The document discusses different definitions of a portal from both scientific and IT perspectives. In science, a portal refers to an interdimensional door between realities. In IT, a portal is a starting point or gateway that aggregates information from various sources for users. The document outlines several common ways portals are classified, including by whether they primarily provide information or allow content management, are application-centric or content-centric, and target specific verticals or the horizontal market. Choosing the right definition depends on the specific portal requirements.
What is Web Portal?
A Web Portal is a specially designed website which brings information together from various sources in a uniform way.
They can be accessed from multiple platforms like personal computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices.
Why are Portals important?
• Efficiently deliver information to the audience.
• Provides customizable features and development tools.
• Increase interaction between customers and employees.
• Eliminating the need for multiple logins.
Types Of Web Portals
• Vertical Portals- These portals covers a particular market (one definite industry or domain).
• Horizontal Portals- These portals focus on a wide array of interests and topics, often referred as “mega portals”.
• Enterprise Portals- Developed and maintained for use by the members of intranet or enterprise network.
• Knowledge Portals- Increase the effectiveness of knowledge by providing easy access to information that is helpful to them in one or more specific roles.
• Market Space Portals- These portals exist to support the business to business, and business to customer e-commerce etc to find and access rich information about the products.
and much more…
Advantages of Web Portals
Easy for users to customize personal places.
Supports users in multiple tasks.
Easy to use design interface.
Help to connect the community.
The powerful back end.
Flexible content and layout.
Disadvantages of Web Portals
High complexity and additional testing efforts.
Somewhere complex to setup.
Re-authentication when using multiple systems.
Customizing portals and integrating applications.
Developers need additional skills besides using a web framework.
Additional costs.
How is Web Portal different from Website?
Personal Login is required in Web Portal, while not on a website.
Dynamic Content changes more frequently than proper websites.
Website is a public interface while Web Portal is public, private(intranet etc…)
Content is generally focused on websites while Web Portal offers content from diverse sources.
Web Portal supports the user in multiple tasks while website supports the user in the specific task.
Future of Web Portal
As the use of electronic devices is increasing, people are moving digital. Traffic on the web is increasing day by day.
Flexible content and layout along with supporting users in multiple tasks and for much more, Web Portal is proved to be an essential tool for the digitalization of a community, business or an organization.
Presentation on difference between portal and website. It explains difference using examples of websites available online. WebSphere Portal represents aggregated content from different sources whereas website shows common source content. Portal can be customized for custom user experience and preferences.
What is Web Portal?
A Web Portal is a specially designed website which brings information together from various sources in a uniform way.
They can be accessed from multiple platforms like personal computers, smartphones, and other electronic devices.
Why are Portals important?
• Efficiently deliver information to the audience.
• Provides customizable features and development tools.
• Increase interaction between customers and employees.
• Eliminating the need for multiple logins.
Types Of Web Portals
• Vertical Portals- These portals covers a particular market (one definite industry or domain).
• Horizontal Portals- These portals focus on a wide array of interests and topics, often referred as “mega portals”.
• Enterprise Portals- Developed and maintained for use by the members of intranet or enterprise network.
• Knowledge Portals- Increase the effectiveness of knowledge by providing easy access to information that is helpful to them in one or more specific roles.
• Market Space Portals- These portals exist to support the business to business, and business to customer e-commerce etc to find and access rich information about the products.
and much more…
Advantages of Web Portals
Easy for users to customize personal places.
Supports users in multiple tasks.
Easy to use design interface.
Help to connect the community.
The powerful back end.
Flexible content and layout.
Disadvantages of Web Portals
High complexity and additional testing efforts.
Somewhere complex to setup.
Re-authentication when using multiple systems.
Customizing portals and integrating applications.
Developers need additional skills besides using a web framework.
Additional costs.
How is Web Portal different from Website?
Personal Login is required in Web Portal, while not on a website.
Dynamic Content changes more frequently than proper websites.
Website is a public interface while Web Portal is public, private(intranet etc…)
Content is generally focused on websites while Web Portal offers content from diverse sources.
Web Portal supports the user in multiple tasks while website supports the user in the specific task.
Future of Web Portal
As the use of electronic devices is increasing, people are moving digital. Traffic on the web is increasing day by day.
