Why Extranet?
In today's global business, companies are spreading out to reduce their costs, and reaching out to expand their markets. Many companies have workgroups with members all over the world. These group members work on the same projects, yet in different places and different time zones. Some workgroup members are members of a company's own staff, and some may be from strategic partners such as vendors or customers. It was a great challenge for companies to provide an environment for task teams to work together in a smooth and seamless way. One of the major components in such an environment is information sharing in a well-organized and well-managed way.
Sharing or exchanging information can be done in many ways, but they can be classified into two categories, distributed and centralized. Distributed information travels along wires or vehicles to reach the receivers. This includes mail, fax, and Internet e-mail. Mail has been around for a long time and is still a major method of business communication. The advent of the fax greatly reduced the time needed for and the cost of communication. With the introduction of the Internet, e-mail has quickly become one of the most widely used major business communication methods.
However, there is always a great deal of uncertainty associated with distributed information. Time is wasted figuring out what happens to information in this communication uncertainty. In business, time is extremely critical, and sometimes, it is the most critical factor in transacting business. Concerns of uncertainty lie not only in the way information was transferred, but also that the information resides in different locations. How to synchronize information between multiple copies is also a major concern. If information is revised or changed, it must be sent again and new uncertainties arise. Uncertainties, doubts and questions cause problems and increase costs.
Another way of sharing information is centralizing it in one location, allowing users quick access. In the past, companies set up their own worldwide networks, or their own dialup bulletin board systems (BBS) to achieve this centralization. A private worldwide network is extremely expensive and is not widely available, and dialup BBS has slowly begun phasing out due to the coming of the Internet. As the Internet becomes more and more widely available, companies have started using it to achieve this same goal.
This is where the Extranet comes in. The Extranet uses the Internet as its backbone and allows people from different organizations to work together and share information in a controlled and organized way. Information is centrally managed and controlled so that access and revisions can be carried out under your own company's business rules. Clients use browsers to access the stored information and use account IDs and passwords to gain access to the services. With encryption used in every information transaction, data transfer is secured. And, the permission structure lets you control who can access what information on the server. Because of the readily available nature of the Internet, any client with Internet access can gain access to the centralized information that your company sets up.
The Extranet is gaining more and more popularity on the Internet and is helping many companies to improve their business operations. It can be used to build up close relationships with your company's vendors, and with your customers. You can even let some customers access more information through your Extranet site than through your Internet web sites.
If the Extranet is so good, why doesn't every company use it? Well, this is because the Extranet system is expensive to build and maintain, an expense that small and medium-sized companies cannot bear. Yet, it is so important to some companies, that many of them have started requiring their partners to join their Extranet.
However, not all companies have the IT resources to build and maintain their own Extranet systems. To build and Extranet, you need a dedicated Internet connection. You also need a server with firewall protection. Then, you need an IT staff to program or purchase Extranet software. Finally, you need to maintain the server to make sure that it will be there, functioning all the time. The last two steps require a lot of work, and therefore, a lot of money to accomplish. This creates a problem for companies; they need and want the convenience and benefits of Extranet, but they cannot afford it.
This is where Docutriever can help. Docutriever wants to reduce your costs, and provide Docutriever service on the web that companies can sign up for and start using. Your company then, will not have to go through all of the steps and expense mentioned above. Our Extranet will greatly improve your business efficiency and reduce your costs with a minimum of expense from you. Immediately after signing up, you will enjoy the benefits of the Extranet and find communicating with your partners smooth and secure. By sharing the expense of the Extranet with other companies that subscribe to Docutriever, you can enjoy the benefits of the Extranet without the heavy burden of it.
Docutriever is designed for general business. You can tailor it for your specific needs with the flexible structure that we provide. When Docutriever was first conceived, it was targeted to general business with enhancements to resolve communication issues caused by space and time differences. Docutriever has been proven to be very effective in replacing e-mail and fax between branches and partners. Furthermore, Docutriever will be constantly upgraded to provide new and enhanced functionalities.
Docutriever Technology has implemented a farm of servers to ensure the availability of its services on the Internet. Multiple, redundant servers for each service are built with top quality hardware and software. Equipment is maintained and located in a well regulated environment and constantly monitored by our technical staff. Data is backed up every day to provide another layer of security. The structure of the hardware and software design allows easy expansion of capacity for future growth. Docutriever Technology has done the best job possible to ensure customer satisfaction.
So, why choose Docutriever? Choose Docutriever because it provides great Extranet service at a minimum expense.
Please refer to the document "How does Docutriever do it?" to get more information about the detailed techniques that Docutriever Technology uses in the Docutriever.