The
choir has been singing for some time. Though most executives haven't
bought into the gospel, they've heard the message and are beginning to take notice: the intranet is a valuable asset.
According
to Jane McConnell's annual Global
Intranet Trends 2009 report, c-level executives now participate
on the intranet steering committees of half of the respondent
companies that have a steering committee (about 1/3 of the respondent companies have a steering committee; roughly 1/6th of the total respondents therefore have a senior executive actively involved). While it is true that most of the
remaining organizations don't have a senior executive actively
engaged, this finding represents a marked increase over 2007. In
2007, only one-third of the intranet steering committees have the privilege of
a c-level executive on the intranet steering committee.
While there is hope that more executives will come to realize — or be convinced — of the intranet's value to an organization, there is still pause for concern. The study finds that only 14% of the respondent intranets consider the intranet as “business critical.” This is unfortunate because in many instances the intranet is business critical; others may not have the chance to become business critical because senior management aren't convinced they should invest in the intranet or a redesign.
The
truth of the matter is that an intranet manger or consultant's number
one job is sales
Hi Toby – I'd like to make a quick but important clarification about the participation of c-level executives in high-level steering committees. (“High-level” was defined as “sufficiently high in the organization that decisions can be made without having to refer to someone at a higher hierarchical level in the organization”.)
In fact it was not half the organizations in the study who had c-level participation, but rather half of those who actually had steering committees.
In 2008, only one third of the survey participants had a high-level steering committee and 50 % of these had c-level executive participation. This does show progress over 2007 when only one third had c-level involvement.
I only wish that half the survey participants had c-level executive involvement! Personally, I'm convinced that someday that will be the case.
Dum9OW Very true! Makes a chgane to see someone spell it out like that. 🙂