Flexible content and layout along with supporting users in multiple tasks and for much more, Web Portal is proved to be an essential tool for the digitalization of a community, business or an organization.
Presentation on difference between portal and website. It explains difference using examples of websites available online. WebSphere Portal represents aggregated content from different sources whereas website shows common source content. Portal can be customized for custom user experience and preferences.
A portal is a website that works as a single source for all info on a particular domain. An effective Web portal deals with the user a broad array of information, organized in a way that is most convenient for the user to use. When planned, executed and maintained correctly a web portal becomes the entry point of a web user introducing him into several information, resources and other sites in the internet.
Presentation answers the question, why do you need a Portal?
Ether Solutions identifies the reasons for a portal and the benefits that can be obtained. Oracle WebCenter Portal is considered in terms of the expectation from a portal and concludes that it can be an effective solution.
Features & Benefits of an Intranet portal. The reason every organization needs an Intranet.Sub titles- Collaboration, Communication, Employee collaboration & engagement, Knowledge management, helps Organizational structure, low cost, Better Management, Web Based, Resource Delivery..
A multi-tenant portal implementation extends the capabilities of an enterprise by enabling several
customers to run independently on the same portal infrastructure hosted by a service provider.
However, building multi-tenant solutions requires addressing several technical challenges,
but service providers/solution developers can build and deploy scalable, customizable,
manageable, and cost-effective multi-tenant solutions. Addressing multi-tenancy is a key consideration
in implementing Cloud enabled enterprise portal solutions which are becoming an
international phenomenon, driven by both local demand as well as global reach by medium or
large enterprises that are in need of reducing cost of infrastructure/ hosting.
The paper enlighten the focus on the core of multi-tenant portal infrastructure along with key
design elements that need to be considered in providing Cloud- enabled multi-tenant portal solutions.
The paper would not focus on any specific vendor or their product suites but it acts as a
synopsis for developer and architect community to strategize their thinking towards right portal
architecture by gaining insights on multi-tenant portal features, key benefits and portal landscape.
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'AdUniverse' is InfoAxon's open source powered white label platform for Media and Advertising Agencies. It helps manage knowledge assets and workflow processes within a media and advertising agency.
Slides from J and Beyond 2013 presentation.
You have probably heard of REST and Web Services. In this presentation you will learn what they are and why they are important to the future of Joomla. You will learn why it is important for the API to be HAPI, what the HATEOAS constraint is and why developers should always keep it in mind when writing clients and servers on the new API, and why moving to a services-first design philosophy is important for everyone involved in Joomla software development.
Virtual Assets in Probate
Estates lawyers need to learn the new issues surrounding digital assets and online communications. Are you documenting virtual assets? What are the wishes of the deceased on the disposal of online profiles? Have you preserved access to crucial internet communications and document storage? Estate law now goes beyond tangible property and must include virtual assets. Is your law firm prepared?
In this one-hour, CLE-eligible, webinar join Joshua Lenon, Clio’s lawyer in residence, and Rich Martin from Directives Online as they review what steps elder and estates lawyers need to take to document and preserve crucial online information when building a probate-focused law firm. Topics will include:
- Classifying digital assets
- Accessing online documents and communications post-mortem
- Comparing wills to trusts for online assets disposition
- Tools to manage decedents’ digital assets
I have spent over 5 years in the IT industry, during which I have been involved in Software Testing, Requirement Review including Business Analysis, end-to-end testing of web/window based client/server applications and Mobile Applications. I have worked extensively in the areas of Feasibility Study, Requirement Gathering, Functional & System Analysis and Documentation. Additionally, I have had experience in end-product release, Client Handling and Team Management.
A portal is a website that works as a single source for all info on a particular domain. An effective Web portal deals with the user a broad array of information, organized in a way that is most convenient for the user to use. When planned, executed and maintained correctly a web portal becomes the entry point of a web user introducing him into several information, resources and other sites in the internet.
Presentation answers the question, why do you need a Portal?
Ether Solutions identifies the reasons for a portal and the benefits that can be obtained. Oracle WebCenter Portal is considered in terms of the expectation from a portal and concludes that it can be an effective solution.
