Top: "SOFTWARE ENGINEERING AND INTRANETS" > Page 1, 2
Where We're Going
For all of the reasons why software engineering on intranets has been relatively neglected in the past, one can find just as many reasons why it should become much more active in the future.
Go beyond the basics.
Organizations want more utility from
their intranets. Establishing a private network infrastructure
with basic applications such as Web browsers and email only
scratches the surface of what is possible. Many organizations have
come to grips with the basics fairly recently and want to take their
intranets to the next level of sophistication.
One size doesn't fit all.
The trend of hosted or "outsourced"
intranets receives much attention from marketing departments and the
industry press. In this model, organizations need not staff their own
software development projects as all engineering is done by a third party.
Unfortunately, every organization has unique needs that general-purpose
software does not directly address. Many organizations see their
intranets as a competitive advantage and, if they do choose to use a
baseline software system, will want to build and grow their own proprietary
extensions to it.
Software innovations continue.
Software engineering continues to grow as a discipline. Software
applications can be made more flexible and can be developed in less
time than formerly. Though not general-purpose programming
languages, the widespread use of
HTML and
JavaScript on intranets has
exposed many people to the rudimentary concepts of programming technique,
and highly-advanced programming languages like
Python
further bridge the gap between simple Web page development and complex system
programming tasks.
Technologies transfer and networks converge.
Finally, the lines between intranet, extranet, and business-to-business
ecommerce continue to blur. Thanks to the proliferation of Web technologies,
applications, tools, and even content can be shared as appropriate between
private and public networks. The value of intranets becomes more
apparent when they are usable for prototype development
of online commerce applications, for example. That in turn will lead
to increased funding.
Overall, there appears to be an emerging value proposition for software engineering within organizations as part of their intranet strategy. Its not for everyone, but application development may become the next intranet frontier.
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