Web Portals -Lacey Smith-

-Useful Links-

-Overview-

    A Web portal is described as a Website or service that offers a broad array of resources and services such as e-mail, forums, search engines, and online shopping malls.  The first Web portals were online services, such as AOL, that provided access to the Web, but by now most of the traditional search engines have transformed themselves into Web portals to attract and keep a larger audience (http://www.webopedia.com).

    A Web portal is where you start your day on the Web.  Portals provide the user with news, the latest online happenings, email, chat, and a personalized stock portfolio.  Two examples are Yahoo! and Lycos.  The portal is considered a safety net and guide to all things the user is searching for on the Web.  The way all the above offerings are integrated and the ease of use and customization is the reason a user chooses that specific page to start their web journey (http://internet.about.com/industry/internet/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/webportals/index.html).

    Portals have some of the disadvantages that AOL has, in that they dictate the content that you are able to find. They are a good aid for new users to get acquainted with what is out there and what can be done, but at the same time, they only serve you a slice of the Internet. Portal sites often point you to sites that live under the same corporate umbrella as they do, rather than to the most relevant or informative site on a given topic (http://www.zdnet.com).

-Today's News-

Topic 1:

    Corporate portals are predicted to be the new metaphor for desktop computing in business due to a new wave of software.  The new generation of portals is easy to use and provides access to crucial data, reports, applications, and processes.  A company portal can be thought of as an internal World Wide Web.  The portal's homepage, or start page, is displayed in a Web browser and generally includes search engines and tools such as appointment calendars and e-mail.  Each employee in the firm is able to create a MyYhoo-type page.  Portal software vendors offer special utilities that allow users to add features such as stock tickers, clocks, hotel, restaurant, and weather information.  Corporate information and technology managers say the portals they are rolling out this year are already contributing millions of dollars to the bottom line while others say their return on investment will be measured in minutes and hours of employee time that is better and more profitably used.  Virtually any application that runs on a server can be launched directly from a portal start page by including a link to the application.  Portal software products are server-based and generally use Web technologies such as HTML, XML, and Java to display information in a Web browser.  This year companies such as DuPont and Sprint PCS, plan to equip their portals to send messages automatically to wireless devices, including the Palm Pilot. 

    There are three main types of corporate portals:

    1)  Data warehouse-takes structured data from company databases and makes it available to the organization via a browser.  These portals provide read-only access into a variety of databases via highly structured reports.

    2)  Informational portals-deal with unstructured data, such as documents, Web pages and e-mail.  These provide easy organization and access.

    3)  Interactive portals-provide access to both structured databases and unstructured data such as e-mail, all from the same browser-based desktop.

    The portal metaphor will be the way people will work.  Today, opening e-mail application or appointments calendar while a user is doing something else requires too many separate actions and clicks.  The user has to open too many applications and search through too many data files and manually pull information together from too many sources.  The portal will do that kind of work automatically. (http://ehostvgw11.epnet.com/ehost1.asp?key=204.179.122.140_8000_-1805026020&site=ehost&return=n&custid=magnolia&profile=web)

    Microsoft recently announced, June 6, 2000, a new technology called "Web Parts."  This software allows employees to customize their own corporate portal sites, design a Web page and pick the information they want displayed (http://www.cnetnews.com).

    Topic 2:

    BeVocal is a voice portal that brands itself as a driving directory system.  The user tells the automated voice what city he/she is in and a nearby address and the directions are given by MapQuest.com.  This company is trying to bring the power of voice to Web searching hoping that users will appreciate the convenience of conducting transactions via the phone.  Some voice portals offer business-to-business applications making it easier for customers to interact with companies.  For example, a user of Tellme Netw!orks can say "stocks" and a prompt asks them for the name of a company.  The user can then say "fundamentals" and hear the details on that stock's performance.  The user can customize selections so the service knows what stocks they own and where they live by entering their preferences in a personal profile on Tellme's site.  (http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20000605/tc/speaking_of_voice_portals__1.html)

-Article Summary-

        Perficient, Inc. is an IT consulting services organization.  The company is implementing corporate portal technology from Plumtree Software in an effort to provide a simple, effective communications mechanism for its geographically dispersed employees, as well as to streamline the process of mergers and acquisitions.  Plumtree is based heavily on Microsoft Active Server Page (ASP) technology.  Therefore, the software is dependent on Windows NT and 2000 platforms.  

    After acquiring two companies, Perficient felt that a portal was the best way to ensure everyone was on the same page now and in the future.  

Source:  I/S Analyzer:  Case Studies, January 2000