Enterprise Portals
Portals are two way gateways, offering on the one side direct access to company resources, like applications and relevant information using either intranet of secure extranets (pull) and on the other side they can be used to distribute the information (or links to it) to users (push).
From the outside a portal looks like a stained glass window, where the various small pieces of glass, the so-called portlets, give access to the various different parts of the portal. Usually the user has the flexibility to decide which pieces they want to see to enable them to work effectively. (In fact in most definitions of a portal this is seen as essential, if you can't alter what you see it's just a website and not a portal). Not everybody needs access ot everything that's available. On the other side of the window (or more correctly the door) you find three types of resources:
- functionality
- infrastructure
- content
By personalising the way that the information is presented it becomes easier for the individual to use, allowing people to react faster since the relevant applications are also integrated into the same portal. Company processes, applications, knowledge and information become immediately available in one place allowing faster and more accurate actions and reactions to any given situation.
Not only does using a portal give the organisation one integrated view of the customer, it is also possible to manage the workflow around the customer and integrate the (different) applications. Just about all the different back and front-office processes can be integrated (if required) although this may require a wide selection of different technologies to achieve. It does however give us the possibility to create new processes (new products), without the necessity of changing the administrative organisation. The back-office, which often has a large number of legacy systems, doesn't have to be changed, but the front-office, the piece that the customer sees, may look totally different. This allows us to create a "company process factory" where all the input from the company itself, the marketplace and the customers can be used to put together new processes (i.e. new products) in a timescale that would previously have been impossible.
It is possible to achieve even more flexibility and agility by allowing both customers and suppliers (limited) internet access to the company portal. Given that all the necessary ingredients for electronic self-service are available within the portal, it is possible to "outsource" much of the work to either business partners or even the customers themselves. There are many examples of this the best known being the airline sites and electronic banking. This leads to an organisation which is serviced not by the staff but by the suppliers and the customers themselves - the virtual organisation is born!
Are you looking for help or advice on portals? We keep up to date with the latest developments, both in terms of technology and the newest organisational trends and concepts.