Features & Benefits of an Intranet portal. The reason every organization needs an Intranet.Sub titles- Collaboration, Communication, Employee collaboration & engagement, Knowledge management, helps Organizational structure, low cost, Better Management, Web Based, Resource Delivery..
A multi-tenant portal implementation extends the capabilities of an enterprise by enabling several
customers to run independently on the same portal infrastructure hosted by a service provider.
However, building multi-tenant solutions requires addressing several technical challenges,
but service providers/solution developers can build and deploy scalable, customizable,
manageable, and cost-effective multi-tenant solutions. Addressing multi-tenancy is a key consideration
in implementing Cloud enabled enterprise portal solutions which are becoming an
international phenomenon, driven by both local demand as well as global reach by medium or
large enterprises that are in need of reducing cost of infrastructure/ hosting.
The paper enlighten the focus on the core of multi-tenant portal infrastructure along with key
design elements that need to be considered in providing Cloud- enabled multi-tenant portal solutions.
The paper would not focus on any specific vendor or their product suites but it acts as a
synopsis for developer and architect community to strategize their thinking towards right portal
architecture by gaining insights on multi-tenant portal features, key benefits and portal landscape.
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
Website creat website
'AdUniverse' is InfoAxon's open source powered white label platform for Media and Advertising Agencies. It helps manage knowledge assets and workflow processes within a media and advertising agency.
Slides from J and Beyond 2013 presentation.
You have probably heard of REST and Web Services. In this presentation you will learn what they are and why they are important to the future of Joomla. You will learn why it is important for the API to be HAPI, what the HATEOAS constraint is and why developers should always keep it in mind when writing clients and servers on the new API, and why moving to a services-first design philosophy is important for everyone involved in Joomla software development.
Virtual Assets in Probate
Estates lawyers need to learn the new issues surrounding digital assets and online communications. Are you documenting virtual assets? What are the wishes of the deceased on the disposal of online profiles? Have you preserved access to crucial internet communications and document storage? Estate law now goes beyond tangible property and must include virtual assets. Is your law firm prepared?
In this one-hour, CLE-eligible, webinar join Joshua Lenon, Clio’s lawyer in residence, and Rich Martin from Directives Online as they review what steps elder and estates lawyers need to take to document and preserve crucial online information when building a probate-focused law firm. Topics will include:
- Classifying digital assets
- Accessing online documents and communications post-mortem
- Comparing wills to trusts for online assets disposition
- Tools to manage decedents’ digital assets
I have spent over 5 years in the IT industry, during which I have been involved in Software Testing, Requirement Review including Business Analysis, end-to-end testing of web/window based client/server applications and Mobile Applications. I have worked extensively in the areas of Feasibility Study, Requirement Gathering, Functional & System Analysis and Documentation. Additionally, I have had experience in end-product release, Client Handling and Team Management.
Read this infographic to learn the benefits of cloud-based client portals. See how it can improve relationships with clients and increase the security of your business.
In today’s digitized world, customers and employees are increasingly expecting personalized user experiences. Portal software offers a single point of access to the applications, services, and social connections employees or customers need and now expect.
MyHub's web-based portal software provides a single, secure, and central space for both customers and employees to access and share important information.
CLOUD-BASED MULTI-TENANCY MODEL FOR SELF-SERVICE PORTALcscpconf
A multi-tenant portal implementation extends the capabilities of an enterprise by enabling several
customers to run independently on the same portal infrastructure hosted by a service provider.
However, building multi-tenant solutions requires addressing several technical challenges,
but service providers/solution developers can build and deploy scalable, customizable,
manageable, and cost-effective multi-tenant solutions. Addressing multi-tenancy is a key consideration
in implementing Cloud enabled enterprise portal solutions which are becoming an
international phenomenon, driven by both local demand as well as global reach by medium or
large enterprises that are in need of reducing cost of infrastructure/ hosting.
The paper enlighten the focus on the core of multi-tenant portal infrastructure along with key
design elements that need to be considered in providing Cloud- enabled multi-tenant portal solutions.
The paper would not focus on any specific vendor or their product suites but it acts as a
synopsis for developer and architect community to strategize their thinking towards right portal
architecture by gaining insights on multi-tenant portal features, key benefits and portal landscape.
