Rod Byrnes, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia. Phone +61 (0)419 292 590 rbyrnes@dromedarius.com.au Home Page [HREF 1]
World Wide Web, Intranet, Internet Service Provider, System Administration
"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."
"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."
"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master--that's all." [HREF 2]
The above quote may sound cute and light-hearted, and it is, but it illustrates a very important point: an Intranet can mean many things to many people. Is an Intranet an information system, or a network with information systems on it? The most common interpretation today seems to be the latter, but there is a good case to be argued that both are valid definitions of an Intranet.
In this paper I will describe an Intranet, based on the former interpretation, that I developed for a commercial Internet Service Provider with a customer base numbered in the thousands. It performs system administration tasks, provides customer support functions, manages financial information and generates reports for management. Issues that I will cover are user interface design and user acceptance of the Intranet, technical details, security considerations, and an evaluation of the experiences and knowledge gained during development.
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