Planet Intra Tuesday descended on the quiet sector of knowledge management
when it launched a new information system designed to help firms collaborate
and communicate more effectively.
Very much in the same vein as IntraNet Solutions Inc.’s Xpedio content
management product, the Intra.net Information Management System (IMS)
provides infrastructure that adds value to the information that already
exists in an organization by allowing enterprises to aggregate that data,
catalog and classify it, and distribute it in a controlled environment.
Intra.net has been designed for organizations that rely on dispersing such
info as data sheets, price lists, legal and accounting documents and
advertising schedules — basically any Web site that sells products. As this
info is often unstructured — scattered around the organization and managed
by employees in many locations, Intra.net helps data stay under the aegis of
one virtual roof.
The Intra.net IMS boasts a document management engine that enables companies
to build an internal knowledge base at its heart, allowing users to publish
information directly to the system or upload documents to be shared with
others.
And, much like the aforementioned Xpedio, Intra.net has an suite of
collaboration applications, including contact management and scheduling,
bulletin boards and e-mail. These applications connect and synchronize with
many popular applications, such as Microsoft Outlook, POP3 e-mail, etc.
Suresh Mathai, co-chief executive officer of Planet Intra, provided a theoretical example of a
dilemma that a knowledge dissemination app such as Intra.net would help
obviate.
“Every time someone in the organization needs to make a decision, solve a
problem, or answer a customer request, there’s usually a flurry of e-mails
and phone calls to locate the right information. Even worse very often, no
one knows if the information exists at all, and where to find it,” said
Mathai. “Research has shown that in most companies, executives spend a huge
amount of time merely locating the right information to make the right
business decision. The cost and inefficiency
of this is enormous.”
Planet Intra Product Manager Tim Dorey noted one ease-of-use
nugget regarding Intra.net.
“If Lotus Notes has taught us anything it was that a product must be easy to
use,” Dorey told InternetNews.com Tuesday. “Lotus Notes has a great feature set but we are finding
companies are just not using it on a daily basis. We designed Intra.net with
the end user in mind. It had to be easy to use and navigate.”
Dorey also said that IntraNet Solutions’ Xpedio is different in that has
selected system requirements that will have to be dedicated to the product.
Dorey noted that Intra.Net only requires basic corporate PCs connected to
the Internet to get up and running.
Mountain View Calif.’s Planet Intra has made the tool available as both a
LAN application as well as a rentable ASP application accessible
anywhere via the Internet.
