Murphy’s Law… Huài yùnqì…Mala Suerte – whoever you are, however you say it, bad luck spells bad news for your intranet and the broader business. The safety of such a valuable and business-critical resource should never be left to chance, or even worse – in the pessimistic hands of the mysterious Murphy, who ominously promises us ‘anything bad that can happen, will happen’.

This is exactly why it is so important, nay imperative, to ensure that a copy of the data stored on your intranet is readily available should your server(s) decide on an impromptu vacation. Not only is there the potential for your intranet to be offline for an extended period of time (which if you’ve played your cards right, should send your employees into a frenzy), there is also the chance you could lose all your data, not to mention the countless hours of hard work invested.

For those of us fortunate enough to have never experienced the gut-wrenching sensation brought on by the senseless loss of data you have neglected to backup, despite being regularly prompted to do so by your nay saying computer – lucky you. The majority of us who have would agree that in order to guarantee your future sanity, retention of hair and maintenance of happy working relationships – backing up data is a must.

There are a number of different ways you can keep backup copies of your intranet, with the two most popular and frequently implemented ones being:

• Remote server backups of your databases and web files

• Separate Disaster Recovery/Failover Server(s)

Server backups can be taken by following our basic ‘Backup and Restore Guide’. Server Administrators may also wish to automate their backups regularly with one of a number of various different tools available.

Disaster recovery is generally setup with a primary and secondary server. In the case the primary server fails, traffic is redirected through to the secondary (or failover) server, usually through the use of a load balancer. If setting up a disaster recovery server is something you’re interested in (rightly so!), the process can be a little complex so feel free to contact our Support Team for more information.

In addition to all of the above, a good ‘Disaster Plan’ should always outline the measures, steps and processes you have in place to either prevent disaster, or how to recover quickly from one should you have a brush with the (Murphy’s) Law.

This is quite a common question. Once time, effort and resources have gone into creating your intranet, how can you be sure staff are even accessing it, let alone reaping any of the hard-earned business benefits you have so carefully laid out? Like a parent on the first day of school, you can pack their lunch, dress them and drop them off but you can’t sit in class to make sure they’re learning. Don’t despair though, there are ways…

One approach, and perhaps the most obvious, is to track users’ access. Reporting tools such as iD’s Statistics Reporter can provide you with a quick snapshot of the traffic to your intranet, to give you a feel for what’s happening, to who, and when. What it can’t tell you, is whether or not your users are getting anything out of their time on the intranet.

Time would be better spent focusing on making your intranet engaging, useful and business-critical, so users will not only want to use it, but will depend on it to complete their daily duties.

There are a lot of factors which influence user access to the intranet, including:

Culture – Is using the intranet an integral part of your company culture i.e ‘Have you seen what’s on Flowercorp today?’ or ‘That’s a great idea, let’s create a forum topic on Flowercorp to get some feedback’

Content – Does the intranet contain relevant, up-to-date information that users will want, but more importantly need, to access?

Contribution – Are users trained and actively encouraged to contribute to the Intranet?

Importance – Is it the main repository of information – the source of truth – where users know they will be able to find exactly what they are looking for, quickly and easily?

Something as simple as moving the weekly newsletter onto the intranet instead of offering it via email or in paper-based format can have an enormous effect on users, pulling them to the system to get the information they need.

Another interesting idea is to create an area specifically for users to interact socially. This gives them a relaxed environment to start contributing to and encourages them to log on to see the latest information. An example is shown below using iD’s Coffee Break site.

So rather than focus your energies on monitoring the usage behaviors of your intranet’s users, why not take a closer look at exactly what you are offering and what you could do to improve your user experience. Make it as engaging as possible and they’ll actually want to use it.

Twitter is everywhere these days . As new words such as Tweeting, Twitterati, Twits and Trending (scarily) make their way into casual conversation, the microblogging giant is carving itself out a place in the business world as an invaluable marketing and communications tool – all this in 140 characters or less.

Now using iD CMS, you can easily embed a Twitter feed into your intranet. Other popular web based content such as Google Maps or Youtube for example, can also be dragged onto a page using the HTML Component.

We have created a more detailed instructional page to step you through the process on the iD Help Site, but in brief – edit an iD CMS page, drag and drop the HTML component onto your web page, add some HTML/Javascript (we use JQuery here) and voila! You have a Twitter feed in your intranet.

*As seen in Dynamic Business Magazine

Has your intranet become a fancy phone directory? Intranet DASHBOARD co-founder and Director Connie Pandos explains how you can make it a more powerful tool for communicating with staff.

Over the years, intranets have become a ubiquitous part of the corporate communications landscape, but all too often they provide a disappointing experience – failing to deliver on their most basic promise, which is to provide the content staff are looking for.

Due to this lackluster performance, some organizations have come to expect that staff will make minimal use of their intranet. Staff might log in to look up the phone number of a colleague or to find an annual leave application form, and that’s about it. If that sounds familiar, then your organization is definitely missing out on the potential of your intranet to help staff to work faster and smarter, strengthen your company culture and let your staff feel engaged with an employer that listens. Click here to read more »

The modern workforce is more mobile than ever before. If your employees aren’t limited to the four walls of your office, why should your intranet be? IP Based Security enables your intranet to operate as an extranet simultaneously, with users logging in securely from locations all over the world.

This functionality works by assigning one or more IP addresses or IP address ranges to a given iD Database Website User Account. Essentially, it comes down to secure external access to your internal systems.

IP Based Security verifies user’s credentials by their IP Address, logging them in automatically if they are in the office or directing them to a login form if they are accessing from an external location. It allows you to grant quick and easy access to those who need it, and keep your business critical information safe from those who don’t. With IP Based Security your intranet is never out of reach.

If not, it’s time to get acquainted…

The iD Desktop Assistant acts as a centralized point for instant access to the latest items requiring administrator approval before being published. Rather than searching on a per-tool basis and risk missing valuable input from employees, the iD Desktop Assistant automatically locates and lists all outstanding front end submissions and alerts administrators.

It also includes a multi-file upload option also enables administrators to quickly and easily upload any number of files simultaneously to the intranet. This includes the replication of entire folder structures to applications such as Document Manager, Image Library, Content Publisher and Digital Assets Library.

iD Desktop Assistant makes maintaining your governance strategy easy, saves you time and enhances collaboration, helping you get the most out of iD. It is available as a free added extra with your installation of Intranet DASHBOARD 2.2 and above. For more information, see the iD Extras on the iD Help Site.