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the Free CMSWire NewsletterMartin White, Managing Director of Intranet Focus Ltd in the UK has a new book out called the 'Intranet Management Handbook'. So, what do I think of this book? I will start with the succinct summary — this is a truly superb book that will be incredibly valuable to intranet managers, intranet teams and the executives responsible for them in any organization.
The Review
I will expand on my summary with some justification as to why I think it will be so useful. I have been the joint 'business owner' of a large corporate intranet (11,000 users, 200 distinct 'sites') including being the line manager of the Intranet Manager. I have been a business consultant focused on intranet strategy working with Global 500 'blue chip' clients, and currently I manage a global intranet portal with 100's of sites, 100's of content contributors and thousands of users.
In other words, I have a fair bit of experience with intranets of different sizes and shapes, based on different technologies, trying to facilitate different business goals. I have first hand experience of the challenges, in both dealing with them myself, and helping others to do so as a consultant. That is why I can thoroughly recommend the absolute utility of this book by Martin.
(Note: Martin White has a regular column with CMSWire. You can read his articles here.)
To prove that to you, the reader, let’s move onto a more detailed review. However, I don't want to give the full index of chapter headings and I don't want to be overly detailed at any point, as you should buy the book for yourself. Martin has split the book into four main parts:
- Part 1 — Foundations
- Part 2 — Technology
- Part 3 — Operational Planning
- Part 4 — Governance and Strategy
Each chapter can be read independently so you can dive into the ones that you personally need the most first, and therefore each chapter ends with its own set of annotated resources for that topic. So you're not just getting the benefit of the author’s years of experience, but you also get directed to the great work of many other experts with whom the author has developed professional relationships over the years.
Part 1 — Foundations
In this section, Martin briefly tackles the historical development of the intranet as a dumping ground for miscellaneous information. He then goes on to examine the real value proposition of a well planned and well managed intranet. He introduces the role of the intranet manager and the interplay between the 3 key dimensions of Information, Governance and Technology.
The following chapters describe the foundational elements of defining user requirements for the intranet and turning these requirements into a business case that can be presented to senior management. This is all highly relevant, even if you already have an intranet, as the principles as described can be used in any 'upgrade' or 'refresh' project the next time one of these come around.
Part 1 concludes with chapters that examine how one develops a content strategy and enhances collaboration. Content Strategy is key in my personal opinion, and Martin does not leave anything out — discussing information stewardship, metadata and records management through to blogs and other 'social' content.
This chapter also includes the role of externally sourced information and extranets. This chapter is incredibly valuable in highlighting what Martin describes as a "less is more" approach to managing content. The final chapter discusses the role of the intranet in collaborative working, another key element to consider as we move towards intranets with fully integrated commenting, tagging and rating of content etc.
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