guide to Setting Up An Internal WEB,
Indianapolis, Sams.net Publishing.
[2] Langel, R. “Worldwide Customer Intranet Issues”, WWW.IBM.COM, February 1997.
[3] Bolici, S. “The Intranet - A Corporate Revolution”, WWW.ilr.interbusiness.it, February 1996/
[4] Simware Inc., “The Intranet Wave”, WWW.Simware.com, 1996.
[5] ZONA Research Inc., “New Enterprise Communication Opportunities”, Internet Connectivity,
the Extended Intranet, and the Enterprise, Fall 1996
[6] Tetzeli, R. M. Cronin, “Getting Your Company’s Internet Strategy Right”, Time Inc. 1996.
[7] Netscape Corporation, “Intranets Redefine Corporate Information Systems”, September1996.
[8] Holgan, T. “The Design and Implementation of a Corporate Web”, WWW.web-master.com,
August 1996.
[9] Comaford, C. “Client/Server And The Net”, Together At last, C2 Ventures, Presented at
COMDEX, November 1996.
[10] O’Hannigan, P. “Web Site Administration Made Easy”, The Intranet Journal, August 1996.
[11] Fermuth, M. “A Look At Document Management for the Intranet”, The Intranet Journal,
August 1996.
[12] Hinrichs, R. “Intranet 101”, A Guide for Intranet newbies, The Intranet Journal, September
1996.
[13] Tellen, S. “Intranets and Adaptive Innovation”, The move from control to co-ordination in
today’s organizations, Amdahl Corporations, September 1995.
[14] Ibid.
[15] IBM: “How to reap rewards of Intranet technology”, Computer Reseller News, n 709 p
165-6, November 11, 1996.
[16] Berghel, Hal, “Cyberspace 2000: Dealing with Information Overload.” The ACM
Communications, p. 19, February 1997.
[17] Ibid. P 20.
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