Company intranet for a small business

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Krisinu

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Aug 8, 2008
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I'm looking to incorporate a small company intranet at my small biz. Google Sites comes to mind, did a search for some others but nothing free/cheap came up. Wondering if Wordpress or Drupal might be good candidates as well?

Things I'd like to post would be simple... announcemnts, a calendar of when specific subcontractors would be taking out specific jobs, employee resources (401k, insurance, policies). Stuff like that.

Opinions greatly appreciated.
 
Do you have a server?

Or you could look at a hosted sharepoint solution.
 
No server in house currently. I would prefer a hosted solution. I'll check out sharepoint.
 
How do they handle email right now?

Might want to look into a hosted exchange/sharepoint enviroment. Gives you a lot of power and it can be had for under 15 bucks a month a user.
 
email right now is handled through Gmail / Google Apps (@companydomain.com), that part has been working out pretty great.
 
Krisinu said:
email right now is handled through Gmail / Google Apps (@companydomain.com), that part has been working out pretty great.
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You would get so much more functionality out of hosted exchange with sharepoint, just don't do it through Cbeyond
 
Hmmm sounds interesting for sure. Found Sherweb offering for $9-ish per mo. per user. Doesn't sound bad.

The amount of employees we have is 10, not sure if you guys are taking that into account, not that I mentioned it before. It would only be 3-4 really active users using it. The others would basically use it for informational purposes.
 
so 9 users - $81/month right under a g a year. How much you paying for the google apps?

may be worth it to bring in a SBS server and get everything in house. We had clients doing the hosted exchange route and everyone loves it when we bring in house, the speed is so much better.
 
Bringning it in house adds the expense of managing it, if you don't have a IT vendor, the cloud will provide less hassle for you.

I'm pro in house, but sometimes the cost and hassle is just to much
 
I have a client with a need for hosted exchange, just a couple accounts. I hate to hijack the thread, but do you guys have any recommendations for a service provider?
 
keenan said:
I have a client with a need for hosted exchange, just a couple accounts. I hate to hijack the thread, but do you guys have any recommendations for a service provider?
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appriver

We have used sherweb for a few clients before(still have like 2 or 3 on it). Some various issues have come up with them. Generally speaking they are better then your standard pop provider though. Appriver has worked well for the other clients.

Best option is to bring it in house if possible. This gives you a few more options as well.
 
Google Apps standard edition is free, which is what we use right now actually. The premium edition is $50/year per user.
 
Krisinu said:
Google Apps standard edition is free, which is what we use right now actually. The premium edition is $50/year per user.
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Not trying to start shit or anything but i would like to ask you a crucial question, that will likely be a good reason to move from your current plan.

Where is your data?
 
k1pp3r said:
Where is your data?
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He says while recommending a 3rd party hosted solution...

It's a legitimate concern, but just as much so with hosted exchange as it is with Google Apps. Especially if you're a non-American using an American host (there are some really draconian policies in that country).
 
keenan said:
He says while recommending a 3rd party hosted solution...

It's a legitimate concern, but just as much so with hosted exchange as it is with Google Apps. Especially if you're a non-American using an American host (there are some really draconian policies in that country).
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Well, there are differences between appriver and Google, I have done business with Appriver, they are a very solid company and seem to generally care about your business.

If you have a issue with Google docs, who you gonna call? I can't even get a contact for postini without going through excell micro.

I guess my point is, i wouldn't trust google with my company data, but there are companies out there that i would trust
 
What would you folks recommend for an IN HOUSE corporate intranet? Right now we have a web server running our intranet on PHP - I'd like something a little more customizable and easier to post things on. This looks like it was custom built... it has been here since way before I started.

I was thinking Wordpress or something? It's a pretty simple intranet, we just host files on there to share company-wide but I would like some more functionality like being able to make posts, put up photos, etc.
 
ciggwin said:
What would you folks recommend for an IN HOUSE corporate intranet? Right now we have a web server running our intranet on PHP - I'd like something a little more customizable and easier to post things on. This looks like it was custom built... it has been here since way before I started.

I was thinking Wordpress or something? It's a pretty simple intranet, we just host files on there to share company-wide but I would like some more functionality like being able to make posts, put up photos, etc.
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Sharepoint!
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Sharepoint!
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Yea sharepoint is the way to go. If I'm not mistaken with server 2008 the web edition does allow for the database back end to be installed on it. Might be able to save a few bucks on the windows license.

