Tapping into the Cornucopia: Twitter usage in corporate settings

Check out this interesting post on twitter on the intranet...

Tapping into the Cornucopia: Twitter usage in corporate settings

Disconnected CMS

Today, I launched a new piece of the puzzle in our intranet, a Content Management System. Yes, I know, we are way behind the times... We have been using a home grown CMS for our external website for years now, but the intranet (i.e. the ugly step sister up till last year) has had it's static content authored in Front Page since the inception.

It took so long to get a CMS into the fray due to the huge amount of work it would take to implement a traditional CMS system that includes page templates and the like. So we created a "disconnected CMS."

This system consists of two parts, a ASP.NET administration tool that allows authors to create content and a JavaScript function that uses AJAX to asynchronously request the data to be displayed on the page.

The administration site is secured by content groups or categories. Each author, which we have about 40, will be given one or more content groups for their sites. These groups can contain multiple pieces of content and multiple authors. Authors are restricted to only the content groups they are a member of. Any changes to the content are stored in a SQL server and versioned (with optional comments) so that authors can review and revert back to older content if needed.

The JavaScript function takes in the GUID of the content item and returns back the HTML string that represents the content. The AJAX call is done via the Prototype framework which allows multiple async calls on each page.

This system should greatly reduce the number of times a day I get requests to publish Front Page content and allows authors to update their websites over time to the new system.

I should have some hard data on usage in the next month or so to determine if this solution can really scale like I think it will.

Creating the buzz

It is always the last thing you think of, or at least it is the last thing I think of: Creating a buzz around new intranet features.

Our current routine for a new "major" feature is to create a "spotlight" that includes an image and/or screenshot, header, text and link that lives on the intranet homepage for three or four days. We also create a blog post on our "intranet news" blog that gets a few reads ( < 1% of employees ). We try not to send out mass emails since people don't read those from our HR department now (that leads to another future post).

What are your ideas about building buzz around new intranet features?

Life in the trenches

I know, I know...another blog about social intranet or Enterprise 2.0.

I hope to use this space to discuss "life in the trenches" at a mid-sized new media retail company that up to about a year ago, it's intranet consisted of all static content with a few disjointed applications thrown in.

Today, the intranet has grown to be a bit more cohesive (in look & feel, search, and navigation) and includes a wiki and a socialized employee yellow pages application. Better, but still room for improvement!

So, in this blog I plan on discussing my experiences including technical issues, politics, working with partners, and making sure you spend your time and intranet budget wisely.