Over the last few years two consultants have transformed our understanding of intranets. I'd first like to highlight the work of Jane McConnell, who through her Global Intranet Trends survey and report aggregates information on individual intranets to give managers a sense of how intranet development is proceeding world-wide, what are the emerging issues in enhancing the value of an intranet and what solutions are others finding to common problems of quality, relevance, impact and governance. Now is your chance to participate in the 2010 survey. Last year 226 organisations took part and it would be nice to break the 300 mark this year. Jane has put a great deal of work into the survey questionnaire, both in the choice of questions and the design of the web survey application. When I ran through it recently, using one of my clients as a test, it took about an hour to complete. There are two rewards. One is that you get a copy of the report when it becomes available in October and the other is that you will make a significant contribution to intranet development.

Then there is James Robertson, who is able to deconstruct intranets to see commonalities of approach, functionality and impact. His Intranet Innovation awards have provided a wealth of evidence to show that even a small element of an intranet can have a very signficant business benefit. I should add that participation in the 2009 awards is now closed.

When I started in the intranet business in 1999 it was like being in the Dark Ages when it came to understanding how intranets were being used. The sad thing is that with all this information that is now available there are still far too many organisations who have not recognised the value of information and the power of collaboration that an intranet brings to the desk top. At least we can stand on the shoulders of Jane and James and through them get a sense of what is possible.

Martin White