The Evolution of the Portal^TM

Within Access Portals, basic concepts are applied to organize online assets and to aid in findability. Access Portals traditionally are characterized as follows:

• Thin "gateway" with a single point of entry
• Aggregation of sites with inconsistent designs and no integration
• Superficial information architecture, giving the appearance of being little more than "link farms"
• No common standards, foundation or governance.

Within Information Portals, information design concepts are applied to a growing volume of online resources:

• Well-defined taxonomy enables better location of, and access to, content
• "Folder" structure dominates content nesting and navigation
• User roles, security rules, search functionality and content management complicate technological and administrative considerations
• Information paradigm is strained when applied to a wave of online transactions and tools with more demanding integration requirements.

Within Action Portals, new design concepts are applied to convert functional capabilities into effective user enablement:

• Portal experience is informed by business context, not just information categories
• Effective "self-service" is enabled through interaction designs that integrate content with business applications (e.g., transactions, workflows)
• Collaborative capabilities are contextualized to enable various knowledge work practices
• Platform complexities necessitate the design of a "portal foundation" situation within the enterprise architecture
• Emergence of the Enterprise Portal as a strategic platform for business integration features governance as a critical success factor.

A fundamental paradigm shift occurs within Intelligent Portals, as business practices become the dominant factor in portal design:

• Previous advances are retained, but the provision of information and tools is now a "means," not an "end"
• Strategic programs are integrated into the user experience to coordinate and align complex knowledge work
• Portal design is correlated with business practices, such as communications and change management
• Portal value creation is extended to human and social capital, in addition to the top and bottom line
• Strategic and operational portal governance sustain value over time
• Demands on the portal foundation necessitate support for operations and increased adaptability.

The workplace of the future will be marked by co-evolution of the portal and the enterprise:

• Business activities and relationships will be increasingly mediated by the portal channel
• Integral business practices will be carried out via portal synchronization with offline channels and additional devices (e.g., mobile connectivity)
• Strategic portal governance will track shifts in business priorities
• Operational governance will enable orderly, widespread participation in extending the portal's scope and impact
• Networked business will become a reality within the extended enterprise as business governance and portal governance merge
• Portal "lives out" the desired attributes and outcomes of the workplace of the future.