Collaborating with people outside your organization can be difficult. What is the best solution to sharing information with clients and vendors securely? If these struggles have set your organization back, consider an extranet.
Like any savvy business owner, your natural next step involves outlining the potential benefits of an extranet for your organization so you can decide it is the right tool to accomplish your goals.
So, what is the benefit of an extranet? Unpack the many advantages of extranet solutions, including improved collaboration and increased efficiency, in this guide. It will help you determine whether the technology makes sense for your business.
What Is an Extranet?
An extranet is a private network that allows businesses to securely share part of their information systems with external partners, such as suppliers, vendors, and customers. Unlike intranets, which are used just within your organization, extranets extend to selected outside parties, providing a secure environment for collaboration and data exchange between you and the guest users.
Extranet Benefits for Businesses
The benefits of an extranet for businesses are many and varied. Some of the advantages you can expect include:
Improved Collaboration and Information Sharing
An extranet will effortlessly exchange data and collaborate with trading partners and other outside entities. By providing a centralized platform for communication, extranets make it easier for you and your network to work together on common projects, share updates, and manage tasks.
Think of an extranet as your private communication channel between you and any of your external partners. Users can find what they need quickly without having to sift through email attachments to find the right document version. Grant guest users access to important projects and keep everyone on the same page with easily updated documents.
You can get even more bang for your buck by adding project management tools and other apps to your solution. Once integrated, these technologies will transform your extranet into a one-stop shop for your project management needs. An extranet can ensure everyone who needs to be in the loop is in the loop.
Enhanced Security
Bringing in outside collaborators sounds good. But what about your security needs? Fortunately, top extranets provide robust security measures to protect data from unauthorized access and breaches.
These platforms feature multiple layers of security. Each is included to make it more difficult for hackers to access your confidential business information.
Everyone allowed to access your extranet has unique login credentials and an encrypted sign-in window to prevent unauthorized use. Additionally, each person has role-based restrictions to ensure that employees and outside users only see what they have permission to see.
Advanced encryption techniques safeguard your data as it travels across the network. Your information is also encrypted while at rest, adding another protection layer.
Increased Business Efficiency
A robust extranet solution can drastically increase business efficiency by streamlining key processes. Top options also include automation capabilities, which reduce the need for manual inputs and free up your team to work on more valuable tasks.
For instance, some solutions can automate order processing and inventory management, instantly routing fulfillment data to your warehouse partners when someone makes a purchase. Accelerating the flow of information across your partner network makes your business nimbler and more responsive to customer needs.
In another example, you can automate the addition of new users to an extranet. Also, you can automate the creation of new extranet sites if the number of different partners that will need access to information from you is growing.
Additionally, you’ll enjoy easier access to relevant information, as will authorized stakeholders. This feature reduces the time spent searching for documents, policies, or forms. Users will also enjoy access to real-time data and analytics through your extranet, allowing stakeholders to make decisions at the speed of business.
Cost Savings
Implementing an extranet can lead to substantial cost savings for your business. By reducing the need for physical meetings, travel, and paperwork, your solution can help lower operational costs.
You will also experience administrative savings by leveraging the power of automation. It enables you to cut back on paperwork filing errors and other expensive miscommunications that lead to shipment delays or wrong orders.
Thanks to the real-time insights into your business, you can also improve your resource allocation strategy. By pinpointing and eliminating sources of waste, you can make your business more efficient overall.
Better Customer Service and Customer Loyalty
Everything your business does or fails to do will have a trickle-down effect that impacts your customers. Extranets enhance customer service by providing personalized access to information and support, leading to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
That’s right — you can grant your customers access to your network through an extranet. They can solve common problems on their own without tying up your support staff, get more out of your product, and avoid long wait times associated with service calls.
With the right add-ons, you can even personalize the extranet experience to suit each customer’s unique needs. This involves leveraging their preferences and purchase history to create a better overall experience. Impress your customers and solidify long-term relationships.
Competitive Advantage
An extranet can give your business a competitive edge within its market. These platforms facilitate the exchange of ideas and information between your organization and its trade partners, thereby driving innovation and development.
Streamlining internal and external processes can help you bring new products and services to market more quickly, too. You can work together with suppliers, manufacturers, and other members of your supply chain to get sought-after goods into the hands of consumers faster.
Removing communication barriers will also promote better relationships with your business partners. This has become more important than ever amid ongoing supply chain disruptions and other logistical challenges.
Intranet vs. Extranet: What’s Right for You?
While extranet technology has numerous valuable benefits, some organizations may find that an intranet offers more bang for their buck. Thankfully, hubley clients can use many of their hubley intranet features in an extranet. If you need help deciding which solution fits your business, check out our head-to-head comparison.
We also invite you to schedule a demo of hubley so you can experience the power of our platform for yourself.
