According to Migal van As, MD of Intervate, innovator of browser-based software applications and creator of the popular intranet solution IntraCS, the key value proposition for most corporate IT users looking at the enterprise portal market is the consolidated interface.
"An enterprise portal provides a `view`, or `window`, into various relevant areas of business information which users are concerned with, and creates an opportunity for increased productivity by reducing time wasting activities and generally improving the bottom line. Portals give business managers the ability to view relevant business information regarding their organisation, as well as the relevant external information with which they are concerned."
According to van As, it is very hard to determine the return on investment of portals because they are just interfaces, or consolidated views of other systems. "A relevant ROI study would have to determine detailed time saving information, something that is difficult to audit and determine across a diverse user group. For this reason, South Africa has been quite slow to adopt portal solutions", says van As.
He goes on to say that portals are a very necessary part of any application because they provide an effective or efficient manner for distributing information to users. However, they are also an element of a greater solution. For example, an intranet that uses a portal provides a very efficient manner to distribute information to users on that intranet, and allows them to manage the information and applications contained within. A CRM application, in turn, may use a portal to collate information within itself and possibly other applications that relate to it.
Van As predicts that portals will eventually exist as part of every IT application and that several key standards will evolve in portal technology. "You will see a strong consolidation of pure portal players, because portals themselves provide no value other than as windows into other systems", he says.
When asked what advice he has for CIO`s, van As replies, "Portals are evolving interfaces into existing systems and other applications, therefore, CIOs should make sure that their portal solutions are open and extendable. They should make certain that their solutions provide scalability and are easy to integrate, and, should specific standards in the industry at sometime in the future transpire, they should make certain that their portal systems comply."
Share
Intervate focuses on the development of strategic Internet products targeting the areas of knowledge management and collaboration. With a strong commitment to the Microsoft platform, Intervate as Microsoft Certified Gold Partner focuses development on leveraging platforms and products to build value on existing infrastructure, rather than creating bespoke developments for every client.
The core focus of Intervate is the development of the intranet and extranet knowledge management framework called IntraCS. Companies successfully using the IntraCS solution include MedScheme, Microsoft, Dimension Data, Anglo Platinum, Unisys, Deloitte & Touche, Prism, Hollard, AFA Systems, Software Futures and Alexander Forbes.
Editorial contacts