Mastering Intranet and Internet Technology

Portals have become very popular.

There are web portals, intranet protals, corporate portals, application protals, information portals, database portals, etc..

However, every portal vendor and manufacturer has their own definition. Some variations are discussed below.

In some cases, organisations might already have a portal, but not know it. A portal is a function, not a product.

• Definitions
• Uses/Functions
• Examples
• Uses
• Portal Information Sites

Definitions

• OED:
• Novell:
• Microsoft:
• Brio:
• Yahoo:
• Alta Vista:
• IBM:
• Oracle:
• Seybold:
  "Business portals promise to provide business users with one-stop shopping for any type of information object they need. They also promise to ease information overload by providing users with just the information they need when they need it and in the format they want. Business portals are the business complement to the wildly successful consumer portals provided by Yahoo! and others. Vendors of various types of business information software are now repositioning their products as business portals. "

Uses/Functions

The usual means of access is via a common client - usually a web browser. Seeting up the portal to render its output in HTML/DHTML/XML format means that the portal provider does not have to provide a clinet. The user is expected to have a suitable client already.

Examples

• Yahoo
• Alta Vista
• Novell's Demo City
• Brio
• IBM, WebSphere:

Uses

Portals provide a method of presenting a consolidated view of corporate information.

• Host Management
• Email Access
• Document Access
• Database Access
• Electronic Commerce
• Network Management/Adinistration

Portal Information Sites

• Portal Site

	Web Author: Geoff May	Last Update: 28/04/00
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