The budgetary question for Air New Zealand’s Intranet seems to be:

Does it make the planes fly?

Of course it doesn’t. Avgas, kerosene, maintenance and the pilot do (ok, aerodynamics have something to do with it too). However, a properly executed and used Intranet can make the operations safer and more efficient by helping staff to find the information they need. But it is important to remember the business focus, as James Robertson reminds:

What I love though, is this the great clarity of business focus. At the end of the day, the fundamental purpose of Air New Zealand is to fly people from A to B. If the intranet can’t assist the airline to deliver this service, then is it really providing enough business value?

It is easy to end up doing technology projects for their own gain, making reminders like these valuable.

While Midgard CMS doesn’t explicitly make planes fly, it at least assists in the business of keeping some planes in the air through the use of web-based reservation calendars and other tools.