An extranet is used by businesses to give restricted access to reliable third parties like partners, vendors, suppliers, and clients to collaborate. It is a tightly controlled private network—or sometimes an extension of a company's intranet—to connect its in-house team to resellers and other trusted parties to help them conduct business.

An extranet allows a company to:

• Share secured content with external parties 
• Facilitate collaboration via an integrated customer dashboard
• Exchange large amounts of data through a digital data interchange
• Restrict access through a single entry point
• Communicate key information to partner companies
• Interact exclusively with partner companies and other collaborating teams

What types of extranets are there? 

An extranet is designed specifically for what it intends to achieve. Types of extranets include the following:

• A customer platform is an extranet that is set up to help manage customer relationships over time.
• A financial data extranet grants access to financial experts and data professionals for auditing or advisory purposes.
• A project extranet is developed specifically for the implementation of an upcoming initiative.
• A logistics extranet is geared toward maximizing sales and profit. It creates a pathway that connects every relevant stakeholder—such as suppliers, distributors, vendors, and customers—to an integrated platform.