The latest business penicillin is here. If you have any business to business or business to consumer problems then a portal is for you. One day you might even know what to do with it ......

Feed the portals, tuppence, tuppence, a bag

Here a portal, there a portal, everywhere a business portal. 

A long time ago, in the deep and distant history of computing, it was not always possible for companies to afford their own machines. They could still gain some of the benefits by using a computer bureau. As the prices of the equipment and software came down the need for such services declined.

As the internet grows it is not always possible for companies the implement their own infrastructure to meet the business requirements in the timescales. With a flash of publicity, a surfeit of advertising and a first-rate dose of guruitis we have the answer - portals.

What can a portal do for you?

It can give you immediate access to the internet community without major investment. It can enable you to easily use the web technologies to communicate with your business partners (assuming they are also connected). It can give your company a global perspective - the whole world can get to you and see your offerings. It becomes a gateway into a different, electronic, world hence the propensity for e-words.

Do you feel that this all sounds so obvious that it is strange that you have not done it before?

What are the potential problems?

A portal is the perfect solution for many business situations. What is important is that you really have a need for a portal. Once it is clear that the need really exists, then, as in all business dialogues, the problems lie in the details.  

The portal will give you an electronic image that must be available at all times (7 x 24). This requires a very resilient infrastructure with a high level of fault tolerance. The image can be badly dented if the portal application is not available when required by the business. A portal can give you this BUT where does it get its data from? This comes from your existing applications which are not part of the portal. It is therefore important that this infrastructure does not become the weakest link the the supply chain. This integration is the real problem - how do you integrate the portal world with the existing world (with all of its warts and idiosyncrasies)?