Proven Portals Best Practices for Planning, Designing, and Developing Enterprise Portals: Best Practices for Planning, Designing, and Developing Enterprise Portals

by Sullivan, Dan

• ISBN13: 9780321125200
• ISBN10: 0321125207
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-10
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

- Learn to deliver scalable, secure portal applications, and develop a cost justification for a portal project - See how portal tools and components operate together, integrate disparate applications, and improve search and navigation - Featured case studies examine specific tools from vendors such as Oracle, IBM, Broadvision, Vignette, Verity, Plumtree, Hummingbird, and Semio

Author Biography

Dan Sullivan is president of the Ballston Group, a consulting and education firm specializing in business intelligence and portal design.

Table of Contents

Case Studies	xv
List of Figures	xvii
Preface	xix
Acknowledgments	xxi
PART 1 Principles of Portal Design
CHAPTER 1 CREATING FRAMEWORKS FOR ORGANIZING INFORMATION	3	(22)
The Need for Structure in Portal Interface Design	4	(9)
Page-Level Structures	4	(2)
Grouping Pages: More Than One "Right" Way to Do It	6	(2)
Organizing Multiple Ways with Facets	8	(2)
Flexible Organization with Navigation Sets and Other Design Patterns	10	(2)
Labeling: Pointing Users in the Right Direction	12	(1)
Organizing Content around Taxonomies	13	(3)
Classifying Content with Taxonomies	13	(1)
Building Taxonomies	14	(2)
Visualization Tools for Portal Organization	16	(4)
Emerging Trends and Technologies	20	(2)
Conclusion	22	(1)
References	23	(2)
CHAPTER 2 USING A THREE-TIER ARCHITECTURE	25	(18)
Tier 1: The Presentation Layer	26	(7)
Interface Design for Portals	27	(1)
Interface Design Components	28	(3)
Portlets: The Bridge to the Middle Tier	31	(2)
Tier 2: The Application Server Layer	33	(8)
Integration of Data from Multiple Sources	34	(3)
Application of Business Rules	37	(1)
Content Management	37	(1)
Collaboration	37	(1)
Adaptive Content Services	37	(1)
Search and Categorization	38	(2)
Security and User Administration	40	(1)
Tier 3: The Enterprise Information Services Layer	41	(1)
Conclusion	41	(1)
Reference	42	(1)
CHAPTER 3 USING A FRAMEWORK FOR APPLICATION INTEGRATION	43	(20)
The Java 2 Enterprise Edition Framework	43	(5)
Containers	44	(1)
Components	44	(2)
Services	46	(1)
Connectors	47	(1)
The Microsoft .NET Architecture	48	(2)
Web Services	49	(1)
.NET Servers	49	(1)
Application Integration Services	50	(5)
EAI Architectures	51	(3)
Characteristics of EAI Systems	54	(1)
Protecting the Integrity of the Portal	55	(6)
Single Sign-On, Identity Management, and Provisioning	55	(1)
Standards for Sharing Security Requirements	56	(5)
Conclusion	61	(1)
References	62	(1)
CHAPTER 4 ENSURING PORTAL ADOPTION	63	(18)
Best Practices for Ensuring Portal Adoption	63	(8)
Support Business Processes	64	(1)
Share Decision Making	65	(1)
Provide for Formal and Informal Collaboration	66	(2)
Adapt to Changing Needs	68	(1)
Market the Portal	69	(1)
Provide Compelling Reasons to Use the Portal	69	(1)
Tackle Easy Problems First	70	(1)
Root Causes of Poor Adoption	71	(7)
Poor Usability	71	(1)
Concerns about Content Integrity	72	(1)
Lack of Sponsorship	73	(1)
Organizational Inertia and Resistance to Change	73	(5)
Conclusion	78	(1)
References	79	(2)
CHAPTER 5 MEASURING PORTAL RETURN ON INVESTMENT: A CRASH COURSE	81	(20)
The Need for Financial Impact Analysis	81	(2)
Tools for Analyzing Capital Expenditures	83	(5)
Present Value	83	(1)
Net Present Value	84	(1)
Payback Period	84	(1)
Return on Investment	85	(1)
Internal Rate of Return	86	(1)
Now the Hard Part ...	87	(1)
Calculating a Portal ROI and Related Measures	88	(7)
Identifying Total Savings	88	(2)
Estimating Additional Revenues	90	(1)
Assessing Total Costs	91	(1)
Calculating ROI for a Portal	92	(3)
Best Practices: ROI and Other Financial Impact Measures	95	(1)