Anyway the standard sharepoint is a pretty good setup and is included with the standard user cals you would need. You can always go to the office sharepoint if you need more options.
 
I'll have to look into sharepoint as I have no idea what it does :)
 
ciggwin said:
I'll have to look into sharepoint as I have no idea what it does :)
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Think of it like a webpage...with integration with Windows Explorer for document storage/sharing, a dash of Wiki, lots of built in templates for company photos and company calendars, users with permissions can log in and do things (based on permissions, which you can control), all designed for teamwork and collaboration.

And versions of it are free, the higher end versions do cost money. For a small business the free version would suffice, you don't need clustering.
You can install it on an existing server depending upon what you have for servers, so no extra dedicated hardware for some webserver is needed. So you might have no additional costs there either...so you're truly doing it entirely free.
 
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OR you could do it entirely free with Drupal.

Run it off a real webserver (ie Nginx or Apache). No muss, no fuss, just GPL goodness. I'd run the OpenAtrium profile, will do everything you've stated with ease.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
Think of it like a webpage...with integration with Windows Explorer for document storage/sharing, a dash of Wiki, lots of built in templates for company photos and company calendars, users with permissions can log in and do things (based on permissions, which you can control), all designed for teamwork and collaboration.

And versions of it are free, the higher end versions do cost money. For a small business the free version would suffice, you don't need clustering.
You can install it on an existing server depending upon what you have for servers, so no extra dedicated hardware for some webserver is needed. So you might have no additional costs there either...so you're truly doing it entirely free.
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Also office ties in nice with it. So does exchange if you are using it.

O2Flow said:
OR you could do it entirely free with Drupal.

Run it off a real webserver (ie Nginx or Apache). No muss, no fuss, just GPL goodness. I'd run the OpenAtrium profile, will do everything you've stated with ease.
Click to expand...

Didn't realize that iis wasn't a real webserver. Guess it is just my imagination seeing it host websites? :rolleyes:

Open Atrium doesn't look bad. Both are free and I would asume that sharepoint as a lot of extra resources as far as books and what not goes.
 
swatbat said:
Open Atrium doesn't look bad. Both are free and I would asume that sharepoint as a lot of extra resources as far as books and what not goes.
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Yup....lots of my clients use it, and they love how it ties in with Outlook and other Office apps natively, plus the veritable plethora of "Sharepoint for Dummies" books out there to help them get up and running quickly, and being productive on it.
 
swatbat said:
Didn't realize that iis wasn't a real webserver. Guess it is just my imagination seeing it host websites? :rolleyes:

Open Atrium doesn't look bad. Both are free and I would asume that sharepoint as a lot of extra resources as far as books and what not goes.
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I can assure you, the majority of the sites you likely traverse are not run on IIS. That's another argument and OT though.

You're probably right about using SP and having lots of books, etc on it. In my experience it's free up until a certain functionality point then it gets very expensive (MOSS)
 
O2Flow said:
I can assure you, the majority of the sites you likely traverse are not run on IIS. That's another argument and OT though.

You're probably right about using SP and having lots of books, etc on it. In my experience it's free up until a certain functionality point then it gets very expensive (MOSS)
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They don't run on nginx either. IIS still has around 25% of the market(apache has 54% or so). Nginx only has like 6%.

OpenAtrium is suspose to be a pretty good package. I wouldn't dismiss sharepoint through. Throwing in a bais against iis for an internal solution is a joke.
 
swatbat said:
They don't run on nginx either. IIS still has around 25% of the market(apache has 54% or so). Nginx only has like 6%.

OpenAtrium is suspose to be a pretty good package. I wouldn't dismiss sharepoint through. Throwing in a bais against iis for an internal solution is a joke.
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Just wanted to bump this up again, curious what the OP picked. I can tell you that OA is still pretty far off, used it for a few months but overall it is still in infancy IMO.
 
I have a client that went from sharing another client's in-house exchange to appriver, and they have been happy.

That said, most of my clients either already have or I set them up with an in-house exchange, usually through SBS, and like a previous poster said, the speed is definitely there :)
 
I see a lot of people here that are quick to recommend a solution for his intranet needs, a few things I see...

