An intranet portal and an extranet portal have many similarities, so it’s understandable when people have a hard time differentiating the two. Simply put, an intranet is defined as an internal network allowing employees to communicate, collaborate, generate content and work towards developing the company culture. An extranet performs the same functions, but also ties in access for external parties, like vendors, clients, partners or other parts of the company. Many business software solutions today actually combine the portals to create maximum efficiency. Here are the differences between the two and how they are used effectively.
Intranet portals make communication easier and raises the levels of employee engagement. Employees can share documents with one another, stay organized and always keep in touch with each other easily. Plus, intranet portals make it simple for remote employees to collaborate with people in the office without actually being there. The importance of intranet portals and custom software development has increased over the years, as more companies are becoming decentralized and need a simple means of communication and collaboration internally.
An extranet portal can serve many purposes, but typically they help streamline routine activities that occur regularly. Businesses will have the ability to communicate, place orders, share documents and other activities with external parties that generally require phone calls or emails. Consider the ease of use for your vendors, clients and partners as well. With an extranet, information is available around the clock, so there is less pressure to do certain tasks during normal business hours. One of the main concerns with extranet portals is security, but the best business software solutions design an extranet portal with security as a top priority.
Custom software development companies today are combining extranets and intranets together more than ever before. Industries like healthcare, insurance, finance, commercial product development and oil and gas all require internal and external collaboration at all times, so custom business software solutions make sense for them. When intranets and extranets are combined into a single software solution, communication is made much easier, not to mention the time, money and energy saved by having processes streamlined.
Antares is a software development company developing and implementing both intranet extranet portals for businesses. We are focused on innovation and flexibility when we design any business software solutions, since our main goal is to provide every client with the right solution to help them improve their workflows, automation and productivity. With nearly 30 years of experience, we are confident we can help your company solve any software-related problems to improve efficiency. For more information on intranet and extranet portals, and how they can work for your business, contact us today.
