Company Portals: Drawing a crowd

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March 3, 2003 (Computerworld) -- Companies typically plan and deploy software portals to provide employees, customers and suppliers with a single, Web-based access point for data, content and both new and legacy applications across the enterprise.
But things don't always go as planned. Too often, companies build portals, but users just don't come.
"So many firms with less-than-hoped-for portal results repeat that story that it has almost become a cliche in the industry," says Nathaniel Palmer, an analyst at The Delphi Group in Boston. In a December Delphi survey of 500 companies spanning 20 industries, 37% of the companies that had installed portals said they were disappointed by the lack of "adequate interest among target users."
According to Delphi's findings, the reason people aren't using portals is because there isn't a strategy or life cycle for keeping people involved - what Delphi calls change management, explains Palmer. "There's a lack of strategy beyond the technical architecture," he says.

Sheila Simpson, Web development manager at Southwire

Indeed, too many companies got caught up in the techie hoopla surrounding portal technology, focusing mostly on implementation and integration issues, according to Delphi's analysis of its survey findings. Meanwhile, critical usability issues, such as educating users about the portal's capabilities, training them to use it efficiently and marketing the value of using the portal, haven't received the necessary attention.
"It seems obvious, but time after time, I have seen the enterprise value proposition for a portal be that it's going to save everyone in the company 20 minutes a day," says Bill Ives, a partner at Accenture Ltd. in Boston. "That's a little fuzzy," he says. "What are they supposed to do with that 20 minutes?"
Start at the Top
Another problem many companies have is failing to involve top management from the very beginning of a portal project. It's critical to pay attention to the requirements of top managers because they are often the busiest of potential users, and they're frequently on the road or located remotely, making them among the hardest to bring to the portal.
"Bringing the portal to them through off-line access and proactive notification is one of the best opportunities for successful portals," notes Palmer.
Experts estimate that project portal teams need to devote 30% to 40% of their time gathering business requirements and getting top managers involved from the start. "The difference between portals which succeed and those that don't is clearly the amount of business involvement the portal project receives and the level of integration with the business," says Bob Rugare, a portal consultant at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young in Atlanta.
Portal project teams should be always looking to add value to

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Company Portals: Drawing a crowd

Finding the Real Need: Productivity

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