The arrival of the World Wide Web has drastically changed the way people do business. Everything has become a network of knowledge sharing and communication, and the world has become faster and more efficient.
As a result, business never seems to stop, since there are no longer any delays in communication. However, this has led to its own problems and headaches - particularly information overload, with too much information available, too fast.
The question now is how to organise this amount of information, store it and distribute it, and how does it make sure the information is kept secure?
The enterprise information portal (EIP) is a Web site that integrates an organisation`s knowledge base and all related applications into a single customisable environment. It`s not a new concept, but it is gaining in maturity and also in popularity with information-driven organisations and individuals seeking to make more sense of the information overload.
EIPs give large amounts of content and applications an overall sense of unity and continuity, allowing business users to easily access corporate information.
Such portals are developed specifically to work within business environments, often integrating standard corporate tools such as e-mail, calendars and online meetings, into a suite of content delivery and management functionality.
As the speed at which business is conducted continues to increase, it becomes ever more important for businesses to find new and faster ways of capturing and analysing business data. This has led to a change in the fundamental principles of the EIP - from a unified point of access for business users into a fully-fledged business intelligence (BI) engine, allowing users not just to share and customise data, but also to do proper analysis of the information.
Microsoft`s next generation of SharePoint and Office technologies provides a product suite that expands beyond traditional portal and dashboard offerings, to provide interactive BI portals that put live information at a user`s fingertips in a centrally managed, easy-to-customise platform.
The aim of the Office Server 2007 suite is to unify portal and content management, business insight and business process capabilities, in order to enable organisations and customers to collaborate more effectively and make more informed decisions.
With collaboration and communication becoming the new focus point, and as the concept of an EIP moves closer to that of an enterprise communication portal or even an enterprise integration portal, the portal is becoming the central point of access, rather than simply the means to an end.
With this future in mind, Microsoft states that it aims to ensure that Sharepoint and Office becomes the central point of access and information sharing between clients and businesses, and also internally within companies.
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