A Quick-Guide to Portal
Definition Steps
Bas Fockens, Senior ECM consultant
Datacon BV
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Definition
“An Enterprise Portal is a framework for the integration of
information, people and processes across organizational
boundaries”
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Portal elements
• Access/search
• Categorization
• Collaboration
• Personalization
• Expertise and profiling
• Application integration
• Security
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Portal tools
• Content Management System
• Document Management System
• Collaboration Software
• Customer Relationship Management
• Business Intelligence
• Email Management
• Intranet
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The Portal Eco system
Identity Management
WCM
Wireless Security
SSO Application Servers
Expertise Location EAI
& Mgmt.
Collaboration Portal Web Services
Product BPM
Directory E-Forms/Workflow
E-Learning
Search
Development Tools Business Intelligence
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Portal Architecture
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Defining the portal
Requirements Questions Portal Definition Document
Portal Vision Document
WHO is the ultimate user for the portal? To what •Communities
WHO communities do they belong? What roles do they •User roles
play? •Feature set prioritization
•Logistical requirements
WHAT does each of the players in the community
need? What processes would help the community?
WHAT Creative Layout
What information would help the community
What will the portal possibly look like?
Content Inventory
What content exists that supports the community? •Identify where content exists
WITH
What content is needed? •Identify systems content resides upon
•Identify areas where content is lacking
Quality Assurance Plan
How do we define Quality? How should we go about
•Logistical Requirements
HOW training? How should we go about support? How will
•Administrative Requirements
this affect our Culture? How will we measure ROI?
•Next Steps

Project Launch
Kick off meeting with all key stakeholders and
participants.
Benefit: Level set expectations for project
participants.
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Definition tracks
 Business
 Technical
 Creative
The actual work of creating an enterprise portal definition can
be broken down initially by business, technical, and creative
tracks. Each of the tasks assigned to the tracks can be
pursued in parallel, providing that there is strong project
management and regular communication between the various
teams
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Business track
Community definition
Define communities, role players and key participants
for those communities.
Benefit: Essential for follow-on requirement
activities.
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Business track
Community requirements
Define:
• Processes
• Features
• content
Benefit: To understand what is needed to make
the portal valuable for the user.
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Business track
Portal Vision Definition
Consolidation and prioritization of all the requirements
presented by the communities.
Result: A final prioritized listing detailing what will
make the portal a success
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Business track
Content Inventory
Discover where content resides and what content
exists.
Benefit: Awareness of content readiness. Does
new content need to be created or old content
updated?
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Business track
Workflow planning
Investigate and plan publishing and workflow needs
based on Portal Vision Document.
Result: Additional requirements for the portal tool
selection process.
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Business track
Resource planning
Define a plan for supporting the portal.
Benefit: Knowledge of human resource
requirements and needs.
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Business track
Security planning
Define SSL, user login, password, firewall, and other
security requirements..
Result: Blueprint for design of system security.
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Business track
Culture
Review new processes and how they interacts with
existing processes. How easily does this fit into the
current way of doing business?
Result: Understand the impact of the portal on
each of the user roles within the portal
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Business track
ROI
Define why this portal makes good business sense.
Benefit: Base for going forward with the project
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Technical track
Review Company Requirements
Gather information regarding software, hardware, and
any standards.
Benefit: Provides a basis for tool selection if
platform or operating system is a consideration
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Technical track
Identify Systems
Identify platform where the system resides, amount of
content, and document types.
Benefit: Supports estimating the integration effort
necessary for each portal tool under consideration.
Early detection of potential integration issues
between systems and tool. Clarifies tool selection
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Technical track
Content Inventory
Discover where content resides and what content
exists.
Benefit: Assists with tool selection. Tool must be
able to crawl or search these system types and
read specified document types.
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Technical track
Identify Content Platforms
Find platform where the system resides, amount of
content, and document types.
Benefit: Assists with tool selection. Tool must be
able to crawl or search these system types and
read specified document types.
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Technical track
Administrative Planning
Research skill sets and those possibly required for the
portal. Provide a plan for how the portal should be
administered and supported.
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Technical track
Tool evaluation and recommendation
Research tools based on using previous deliverables
as input. Provide a set number of product evaluations.
Benefit: A tool recommendation for the portal based
on business requirements.
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Creative track
Creative Baseline
Acquire available company graphics standards
materials or create these standards for the site.
Benefit: A GUI Style Guide simplifies creative
execution.
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Creative track
Identify Information Requirements
Participate in key sessions to understand all
communities and their information requirements.
Intuitive interface design depends partly on the
designer's understanding of their audiences.
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Creative track
Sketch Information Architecture
Understand the entire content inventory and how each
community interacts with inventory.
Result: The portal will feel comfortable—not
frustrating— to the user, encouraging site loyalty.
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Portal Checklist
• Manageability
• Security
• Customization
• Share and Share Alike
• Interfacing
• Scalability
• Usability
• Cost
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