Conclusion	96	(1)
References	97	(4)
PART II The Variety of Portals
CHAPTER 6 CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE E-COMMERCE PORTALS	101	(18)
Customer Trust	102	(1)
Ease of Use	103	(4)
Personalization for Commerce	103	(1)
Intuitive Navigation	104	(3)
Rapid Transaction Execution	107	(1)
Multichannel Integration	107	(5)
Customer Retention	112	(1)
Support for Self Service	112	(4)
Conclusion	116	(1)
References	117	(2)
CHAPTER 7 DELIVERING BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE AND ANALYTICS ON DEMAND	119	(14)
Understanding Operations: Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing	120	(2)
Characteristics of Data Warehouses	122	(1)
The Data Warehouse Environment	122	(6)
Source Systems	123	(1)
Extraction, Transformation, and Load Systems	123	(1)
Data Warehouse Repository	124	(2)
Reporting Tools and Portals	126	(2)
Facilitating Operations: Analytic Services	128	(4)
Conclusion	132	(1)
References	132	(1)
CHAPTER 8 EFFECTIVE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES	133	(30)
Types of Information	134	(3)
Structured Data	134	(1)
Unstructured Data	135	(1)
Tacit Knowledge	136	(1)
Search Functions: The First Step	137	(8)
What the Users See	139	(1)
Search Engine Configuration	139	(3)
Improving the Quality of Search Results	142	(1)
Frequently Encountered Enterprise Search Issues	143	(2)
Metadata: Know What It's All About	145	(7)
Content Metadata	146	(2)
Application Metadata	148	(4)
Expert Directories: Connecting People to People	152	(7)
Conclusion	159	(1)
References	160	(3)
PART III Building Your Own Proven Portal
CHAPTER 9 FIVE COMMON THEMES IN PROVEN PORTALS	163	(8)
Focus on Business Processes	163	(1)
Emphasis on Easy of Use	164	(2)
Deep Integration of Applications	166	(1)
Scalability of Services	167	(1)
Well-Developed Security Models	168	(1)
Conclusion	168	(1)
References	169	(2)
CHAPTER 10 IMPLEMENTING YOUR PROVEN PORTAL	171	(12)
Understanding the Business Drivers	171	(4)
Gathering Requirements for Process-Oriented Portals	172	(1)
Gathering Requirements for Collaboration Portals	173	(2)
Designing the Portal	175	(5)
Function	175	(1)
Organization	176	(2)
Information Architecture	178	(1)
Enterprise Architecture	179	(1)
Assessing the Return on Investment	180	(1)
Incrementally Implementing and Adapting the Portal	180	(1)
Conclusion	181	(1)
References	181	(2)
Bibliography	183	(4)
Index	187

Excerpts

If you need to plan, design, or deploy an enterprise portal this book is for you. Initiating a portal project (or rescuing one under way) is an exciting, sometimes daunting, challenge. Fortunately, the craft of portal design is now mature enough to identify the best practices that lead to successful implementations. Examples of those implementations, or proven portals, and detailed discussions of design principals are provided throughout this book.Part I discusses several elements of portal design, including: Organizing information in an intuitive, coherent manner Creating a modular, adaptable framework for application integration Identifying core portal services, such as collaboration and content management Developing a robust, scalable architectureThese technical topics are complemented by organizational issues that should be addressed early in the life of a portal, specifically, ensuring adoption by end users and assessing the financial benefits of the portal.Part II examines details particular to three common application areas: customer service, business intelligence, and knowledge management.Part III summarizes core principles of successful portals and provides a guide to developing your own enterprise portal.Creating an enterprise portal is a challenging and rewarding experience. With a solid understanding of your business requirements and knowledge of the best practices found in this book, you are well positioned to create your own proven portal.