At the core of the Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) vision is the concept of a ‘service bus’
that can route messages and notifications between any services, whether developed in-house,
purchased from a third-party, or hosted over the Internet. A similar opportunity exists for inte-
grating the complete workflow between people and applications. Routing messages and noti-
fications between applications and their users (and all of those users’ myriad new mobile and
multimedia devices) calls for a Syndication-Oriented Architecture that can unlock a new level of
business intelligence.
OpenText DocuLink for SAP Solutions extends SAP system with a process oriented and ‘application –spanning’ view of all business documents and data. Here, the key focus is on the term- application spanning.
A portal is a website that works as a single source for all info on a particular domain. An effective Web portal deals with the user a broad array of information, organized in a way that is most convenient for the user to use. When planned, executed and maintained correctly a web portal becomes the entry point of a web user introducing him into several information, resources and other sites in the internet.
Salesforce provides you unprecedented visibility into client relationship to manage the different aspect of a business, including sales, marketing, and customer service activities. In this presentation, Saket Kumar of Valuebound has walked us through “An introduction to Salesforce”.
The various agendas covered are:
What is SalesForce?
History & Founder
What is Platform as a Service
What is Software as a Service
SalesForce Terminology
Different Platform of salesforce to create Applications
Core Services of SalesForce
SalesForce Database Terminology
Types of Relationship in SalesForce:
What is VisualForce?
When to use Apex?
----------------------------------------------------------
Get Socialistic
Our website: http://valuebound.com/
LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/2eKgdux
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/valuebound/
Twitter: http://bit.ly/2gFPTi8
The Metaverse and AI: how can decision-makers harness the Metaverse for their...Jen Stirrup
The Metaverse is popularized in science fiction, and now it is becoming closer to being a part of our daily lives through the use of social media and shopping companies. How can businesses survive in a world where Artificial Intelligence is becoming the present as well as the future of technology, and how does the Metaverse fit into business strategy when futurist ideas are developing into reality at accelerated rates? How do we do this when our data isn't up to scratch? How can we move towards success with our data so we are set up for the Metaverse when it arrives?
How can you help your company evolve, adapt, and succeed using Artificial Intelligence and the Metaverse to stay ahead of the competition? What are the potential issues, complications, and benefits that these technologies could bring to us and our organizations? In this session, Jen Stirrup will explain how to start thinking about these technologies as an organisation.
Epistemic Interaction - tuning interfaces to provide information for AI supportAlan Dix
Paper presented at SYNERGY workshop at AVI 2024, Genoa, Italy. 3rd June 2024
https://alandix.com/academic/papers/synergy2024-epistemic/
As machine learning integrates deeper into human-computer interactions, the concept of epistemic interaction emerges, aiming to refine these interactions to enhance system adaptability. This approach encourages minor, intentional adjustments in user behaviour to enrich the data available for system learning. This paper introduces epistemic interaction within the context of human-system communication, illustrating how deliberate interaction design can improve system understanding and adaptation. Through concrete examples, we demonstrate the potential of epistemic interaction to significantly advance human-computer interaction by leveraging intuitive human communication strategies to inform system design and functionality, offering a novel pathway for enriching user-system engagements.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
zkStudyClub - Reef: Fast Succinct Non-Interactive Zero-Knowledge Regex ProofsAlex Pruden
This paper presents Reef, a system for generating publicly verifiable succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs that a committed document matches or does not match a regular expression. We describe applications such as proving the strength of passwords, the provenance of email despite redactions, the validity of oblivious DNS queries, and the existence of mutations in DNA. Reef supports the Perl Compatible Regular Expression syntax, including wildcards, alternation, ranges, capture groups, Kleene star, negations, and lookarounds. Reef introduces a new type of automata, Skipping Alternating Finite Automata (SAFA), that skips irrelevant parts of a document when producing proofs without undermining soundness, and instantiates SAFA with a lookup argument. Our experimental evaluation confirms that Reef can generate proofs for documents with 32M characters; the proofs are small and cheap to verify (under a second).
