Does anyone know about an Extranet?

[LowcostPR]

Hi

We are looking at setting up an Extranet for our clients, so they can access information relevant to them from us (like copies of work, results ETC) and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it;

How much would it cost (appreciate it will depend on what we want, but generally...)?
Will it require an expert to come in and do it, could we do it all ourselves or do we need to design it and get someone to finish it?
What are the security problems?
What are the technical problems?
Have I missed or overlooked anything?
Thanks guys

Max

[TotallySport]

Why not build a web based application to to this via your web site?

[FireFleur]

Well an extranet in the widest sense is a private network extended over the Net.

But, if seen as an extension to an intranet it really is just a private members only website.

So ecommerce is really an extranet, when it comes to baskets and orders.

The skill in the design is delimiting the information and making sure it is segmented securely.

An extranet can get complicated quickly, depending upon what you are doing, so you do need to have a grasp of information control and how to apply it. So, any information needs to be categorised prior to inclusion and then handled only in that space.

Examples, if you have a pricing policy that differs between customers, then showing the difference to all may be a bad move, but announcing the company BBQ you may wish to do to all.

[gogul2k]

Hi

We are looking at setting up an Extranet for our clients, so they can access information relevant to them from us (like copies of work, results ETC) and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about it;

How much would it cost (appreciate it will depend on what we want, but generally...)?
Will it require an expert to come in and do it, could we do it all ourselves or do we need to design it and get someone to finish it?
What are the security problems?
What are the technical problems?
Have I missed or overlooked anything?

Thanks guys

Max
You need a programmer who can set up a bespoke CMS (as sounds like you'd need one).

The server would be hosted locally unless you hire a dedicated server from a web hosting company, costs for this vary though to bounce a ballpark figure I would say probably £100 a month. Might be worth it as you would leave it to the web hosting company to sort out logistical and technical maintenance, though if you couldn't communicate with an external network for some reason (e.g.: your internet connection is down) then you wouldn't be able to access it ... oddly enough :P

If hosting locally as an intranet then you would need a fixed IP address (talk to the internet service provider).

Not sure if it's worth you trying it yourself because it sounds like you're in unfamiliar territory, but this might be helpful http://lifehacker.com/124804/geek-to-live--how-to-assign-a-domain-name-to-your-home-web-server

[LowcostPR]

Thanks guys.

Just so you know, this is not a "basket/checkout" area but a place where our clients can see how their PR projects are coming along with regular updates as well as archived work that we have done for them.

Not sure if this makes any difference.

As I have already said I know the answer to this will be "depends what you want", but does anyone have a ballpark figure as to how much money I need to be looking at here?

[TotallySport]

Thanks guys.

Just so you know, this is not a "basket/checkout" area but a place where our clients can see how their PR projects are coming along with regular updates as well as archived work that we have done for them.

Not sure if this makes any difference.

As I have already said I know the answer to this will be "depends what you want", but does anyone have a ballpark figure as to how much money I need to be looking at here?TBH i have no idea on price or how to set a true extranet but if you want quotes you will need to provide alot more info on what you want and how you want it doing.

[LowcostPR]

Is there an "hourly rate" or a typical price anyone would charge for setting one up?

Just anything at all so I can get a good starting point as I don't want to go through the rigmarole of planning one out only to find that it is way out of budget.

[TotallySport]

if your wanting a web based system, it would be fairly easy to sort out I would suspect, and could easily be done with online scripts, functions and exisiting setups, depending on how you want it to work etc.

I would suspect a network based system would be much more complex and harder to achieve, no idea on price though not my field.

[newsh1]

You need one of our cloud computing products. Have a look at http://www.cloudsuk.com/pricing-structure/ and we can have you up and running in a couple of hours with our basic cloud package for £49 a month - unlimited users as well. If you are interested we can set up a demo account for you to play about with before you decide.

[FireFleur]

Well if this is project based:

http://www.basecamphq.com/

BaseCamp is something a lot like.

Intranet / Extranet are very much marketing terms hijacked and munged from technical.

A real extranet allows people to attach hosts to your network, here you just want a tool that shows project status, so I would drop the extranet from your thinking and just go with sharing project details.

[LandingNet]

If you're looking to do something cost effective, then get yourself some Linux hosting with a MySQL database and install something like Dot Project or Joomla with a project management add-on?

Only cost then is your hosting, and unless your host doesn't offer 'one click install', the couple of hours someone will charge to set it up for you.

Hope that helps

Shaun

[wilfredw]

www.huddle.net - uk company.

Huddle is a network of Online workspaces that brings project management software, group collaboration and document sharing together.