1-Small business, easy to build the culture to rely on this as a tool.
2-Who is going to manage the upkeep of the data?
3-If you build it, will your users use it?

The lack of in-house skill kind of sucks, setting up a domain controller+sharepoint could be pretty ace to manage users/permissions.

I myself have contemplated setting up a sharepoint box at work, the biggest reason that I do not is we have a CRM package that is web-based that our users seem to not be able to use fully. Before you go tossing something out there and spend the time and energy to roll it out make sure it is something your users can use.
 
How much horsepower does one really need for SBS 2008 and Sharepoint/Exchange. My work just upgraded to SBS 2008 running sharepoint and exchange, I believe it's a HP with 2.6ish ghz Nehalem with 12gb ram, raid 1 and 5, nothing fancy. The performance between 20 users is great. We do have a separate machine for the SQL Server though, the CRM is always in use between tech support and sales.
 
shiznit said:
How much horsepower does one really need for SBS 2008 and Sharepoint/Exchange. My work just upgraded to SBS 2008 running sharepoint and exchange, I believe it's a HP with 2.6ish ghz Nehalem with 12gb ram, raid 1 and 5, nothing fancy. The performance between 20 users is great. We do have a separate machine for the SQL Server though, the CRM is always in use between tech support and sales.
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Not much. A quad core with 8 gigs of ram and a few hard drives would be more then fine for a smaller setup. You can get by with a dual core and 4 gigs but for the cost difference I wouldn't skimp that far. One of the bigger things is disks access. With exchange, file access, etc you want some disk speed to back it up.
 
swatbat said:
Not much. A quad core with 8 gigs of ram and a few hard drives would be more then fine for a smaller setup. You can get by with a dual core and 4 gigs but for the cost difference I wouldn't skimp that far. One of the bigger things is disks access. With exchange, file access, etc you want some disk speed to back it up.
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As I suspected, the op could probably build one for ~$1000, and I think our HP was about $3500 with 6 hard drives (the raid 5 is hotswappable), dual power supplies, and tape backup drive.

another thread had this http://office365.microsoft.com/en-US/online-services.aspx

basically cloud SBS, could be enough for your needs op.
 
Nevermind ... already suggested what I suggested above. Should have read the whole thread first.
 
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swatbat said:
How do they handle email right now?

Might want to look into a hosted exchange/sharepoint enviroment. Gives you a lot of power and it can be had for under 15 bucks a month a user.
Click to expand...

Krisinu said:
Hmmm sounds interesting for sure. Found Sherweb offering for $9-ish per mo. per user. Doesn't sound bad.

The amount of employees we have is 10, not sure if you guys are taking that into account, not that I mentioned it before. It would only be 3-4 really active users using it. The others would basically use it for informational purposes.
Click to expand...

marley1 said:
so 9 users - $81/month right under a g a year. How much you paying for the google apps?

may be worth it to bring in a SBS server and get everything in house. We had clients doing the hosted exchange route and everyone loves it when we bring in house, the speed is so much better.
Click to expand...

keenan said:
I have a client with a need for hosted exchange, just a couple accounts. I hate to hijack the thread, but do you guys have any recommendations for a service provider?
Click to expand...

RiDDLeRThC said:
I second intermedia
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were leaving USA.net and going with http://www.microsoft.com/online/exchange-online.aspx

$5 bucks a month, 25 gig mailboxes. 5 user minimum though. Still cheap as shit!
 
***Necro thread alert... for the second time :( but this relates very well to the discussion at hand.

k1pp3r said:
You would get so much more functionality out of hosted exchange with sharepoint, just don't do it through Cbeyond
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It's funny - I had a guy from Cbeyond call me the other day because we're planning an office move. Any reason why Cbeyond sucks?

MavsX said:
were leaving USA.net and going with http://www.microsoft.com/online/exchange-online.aspx

$5 bucks a month, 25 gig mailboxes. 5 user minimum though. Still cheap as shit!
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I've heard that Online Exchange (hosted Exchange) is awesome, but not if you get it through Microsoft. I've heard a few horror stories already after only researching it for a few days. How is it working out for you? How was the migration?

Going to be looking into Sharepoint. How many users can SBS support?

 
I think SBS caps out at 75 users.

If your still looking for hosted exchange check these guys out.

Lightedge Hosted Exchange. They are based in the midwest and also offer hosted shareport and OCS if your interested.
 
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