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Home - Services - Development - Extranets

Extranet Portals

Did you realize that when you Log on to the FedEx site to check the status of a package you are using an Extranet Portal?

What is an Extranet Portal?

An Extranet Portal is a mechanism based on Internet and Web technology for communicating both privately and selectively with your customers and business partners.

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What's the difference between an extranet, an intranet and the Internet? The Internet is available for everyone to use. Then businesses started developing their own intranets that used the same friendly Web interface but put up firewalls so that only employees access the information on the site.
Finally, the extranet was created. It finds itself somewhere in between--there's still a firewall, but you allow only selected outsiders, such as business partners and customers, inside. Manage Calendar Schedules and Time with Clean Publishing.
Why use an Extranet Portal? When done correctly, Extranet Portals provide a safe way to allow transactional business-to-business activities and can save your company some serious time and money. The automotive industry uses extranets to cut down on its redundant ordering processes and keep suppliers up to date on parts and design changes, allowing quicker response times to suppliers' problems and questions. Suppliers can receive proposals, submit bids, provide documents, even collect payments through an extranet site. An extranet has restricted (password-protected) access, so it may be connected directly to each party's internal systems.

Would your business benefit from one? Many view Extranet Portals as the next era in Web development. While other business-to-business communications, such as electronic data interchange (EDI), are out there, an Extranet Portal is more user-friendly because of its Web interface and allows for less regimented and more ad-hoc inquiries. However, before a company can make an attempt at harnessing the capabilities and profits gained from using an extranet, a fully functioning intranet portal has to be in place.

Other uses of Extranet Portals include:

• Private newsgroups that cooperating companies use to share valuable experiences and ideas.
• Groupware in which several companies collaborate in developing new products or services.
• Training programs or other educational material that companies develop and share.
• Shared product catalogs accessible only to wholesalers or those in the trade.
• Project management and control for companies that are part of a common work project

Like intranet portals, Extranet Portals are reliable, fast and powerful, yet cost-effective, communication vehicles. With GHI you can build an Extranet Portal solution that enables you to open your organization up to your customers and business partners in ways never before possible. Across all industries, GHI's Extranet Portal solutions are rapidly reshaping company-wide communication, collaboration, productivity, and innovation.

Contact GHI today for further information about how Extranet Portals can help you connect smarter with your customers and suppliers.

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