Defining the Portal's Purpose

Computerworld - Articulating a portal's value and purpose presents a challenge to many organizations. Consider the following findings from Forrester Research:
Although portals rank at the top of software-buying surveys and corporate interest in this technology continues to grow, recent data shows that portal projects struggle to find a reason to exist. To make portals deliver their expected returns, Forrester says, companies should abandon their IT-centric view of portals, tie portals to specific business processes and recognize the role portals will play in ushering in the next generation of packaged composite applications.
As Forrester points out, portals, like any IT purchase, need to prove their value regardless of how high up on the corporate ladder the investment decision was made. To determine the true value of a portal investment, a deeper understanding of its purpose is needed. To that end, here are seven key points to consider:
Processes: The portal should streamline events and allow organizations to view themselves as collections of business processes rather than functional departments, allowing them to better share intellectual capital across the company.
User experience: The portal should ensure that the content, applications and collaboration tools are customized and integrated for unique, role-based user experiences. In addition, the portal should accommodate a global audience, while considering variances such as time zones, currency exchange rates and foreign language support.
ROI: Return on investment must be demonstrated through easy deployment, integration and implementation. The cost of managing the portal shouldn't burden IT staff or vex end users.
Partners: Business partners should be able to securely access critical information on the portal, and the portal should ensure them lower costs for the delivery of business processes.
Organizational productivity: The portal should provide all employees, customers and partners a collaborative workplace that breaks down boundaries between departments and organizations and ensures that people work as effectively as possible.
Streamlined: The portal should accommodate the integration of collaboration tools such as instant messaging, Web conferencing, team rooms and third-party applications.
Embedded: The portal should be a window to e-learning and training offerings.
Ken Bisconti is IBM's vice president for collaboration and human interaction products.