How web portal software can benefit small, medium sized businesses and organizations.
Two questions: How can you leverage the power of web based software, distribute content effectively, engage your visitors and provide powerful, useful tools for your users? How can you do all this without the resources and funding of a large organization?
Answer: Web based portals.
By now you've come to realize that putting up a basic web site and calling it a day is no longer a viable option. Your users consume more and more data online and expect web sites to provide them with useful tools to access published data. What you need is a cost effective way to deliver usable content and information to your users. Enter the world of web based software and portals!
What is a portal? What is web software?
First off, what is a portal and what do we mean by web software? Fundamentally a portal is web software. Web software is any kind of dynamic, interactive program that works just like regular software on your desktop but is instead installed on a remote server. Web software works through a web browser and requires no installation by the end user. Web software can be as large-scale as Gmail, MapQuest or small-scale like your personal blog.
When we talk about a portal, we are talking about web software which effectively centralizes all the various kinds of information/data you may have and presents it to a mixture of different audience groups.
For instance, your portal may provide public information, feeds and pages but also serve up specific, private pages to logged-in users. Your portal may also provide useful tools, such access to internal company documents, but only to members of a certain user group. All this can be managed via a portal system.
Of course, defining what a portal is only goes so far. Let's take the concept further and apply it to a real world situation.
How an elementary school can take advantage of a portal.
Imagine you are the principal of your local elementary school. You are interested in publishing public information regarding the school such as news, pictures, calendar of events, school lunch menus, bus schedules, policies, etc, etc. You are also interested in allowing parents of students to log in and view report cards, progress reports and other items related to each child. You also wish to have a section which allows teachers to view data and information regarding human resource matters, vacation schedules and teacher policy.
As you can already envision, each of these items have different levels of "exposure." You would not wish to allow all parents to have access to all student report cards (only their child's) and you would not wish to block access to important, public items such as calendar events, school closures, etc. You also wish to have a separate area specifically for teachers.
How would you even begin to go about doing this?
By leveraging the power of a web based portal (and of course a solid web partner such as Sevenforty) you can effectively achieve scenarios such as these. As we have mentioned, a key advantage to web based portals is the ability to centralize data for target user groups. As the administrator you will have the unique ability to control every bit of information your web site serves up, right down to specific user groups. By compartmentalizing your site and content, you effectively become the captain of your ship.
Another key advantage is the ability to leverage data in various implementations. For instance, you may wish to publish a feed of important school data, such as school closures, accessible via mobile PDAs and smart phones. Your student's parents can gain access to important information even when they are not at a desktop computer. With content easily accessible, parents and students can receive the information they need without the constant need to dial and speak with school officials!
Of course, we have just described one scenario in which leveraging the power of a portal can provide tremendous utility. In reality, portals provide almost endless opportunities to engage your users and offer valuable tools and services. As we always say, content is king and portals can help how you manage the process of distributing and sharing your content.
How cost effective are portals to implement?
Implementing a portal has never been more cost effective for businesses and organizations of all shapes and sizes. If you decide to partner with Sevenforty, we will design, build, implement and support a robust portal for your group at reasonable costs. We are in the business of partnering with our clients and are with them every step of the way.
If you are looking elsewhere for a portal provider, make sure you team up with a group that provides the support levels you need and has your data security/integrity always in mind. Avoid the black box world of offshore, out-sourcing companies. After all, it's your data ... and data is such a valuable commodity today!
Written by: Team Sevenforty
