Creating an “Instant Intranet” - An Interview with Navin Ganeshan on Network Solutions
August 27, 2008 :: Steve FisherNavin is a startup guy working in a big company and he loves it. His role at Network Solutions is to manage the data warehouse and all of the analytics. He provides this internally for Network Solutions so operations, finance and marketing are on the same page. This is so they can see how they are performing and can make changes to grow the business. As he likes to say they are the “one version of the truth” for all the groups at Network Solutions. He has a lot of experience working with small businesses and has worked in startups so he knows what small companies need and the kind of tools they should leverage to make their business more efficient and productive. We discussed creating a collaborative online work center for your small team or an “Instant Intranet” and I was able to spend some time with him recently. Here is a transcript of our interview:
Steve: What are the components in an “Instant Intranet”?
Navin: All companies need to manage information, brainstorm on ideas, do basic calendar management, track projects and milestones and have freeform discussions to collaborate on all types of things. The problem is that most people live in “e-mail limbo” where things should be put online and tracked for management and future reference.
If you look at it as having a single intranet that represents your business’ offline and online needs you can do a lot for very little cost and time to get up and running quickly.
Steve: What products/services do you recommend to accomplish all these things?
Navin: There are a ton of solutions out there. Now there are a slew of free applications like Google Sites® that can help a company set up a basic shared calendar, e-mail and document management system. Another good example and you ok with paying a little bit of money is using Microsoft® SharePoint™ that allows you to do document management, Microsoft Exchange integration, customer management and server along with widgets and plug-ins that you can add for free to create a single tool to meet the needs of your business out of the box. This means no programming on the business’ part, which is critical to get running with out costly customization and configuration.
Steve: How can you leverage what we provide at Network Solutions?
Navin: With the focus of Network solutions to providing business services online, the thought process is this – you have a domain, you have a site, you are getting leads through the site – now what? Our strategy is to think along those lines and offer “what’s next”. …
Steve: Have you seen companies that have implemented this and seen a dramatic improvement in productivity?
Navin: Yes, but even more compelling, many new small business are starting off utilizing this philosophy. It enables oversight over and collaboration across virtual teams and allows rapid business growth without the corresponding investment in infrastructure – offices etc.
Steve: With the move for companies to “be more green” and the push for virtual teams, can this help even the smallest of businesses accomplish this?
Navin: Absolutely. Real Estate agents are a good example of a small team, maybe just two, that need to be able to collaborate virtually. There is a great deal of inherent, almost viral “green-ness” in this approach. Not only do you save on unnecessary printing, it makes meetings more efficient and sometimes unnecessary since all content is online.
Steve: How does someone get started and who should they look to for help when there is a problem?
Navin: There are many options available ranging from free to low-cost. A simle search for “groupware” will unearth many options such as Google Sites, Zoho, Intranets etc. The right choice will depend on the level of simplicity and the amount of support you might need. Free solutions rely on you to spend quite a bit of time upfront defining and configuring it for your business operations. Others, especially solutions customized for your line of business may offer extensive hand-holding. And, of course, very soon, we would like you to consider Network Solutions as a provider of these services.
Steve: This has been some great advice for our readers. Thanks for the time today.
Navin: No problem. I hope entrepreneurs all get the chance to implement these types of solutions. There is no doubt in my mind that they will see immediately benefit to their businesses.
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