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IntranetsIncreasingly, businesses are relying on intranets to deliver tools such as collaboration, scheduling, customer relationship management tools, and project management to increase the productivity of the organization. An intranet is a private network accessible only to an organization’s staff. Unlike the Internet, an internal intranet provides a wide range of information and services to employees of an organization but these tools and information are unavailable to the public. A company-wide intranet is an important focal point of internal communication and collaboration, and can provide a business with a single starting point to access both internal and external resources. Larger businesses allow users within their intranet to access the public Internet through firewall servers. Because businesses have the ability to screen both incoming and outgoing traffic, they are able to keep the security of the intranet intact. In its simplest form, an intranet is established with the technologies for local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs). Some of the advantages and benefits a company can realize from establishing a robust intranet are as follows.
ExtranetsIn some cases organizations make the decision to allow external parties such as customers and suppliers to have access to their intranet. When these outside parties are provided access to a subset of the information accessible from an organization’s intranet the intranet becomes an extranet. For example a large construction company may share drawings with architects or inspectors, photographs to their customers and loan documents to their bankers by implementing online applications that allow these external parties to access and even mark-up and make changes to documents. In essence, the company will use an extranet to manage project-related communications. One of the biggest advantages of establishing an extranet is that a business can share large quantities of data using EDI or electronic data interchange. Data such as invoice and order that were traditionally transmitted via paper can now instantly be shared among organizations. Some of the most sophisticated extranets are run by large retailers like Walmart and Target who constantly transmit data via their extranet to vendors and suppliers, ensuring that merchandise arrives when it is needed, where it is needed. Like intranets, extranets have some distinct advantages for the organizations establishing them. Several of these benefits are explained below.
PRactice QuestionWhether a company is managing an intranet or extranet, both systems can raise security issues. With increased access comes an increased opportunity for security breaches. In particular, the security of extranets can be a concern when hosting valuable or proprietary information. Unless sufficient security precautions are taken, data can be breached and altered, without either the sender or the receiver being aware of the interception. The growth in the complexity of networks has increased the possible points of attack, both from within organizations and from outside the company. Fortunately, the means of protecting against hackers have also expanded in line with the technology. Contribute!Did you have an idea for improving this content? We’d love your input. Improve this pageLearn More Which of the following describes a network based on Web technologies that links resources of a company's intranet with its customers suppliers or other business partners?An extranet is a private network that enterprises use to provide trusted third parties -- such as suppliers, vendors, partners, customers and other businesses -- secure, controlled access to business information or operations.
Which network uses Internet technologies to provide resources and service accessible to an internal organization?An intranet is a private network contained within an enterprise that is used to securely share company information and computing resources among employees. An intranet can also be used for working in groups and teleconferences. Intranets encourage communication within an organization.
Is the network that links selected resources of the intranet of a company with its customers suppliers or other business partners?The primary role of extranets is to link the intranet resources of a company to the intranets of its customers, suppliers, and other business partners. Extranets can also provide access to operational company databases and legacy systems to business partners.
Which network is a private network used for communications with business partners?An extranet is a private network. It allows business partners, suppliers, and other authorized parties to communicate.
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