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ROI is very important to any organization when defining the efficiency of an investment. Intranets are no exception and organizations believe ROI is very important, but defining what an organization wants to measure can be difficult to determine. We observe that most hospitals see the inherent value in intranets and while measurements are less tangible, intranets can be very valuable to the organization. We often compare intranets to the telephone system. Most organizations see the value in the telephone but most would not track the ROI of its phone system. We inherently know and understand the value of the phone and do not require a detailed ROI balance sheet. In many ways intranets are like telephones. They assist us in mission-critical work but the unseen savings are  implicitly understood. However, to move past the ROI issues so that we can improve our intranets, let’s define some tangible measurements:

• Ascribe the intranet a value equal to the investment, dollar in equals dollar out.
• Assign a non-monetary value to the intranet as collaborative communication and knowledge management asset.
• Measure and appraise specific benefits from implementing an intranet.

Specific measurements for bullet point three would include:

• Reducing paper printing and circulation
• Decrease software downloads
• Reduce headcount and increase savings from automated functions
• Reduce or eliminate process errors
• Improve access to internal and competitive data
• Reduce training expenses
• Improve productivity by allowing access to all employees
• Increase employee retention

These are a few of the many measurements that can be done for the intranet. So don’t let ROI stop you from building a business case for improving your intranet and presenting it to your executive business team.