1.3.1 What is an Extranet Site?

    		Back
    An Internet site provides you with a web presence for the general public. An intranet site uses Internet technology to provide your employees with access to internal information. An Extranet provides you with an Internet site accessible to a select group of people.

    In an Extranet site, existing customers and partners are given password-protected access to information pertinent to them. Partners and customers can access this information while the general public cannot. Extranets can use encryption and password technologies to secure access to your site. For business-to-business transactions, Extranets can enable secure electronic commerce. An Extranet can automate information-sharing by providing access to specific information and regulated access to internal databases. Within an Extranet site, you can create a location for disseminating non-disclosure information. You can simultaneously host many Extranet services, each focused on the needs of one particular constituency. For example, existing customers who have purchased from different product lines may have access to an Extranet service focused on their needs. Business partners may have access to a partner's Extranet site that has information on pricing, sales promotions, or other personalized services. Investors may have access to an Extranet site with financial information or discounts specifically for them. Each Extranet site may share access to your company's eCommerce application. You can specify different products or provide discounts based on Extranet or user passwords.

    A company that manufactures pharmaceuticals may have a web site that consumers can visit to learn more about some popular off-the-shelf products. The site may include recent tests, use practices, recommendations, and side-effect warnings. The company can also create an Extranet site for its sales staff. Sales reps need to know the unpublished location of this site and have a password to access the information. Once on the Extranet site, sales reps can place orders, track their customers' ordering trends, find out information about sales incentives, and obtain competitive information. Doctors may be given access to a different Extranet site. On the doctors' Extranet site, the company may run discussion groups for doctors who have used the product, provide clinical trial results, and run specials for buying online.

    Back