Intranet VS. Extranet: Know the Differences between Intranet and Extranet
As the dependency on the internet is increasing day by day, a majority of businesses are making use of both- extranet as well as an intranet for communication. Since these terms are commonly used while communicating with customers, team members, business associates, and others- they can be very confusing. But there is a significant difference between intranet and extranet. Though their chief purpose is to increase and improve the collaboration and communication among teams- their roles and purposes are very different. Let us see how.
What is the Internet?
It refers to a private network that companies use for ensuring secure collaboration and communication among all the employees. The intranet is very useful when we want to store some useful, crucial information.
Here, we have used the prefix “intra” which means inside or within. Thus, in simpler words, a company’s digital workplace that remains centralised is known as the intranet. It helps an organisation streamline all documents, individuals, projects, tools, etc., within the workplace.
What is the Extranet?
The extranet is also very similar to the intranet. It is a private network existing within an organisation. But the difference is that the extranet makes use of the internet for connecting to all the outsiders (it happens in a controlled manner). Thus, the extranet helps an organisation connect with its suppliers and customers. It thus helps a team in an organisation work in collaboration.
In simpler words, the extranet refers to an extended version of an organisation’s intranet that lets an organisation authorise various users who are present outside the organization. It is a private, controlled network that lets partners and third parties access some specific information in the organisation without granting them complete access to the entire network.
Just like the intranet, an extranet allows sharing of files, information, and communication privately. But remember that it is only present between an organisation and its authorised external partners.
Difference between Intranet and Extranet
Let us talk about the differences between Intranet and Extranet. To make this topic more understandable and clear, we are comparing both of the terms based on their individual characteristics in a table.
| Parameters | Intranet | Extranet |
| Basics | It refers to a private network that the companies use for ensuring secure collaboration and communication among all the employees. | The extranet helps an organisation connect with its suppliers and customers. It thus helps different teams in an organisation to work in collaboration. |
| Types of Users | Internal departments of a company and all the employees of an organisation make use of the intranet. | Business partners, suppliers, and customers make use of the extranet. |
| Used for | An intranet is used for establishing communication among internal employees, used in telephone directories, and many more. | An extranet is used for sending emails, accessing data, checking the status of various orders, and many more. |
| Security | It is highly secure in nature. It is configured in the firewall under the 100 security level. | It establishes a very secure connection using the VPN technology over the level of Internal Medium security. |
| Regulating Authority | A single organisation performs the regulation of the intranet. | Multiple organisations perform the regulation of the extranet. |
| Owners | A single organisation owns it. | Multiple organisations can own it. |
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