Here is an interesting scenario. If the CEOs of Tata Consultancy Services, L&T, Reliance, ICICI Bank and Infosys were asked to quietly go on leave for the next six months, the world outside as well as most employees inside may not even notice it. But there is one event that can bring an earthquake to these companies and their operations.

And this event is their internal management software called “Internal-Portal” ie a web based software used by all employees for almost everything. This Internal-Portal going down for a few days is an earthquake. Imagining this “Portal” being down for a month is “unimaginable”. This Internal-Portal is their “Heart & Brain” and the company will go into a coma if it is taken away.

I worked for a few years at Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. They use an Internal-Portal called Ultimatix. Here is an example from one of my own routine when I was at TCS. I inform the Travel Desk that I want to travel to Mumbai by morning flight tomorrow, hold a Video conference there and return next day. Now, within a matter of minutes – sometimes within 30 minutes – following will happen.

• I will get my air travel eTicket by email in my “Inbox” for both going and coming.
• I will get an email from the TCS Guest House in Mumbai confirming my Room.
• I will get an email about the driver and his mobile who will pick-up and drop me to the Airport.
• I get an eMail from Office Manager in Mumbai that Conference room has been booked for my Video conference.

All this within one hour at most times. And all I did was just call the travel desk for a couple of minutes. These Internal-Portals are the darlings of the employees and top leadership alike. ICICI has its Portal called WiseGuy, L&T works through KnowNet, Infosys lives on Kshop and TCS survives on Ultimatix.

Infosys founders Narayanmurthy and Nilekini are on record about their internal system being indispensable for their functioning. Let me explain what is it exactly ? Well, it is a web based software which integrates finance, human resources, payrolls, sales management, business development and administrative operations.

If you ever wondered how huge organizations are able to keep tab of their resources and continue to remain agile then this internal-Portal is at the heart of it.

It will have interactive sections such as discussion forums, query boards, , training modules etc. It will also contain the best practices repository, Tele conferencing, Video Conferencing, Travel Management, Financial Claims etc. The portal also has a variety of other facilities including document management, trade journals, research reports, maps, directories, currency and time calculators etc etc.

The focus of Internal-Portal – which is also called a Knowledge-Portal – is not on technology which is just an enabler. The value comes in the processes that tap the intellectual capital and change the organizational culture & practices. In essence, the workplace is no longer just a physical location. It has become a blend of physical and virtual spaces as a work place.

Today, no professional company can afford to ignore an Internal-Portal. If it does, it will soon regret it. Here is a very relevant quotation on the wisdom for Knowledge Management.

“Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted”. That’s all for now. Till we meet again.

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