|
|
|
In an interview with Gareth Penny, "Supplier of Choice" by Martin Rapaport, on www.diamonds.net, Mr Penny was asked about a sightholder extranet. He explained that it was a secure link between the DTC and its clients that principally acts as an information and communication tool. I thought that you might be interested in more information about De Beers' internet strategy as reported in an article on futurecompany.com.za and a press release located on www.stockhouse.com.
A Word about the Intranet and Extranet
In an article from May 11 2001 "Taking a shine to the Web" De Beers' internet strategy was explained quite explicitely by
Sasha Planting who starts off with this sentence. "When diamond giant De Beers decided it needed an e-business strategy, it found its hands were tied. An outstanding criminal indictment in the US for alleged price fixing in the industrial diamond market meant that no part of De Beers' electronic infrastructure could touch the US - difficult in the borderless world of the Internet." And then Planting continues with this explanation, "But with clever system development and the heavy use of disclaimers, the company thinks it will escape the attention of the US Justice Department, which brought the case against the company." And this, "Because of the unresolved case in the US, which De Beers is not contesting, the legal framework and security infrastructure underpinning the corporate Website are among the most complex in the world. "We had to ensure that our e-business activities did not lead to the US claiming any jurisdiction over any part of the group," says Campbell. As a result, disclaimers, which warn US users that the company is unable to respond to queries or transact with them in any way, feature prominently on the site."
The article, from the 11th of May 2001, stated that De Beers had spent US$ 4,500,000.00 during the past 12 months "in developing and outsourcing a complex corporate Internet and extranet infrastructure", with about US$ 3,500,000.00 budgeted for the next phase.
Together with Bain and Company, a "four-pronged" strategy for the e-business project was set up, which is being implemented with Accenture. James Campbell is the E-business manager who worked with Bain and Company on the details. The article goes on to explain that, "The first step was the development of a united intranet to consolidate 19 separate initiatives within the organisation and facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing. Second, a corporate Website was developed as the public face of De Beers. The extranet, aimed at 15 sightholders and launched on 1 May this year, is key here."
"De Beers Standardizes on Interwoven's Content
Infrastructure", about DeBeers internet strategy is very interesting.
An Interwoven, Inc. press release from July 30, 2001, it announced that "De Beers Consolidated Mines, the Johannesburg-based diamond company, has standardized on Interwoven's Content Infrastructure for multiple eBusiness initiatives. Advised and implemented by Accenture, Interwoven's Content Infrastructure (www.interwoven.com) software now allows marketing and managerial executives to contribute and manage
content for three De Beers Web sites."
The 3 websites include:
- A public Website
- An Extranet for De Beers' clients
- A company Intranet that supports employees at multiple diamond mines
In development:
- A De Beers Intranet which when complete will extend web content contribution and collaboration capabilities to employees at 18 diamond mines across South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. Users will share online information directly with the headquarters in Johannesburg.
- A Sightholders Network. This is a pilot Extranet (to a select group of its clients). The extranet, called The Sightholders Network, will utilize Interwoven's Content Infrastructure and will embrace all 125 clients when fully rolled out.
- Jamie Mordaunt is the project manager for the Sightholders Network.
- James Campbell, is the eBusiness program director for the De Beers Group.
|
|
