How To Set Up An Extranet

Employees accessing an extranet to facilitate collaboration with external partners

What is an extranet?

Earlier laying the groundwork for a new component of your digital workplace, it's important to empathize what an extranet is and how it differs from an internal communications platform. In short, an extranet is an extension of an intranet. It is a private network that is carve up from the intranet, only the major differentiating gene is that an extranet is available to selected users outside of an organization, whereas intranets cater to team members within an enterprise. Extranets accept the concept of intranets to another level by enabling customers, vendors or partners to access components of an organization'due south digital workplace. Just as intranets pave the style for collaboration betwixt team members, extranets loop in third parties to drastically reduce silos, drive efficiency, and facilitate resources sharing seamlessly.

Learn more nigh enterprise extranets.

Extranet design across devices

What to consider when implementing an extranet

Much like introducing a new intranet software, designing an extranet that successfully engages 3rd parties requires care and consideration. Internal stakeholders demand to exist able to answer the following questions in club to ensure that their organisation's extranet will maximize connectivity and pave the way for future collaborations:

#1. What are the goals of the extranet?

A digital solution should never exist one-size-fits-all and extranets are no exception. Organizations can utilize external digital workplaces to fulfill a diverseness of different goals and objectives. For case, e-commerce platforms may launch an extranet to efficiently manage logistics and streamline communications between suppliers, distributors, couriers and consumers. In contrast, compages organizations may take more of a projection-focused approach past using an extranet to share updates between architects, engineers and contractors. Begin specific goals and project components that will benefit from the introduction of a modernistic extranet.

#2. Who is this extranet designed to serve?

Extranets tin can be the core from which third party relationships flourish, so stakeholders need to advisedly consider the unique users who will be utilizing this platform and tailor their digital feel accordingly. An extranet designed to provide real-fourth dimension tracking information for customers might look very different from a platform dedicated to task management betwixt multiple collaborators. When designing an extranet, visualize the types of users who will access the platform and the specific features and capabilities that will exist most valuable in social club to meet their goals and expectations.

#iii. What kinds of collaborations and partnerships are nigh important to your enterprise?

Collaborations between enterprises and 3rd parties can have a multifariousness of unlike forms and modalities. One of the chief purposes of an extranet is to streamline partnerships betwixt various organizations, and so information technology'due south important to conceptualize what these relationships await like inside your organization. Features such every bit live data updates, searchable document libraries and individual social channels may be more or less valuable to your organization, depending on the nature of the partnerships your enterprise engages in.

Front line employee using mobile device

#4. How should user experience for your extranet differ from an intranet?

Creating a platform tailored to the needs and expectations of a user is integral to the success of any digital experience. Some organizations may opt for an extranet with many of the same features equally their intranet, including social collaboration through reactions and @mentions and integrations with other tools such as Salesforce or HubSpot. Conversely, other enterprises may make up one's mind to forgo these features and apply the platform solely for data tracking or logistics direction. Contrasting the features your intranet users need with those of third parties tin can assist stakeholders establish a clear vision for the type of user feel their extranet needs to provide.

#5. What kinds of safety and confidentiality measures should be prioritized?

Another powerful functionality of an extranet is the power to control what information third parties can admission. External user invites enable workers to interact with clients, partners and suppliers by sharing sites and content directly. Invites, permissions and access can be easily managed past stakeholders in lodge to protect sensitive data and restrict tertiary-party views when needed. Depending on the nature of your enterprise's collaborations, unlike security and confidentiality measures can be taken to facilitate knowledge sharing without leaking any restricted data.

#6. How can stakeholders optimize the extranet adoption process?

Much like introducing a new intranet, the most successful extranet adoptions assistance guide the user through every step of the onboarding process. Announcements should be sent out in accelerate to introduce tertiary parties to the new extranet and glimpse the features and functionalities of the digital workplace. An internal employee or team should be appointed to serve as a betoken of contact once the extranet has launched. Provide third parties with like shooting fish in a barrel to admission resource, such as a centrally located FAQ folio or a bundle of explanatory articles. To pave the style for time to come developments while maximizing engagement, consider calculation a user experience form or survey, which tin help stakeholders deliver the best digital feel possible.

#7. What types of innovations will aid take my extranet to the next level?

In years past, organizations looking to interact with third parties relied almost exclusively on Sharepoint equally the foundation for their extranet. While Sharepoint provided a solution for bringing external parties up to speed, user experience was far from a priority. In contrast, modern extranets can be tailored specifically to the collaborators that matter virtually to your enterprise. Companies tin can drive engagement and third-party user satisfaction through specialized capabilities such as social networking features that encourage cross-organization connectivity, user segmentation for targeted experiences and external invites that enable employees to collaborate safely and securely with outside users.

Are you gear up to boost collaboration with third-party partners?

A modern extranet can be a valuable asset to your digital workplace by empowering knowledge sharing with external users, driving productivity and establishing clear communications pathways. If you are interested in incorporating an extranet into your enterprise'due south digital toolbox, learn more or get a free consultation today!

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Reinvent your intranet for the employee experience era.