With that challenge in mind, corporate Web portals are pointing the way as the key information source within a company.

Only a short time ago, a Web portal was nothing more than a collection of boxes, icons and tabs on a computer screen -- unrelated "windows" containing flashy images, scattered content and hyperlinks to various Web sites. However revolutionary the portal was from a conceptual standpoint, the information available -- weather forecasts, lottery numbers, horoscopes, etc. -- had very little relevance for the business person.

The Web portal's enduring value has moved far beyond merely facilitating information to delivering services that connect people to content via integrated applications. One click of a mouse can now set off a whole series of activities, from authentication to credit checking to order processing to shipment -- masses of transactions that are driven through the end-to-end e-business world.

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For example, an insurance underwriter using a portal-based system can have all her key applications (company cases, manuals, claims forms, image files, etc.) available in one place. Pulling together relevant information and making it easily accessible gives her a full picture of policy coverage and claims history instantaneously. All of the time and effort she previously put into searching for the appropriate information and people she can now use to focus on her work.

Major improvements in portal technology in the last 24 months, including integration software that links a portal's front and back ends, give users a single, personalized point of access to multiple types of information from any device, wired or wireless. These advancements meet one of the primary goals of companies doing business on the Web -- making relevant information easily accessible to employees, business partners and customers, while driving profits in the process.

Savvy companies and executives that are using portals in this way are seeing their operating costs drop and overall business performance improve.

The Bekins Company is a good example of a business extending its Web site content and applications to prospective customers by way of the portal. The trucking company recently launched a Web-based shipping and tracking system to make inventory visible to subcontractors, who can then use a Web browser to view and bid for a job. By giving customers direct access into the company's inventory-management system, Bekins is able to make better decisions about inventory replenishment.

Portals are also places where employees can work together and share information. The e-business consulting firm Perficient is using Web portals to link its 225 employees spread out across the U.S. and the U.K. In addition to having all of the necessary office elements in one place (e-mail, instant messaging, etc.), the portal contains customized content, including project-specific collaboration tools for information sharing between customers and consultants.

An important element of the next-generation portal is its ability to connect individuals and communities with information, resources and expertise relevant to their interests. In a nutshell, if customers, employees and other users find the portal sight more useful to them, they'll never have a reason to go anywhere else.

As Web portals rapidly evolve into a single point of access for e-commerce, collaboration and a host of other business services, they are dependent on a number of factors, including:

* Personalized delivery of content/applications: Giving people access to information and applications specific to their functions.

* Real-time collaboration services: Including instant messaging, discussion areas, group calendars, task tracking and shared document libraries with check-in/check-out services.

* Integrated applications: Bringing together enterprise applications, syndicated content, Websites, e-mail, workflow integration, etc.

In addition, open, nonproprietary computing standards (e.g., Java, XML, Linux), which allow businesses to connect easily and flexibly with one another, are crucial to achieving this kind of integration.

The next step is to extend the reach of the portal and improve the context for which the information is used by integrating such things as location-based technologies and intelligent notification into the portal experience. With the growth of wireless devices, delivery of this value becomes possible, enabling you to link to the portal services and the virtual community at any time, from any place, using any device you choose.

We are still in the early stages of portal technology. Future success will be built on the evolution from personalized information delivery to more simplified integration to dynamic, machine-to-machine processing. Companies that find profitable ways to do this will be the winners, capitalizing on the Web portal's real potential.

Larry Bowden is vice president of e-Portals Solutions for IBM Software Group.

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