Very Computer

JUMP-STARTING INTRANETS WITH APPFOUNDRY

"AppFoundry

applications

demonstrate what

the intranet

can do for

a business using

cross-platform,

cross-database,

scalable

technology."

Last time, I talked about how intranets help businesses improve communications to become more competitive and profitable. I'm very e*d about Netscape's recent launch of the AppFoundry program because it gives companies the tools to speed up the implementation and development of their intranets.

AppFoundry provides a variety of reusable business applications that come with documented source code, online help, and standard style sheets. Corporate developers can use the starter applications in AppFoundry to meet specific needs within their businesses.

The applications solve problems and increase communication in such areas as finance, human resources, IS, marketing, sales and distribution, and more. Developing and deploying these applications is easy, allowing a company to move quickly and keep up with an ever-changing marketplace.

AppFoundry applications demonstrate what the intranet can do for a business using cross-platform, cross-database, scalable technology. One way to look at it is to think of those situations in your business where two or more people would do things differently if they could communicate better. And there are probably hundreds of opportunities like that. Think of a person communicating with a database or an information source either inside the company or out, or think of opportunities for customers or vendors outside the business to communicate with the company or its databases. Many companies today are doing this - look at Federal Express, with its package-tracking system. For a relatively modest cost you can build captivating systems, allowing savings of tens of millions of dollars and providing a new channel for companies to reach customers. Companies can provide better customer service at lower cost, which will allow them not only to save but also to make money.

My business experience has been that people have spent tens of millions of dollars building very tightly integrated proprietary network systems within businesses that weren't as scalable as they should be and that weren't transportable across the business perimeter to a customer because you couldn't tell what equipment the customer had. With AppFoundry you can distribute serious applications both throughout a business and to partners, vendors, and customers outside the firewall, allowing you to better serve customers, streamline internal partner and customer communications, capture unstructured company and customer knowledge, and increase efficiency. The applications can be developed, deployed, and used easily, inexpensively, and quickly, and they leverage a company's current investment in technology without having to go through major new investments.

From the first days I began selling applications 31 years ago, I've always had a fascination and an interest in how to solve business problems using these wonderful computer tools. What seems so profound to me is that we discovered this Internet software could also be used to create these marvelous business solutions. Quite frankly, a lot of people had not thought about using this technology that way, but the idea was just lying there right in front of everybody. When Netscape began to capture some markets with this idea it was exhilarating. We're solving real business problems in which communications needed a boost of Internet open standards, hypertext, and rich multimedia content in implementable, human-scale applications.

Our ideas for the future are even more exciting. Studies have suggested that there could be a $10 billion market by the year 2000 for intranet applications, and we at Netscape think we have a lot to offer in that market. We've certainly been selling many great intranet tools to date with our Netscape Navigator and SuiteSpot products. AppFoundry - along with Netscape ONE, the open network environment - builds on top of that. The desktop network-attached device becomes more and more powerful because it's got the universal client interface to these marvelously rich cross-company, cross-customer technologies.

Warren Buffet says that business isn't like the Olympics - they don't give you points for degree of difficulty. Why not make it easy? We all work so hard at everything else. Getting information into the hands of people who can use it to enhance their productivity and the business's competitive edge shouldn't be one of the tough parts. At least not if you come knocking on our door.