Paper: https://eprint.iacr.org/2023/1886
Elevating Tactical DDD Patterns Through Object CalisthenicsDorra BARTAGUIZ
After immersing yourself in the blue book and its red counterpart, attending DDD-focused conferences, and applying tactical patterns, you're left with a crucial question: How do I ensure my design is effective? Tactical patterns within Domain-Driven Design (DDD) serve as guiding principles for creating clear and manageable domain models. However, achieving success with these patterns requires additional guidance. Interestingly, we've observed that a set of constraints initially designed for training purposes remarkably aligns with effective pattern implementation, offering a more ‘mechanical’ approach. Let's explore together how Object Calisthenics can elevate the design of your tactical DDD patterns, offering concrete help for those venturing into DDD for the first time!
Enhancing Performance with Globus and the Science DMZGlobus
ESnet has led the way in helping national facilities—and many other institutions in the research community—configure Science DMZs and troubleshoot network issues to maximize data transfer performance. In this talk we will present a summary of approaches and tips for getting the most out of your network infrastructure using Globus Connect Server.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
Climate Impact of Software Testing at Nordic Testing DaysKari Kakkonen
My slides at Nordic Testing Days 6.6.2024
Climate impact / sustainability of software testing discussed on the talk. ICT and testing must carry their part of global responsibility to help with the climat warming. We can minimize the carbon footprint but we can also have a carbon handprint, a positive impact on the climate. Quality characteristics can be added with sustainability, and then measured continuously. Test environments can be used less, and in smaller scale and on demand. Test techniques can be used in optimizing or minimizing number of tests. Test automation can be used to speed up testing.
GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using Deplo...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Alt. GDG Cloud Southlake #33: Boule & Rebala: Effective AppSec in SDLC using ...James Anderson
Effective Application Security in Software Delivery lifecycle using Deployment Firewall and DBOM
The modern software delivery process (or the CI/CD process) includes many tools, distributed teams, open-source code, and cloud platforms. Constant focus on speed to release software to market, along with the traditional slow and manual security checks has caused gaps in continuous security as an important piece in the software supply chain. Today organizations feel more susceptible to external and internal cyber threats due to the vast attack surface in their applications supply chain and the lack of end-to-end governance and risk management.
The software team must secure its software delivery process to avoid vulnerability and security breaches. This needs to be achieved with existing tool chains and without extensive rework of the delivery processes. This talk will present strategies and techniques for providing visibility into the true risk of the existing vulnerabilities, preventing the introduction of security issues in the software, resolving vulnerabilities in production environments quickly, and capturing the deployment bill of materials (DBOM).
Speakers:
Bob Boule
Robert Boule is a technology enthusiast with PASSION for technology and making things work along with a knack for helping others understand how things work. He comes with around 20 years of solution engineering experience in application security, software continuous delivery, and SaaS platforms. He is known for his dynamic presentations in CI/CD and application security integrated in software delivery lifecycle.
Gopinath Rebala
Gopinath Rebala is the CTO of OpsMx, where he has overall responsibility for the machine learning and data processing architectures for Secure Software Delivery. Gopi also has a strong connection with our customers, leading design and architecture for strategic implementations. Gopi is a frequent speaker and well-known leader in continuous delivery and integrating security into software delivery.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
FIDO Alliance Osaka Seminar: The WebAuthn API and Discoverable Credentials.pdf
What Is A Portal
1. What is a Portal?
In the world of science and space, a 'portal' is considered to be a two-way interdimensional door opening into
several realities, including the astral world; the far reaches of physical, interstellar space; and alternate,
parallel universes (source www.earthportals.com/portal.html by Claire Watson) If you are a 'Star Trek' or
'Stargate' fan of course this is something that you will have known for years.
To a certain degree, the IT world has high jacked the definition of a true portal and translated it into its own
interpretation - but the principle of what a portal is stays the same.
What is the IT definition of a Portal?
In the IT World - a portal is used to describe a browser experience that has an entry point (or gateway) that is
intended to be the starting point for any journey or user experience. As such in IT - a portal can be described
as an 'anchor' or starting point that makes all the types of information (destinations) available to a designated
audience by passing through the one point.
Within IT, a number of attempts have been made to classify portals - as they are significantly different in the
way they split, each will be explored separately.
Definition 1: Information Portals vs Content Management Portals
In many organisations, it is not a case of choosing between one type or the other - and often both types are
combined and deployed together in order to meet business needs.
