added security and application integration. In extreme cases, extranets use technology such as public-key encryption to conduct business securely over the public Internet.
Independent financial planners are leveling the playing field with large brokerage houses by using extranets built by Amicus Networks. "Some of our independent broker/dealer sites have links to the clearinghouses and product companies," says Dennis Passovoy, president and CEO of Amicus. For instance, National Financial Service Corporation, a securities clearinghouse, provides quotes, news, and analysis to some of these Web sites, and also let reps enter orders directly on-line, Passovoy says. Besides building extranets and hosting sites, Amicu
s acts as a resource for electronic versions of prospectuses upon request. The company also provides commission statements to broker/dealers via e-mail and the Web. The technology exists to enable transactions via digital certificates, Passovoy says.
Consultants are keeping their clients connected through extranets. Since September, Linkage, Inc. (Lexington, MA), a human resources consulting firm, has been communicating with road-traveling clients from companies such as Lucent and Hughes. The Linkage extranet, built by Charter Systems, a provider of multivendor enterprise network design and support services, lets Linkage clients access local and shared files, databases, and e-mail from anywhere on the Internet. The system uses Windows NT servers running Microsoft's IIS and Gateway Services for NetWare, as well as Check Point's FireWall-1. "All Linkage had to provide us was a list of users and access rights they needed," says Frank Lopes, Internet market manager at Charter. The success of this extranet i
s making Linkage contemplate opening more of its internal Web services, including HR development courses, to those same customers for a fee over the same extranet, according to network administrator Steve Rosonina.
Best Practices
Because extranets are new, best practices for building them are just now emerging. Security, naturally, has been thought out first (see the article "Defending from the Unthinkable"). But best practices for application integration are still awaiting some technologies, such as object management, that are still maturing.
Those companies that can leverage their existing intranet sales-force applications to extend to suppliers and customers can win big. In early 1995, 95 percent of National Semiconductor's interactive marketing was U.S.-driven. Today, that number is 50 percent, and the chipmaker credits extending its existing applications to its extranet for the company's growth.
From their own intranets, customers can order National Semiconductor sample parts,
download data sheets, or buy products from National Semiconductor by giving a credit card number, says Phil Gibson, director of interactive marketing for the company.
The technology National Semi used wasn't cutting-edge -- just a few short Perl scripts. "The key requirement is [customers] have to have a live process for building their site, using a database or some type of scripting process," Gibson says. "We build our site as flat HTML every night, we process that script, write it off to a file, then allow [customers] to pick up that file and run a script on their site." This way, only the approved National Semi part numbers get incorporated on the customer's intranet pages, he says. National Semiconductor's extranet also enables customers and suppliers in Asia and Europe to have a one-hop connection to its Web site by using the Digital Island point of presence in Honolulu.
Different Components
Just as different businesses have different styles, different extranets -- whether for inform
ation access, collaboration, or transactions -- will use different styles of application components. More than 60 percent of large organizations implementing an intranet will require extended secure networks during the next five years, according to Gartner Group. Throughout 1998, security concerns will inhibit the process of extending intranets into extranets.
In some cases, entire industries are poised to take advantage of emerging standards such as IPsec, a set of security protocols that authenticates TCP/IP connections. In late September, developers of the Automotive Network Exchange (
ANX
), which includes the Big Three automobile manufacturers, announced successful testing of IPsec among a record number of hardware and software solutions.
ANX is a TCP/IP-based extranet for linking manufacturers with 8000 suppliers and, ultimately, 20,000 dealers. The network will go into production in early 1998.
The range of companies involved in ANX testing is vast, including Bellc
ore, which is building ANX for the automakers; firewall vendors Check Point Software Technologies, IBM, and Raptor Systems; software vendors including AltaVista Internet Software, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and TimeStep; and hardware vendors such as Ascend and Cisco.
By using electronic data interchange to automate commerce, the ANX automakers estimate they'll shave $70 off the cost of manufacturing each vehicle, says Tim Hember, president of TimeStep. "The financial and healthcare industries, and the government, are all watching this very closely," he says.
As extranets proliferate, those kinds of bottom-line savings will drive their acceptance and enable extranet products and standards to do even more.
Where to Find
Amicus Networks
Austin, TX
Phone: 512-418-8828
Internet:
http://www.amicus.com
The
Extranet Revolution
