Intranets use Internet technology to construct private, corporate webs. They take advantage of available TCP/IP Internet development tools to bring a variety of server‐based information to desktops. This research presents a case study of a large regional Bell operating company and illustrates how intranets faciltate documentation availability within the company at substantial cost savings. The paper first reviews the current practice of document publication process, and then compares the traditional paper‐based publication costs with intranet publication costs. This is followed by the examination of intranet document management systems (IDMS) design and development issues. Finally, managerial challenges of IDMS are discussed.