Information Portals
These types of portal (also called Vertical Enterprise Portals - or Enterprise Information Portals) can be
essentially seen as consolidating many different types of information from a multitude of sources onto a single
screen or user experience. People who use an Information Portal typically are not or do not publish to it - or
put another way - they are the consumers of the information prepared and published by others.
A typical Information Portal being used within a corporation or company might contain some of the following;
Local Weather, News, Share Price information taken from content feeds such as RSS, XML.
•
Access to email client, calendars, meeting room bookings, centrally stored documents and assets - or
•
any type of central business application where viewing of items is required.
Corporate information such as HR, events, programs, or any other cross company information.
•
Reports - or forms that allow information to be requested - to assist with business choices.
•
Access to smaller information portals that are not maintained centrally but have an access point via
•
the primary information portal.
Portals can be a 'static' experience, in that the same interface can be provided as a starting point to all users -
or they can be and are frequently personalised. For a more detailed explanation of how they can be
personalised please view What is Personalisation? - but in essence personalisation allows a portal gateway or
window to be modified so that the information presented to a user is tailored to their profile, chosen interests or
clicking behaviour.
Content Management Portals
These types of portal are designed to improve the access to and sharing of information stored within an
organisation. In a content management portal, self-service publishing features allow end users to post and
share any kind of document, digital asset, record or Web content with other users, even those geographically
2. dispersed (portals of this kind tend to be browser based to allow for access to be from anywhere an internet
connection exists).
For example, consider a global software company consisting of developers, product managers, marketing,
sales all working at locations across the world. Each has information they need to share with members local to
themselves (both in terms of geographic location and also in terms of job function) as well as with others
outside of these groups. In a Content Management Portal, most users will have the ability to add information to
the portal and some users will have rights or authorisations to modify, delete, expire information produced by
others.
Whereas an Information Portal is essentially a 'read only' experience - with a Content Management Portal
users are able to publish, read, retrieve, modify, archive and delete content or information within the portal
'window'.
A typical Content Management Portal being used within a corporation or company might contain some of the
following;
the ability to check-in and check-out information which is 'in progress', so that users cannot overwrite
•
each others changes - this capability is found in WCMS, DMS, RMS, DAM solutions all of which can
reside within the window of a Content Management Portal.
Version control and Audit trail, so that successive versions of a particular item can be retained or
•
overwritten and a track of who did what can be reported on - all features that are found within WCMS,
DMS, DAM and RMS products as above.
A security mechanism, so that content can be protected from unauthorized view or manipulation -
•
common to DMS, RMS, WCMS, DAM and Personalisation environments - all of which can be
implemented within a portal gateway.
Workflow, which establishes a process through which a document or request flows among users
•
Definition 2: Application Centric Portals vs Content Centric Portals
Another way of viewing Portals dispenses with the idea of Information and Content as a distinction and looks
at it as Application Centric or Content Centric;
Application Centric Portals
This type of portal definition sees the function as one of tying together back-end systems to support users'
application driven business processes. Users could be viewing the information as read only or able to create,
modify, delete, expire information based on rights and permissions - but they are essentially using the portal to
'glue' together a number of applications into one view - so that rather than having to open a number of different
applications to drive their business processes they are able to access them all from one point.
Content Centric Portals
This type of portal definition sees the function as one of obtaining information from a wide variety of sources
and displaying that content to users in a way that is based upon users' roles and segmented information
needs. In order to achieve this type of portal delivery, a personalisation engine is often needed which is either
intrinsic to the portal software - or an additional layer of software to compliment the portal tool. As with any
type of 'personalised' experience - it can be extremely powerful if properly conducted, but have a worse impact
than doing nothing if the business logic and profiles that are used to make the portal content centric are
incorrect and/or delivering inappropriate information.
A content centric portal that is pulling in information from business applications such as WCMS, DMS, DAM,
RMS and standard Desktop applications - and on the fly determining the most appropriate information to make
available based on implicit and explicit personalisation rules is arguably the utopia of what can be done with
portal technology. This usually requires that all aspects that are being pulled into the gateway are based on
open standards to allow the content to be delivered as a service without requiring extensive bespoke