Pitfall 1: Obtaining minimal ROI from portals--caused by failure to obtain executive sponsorship. If there is no one at a high enough level to drive process re-engineering, the portal can only automate existing processes.
Pitfall 2: Instantiating redundant portal efforts--caused by a lack of clear ownership.
How to avoid: Obtain executive-level sponsorship and determine clear project ownership. Executive sponsorship is critical in the early stages of planning to support process changes (e.g., increased openness, removal of bureaucratic layers), provide funding, designate a single employee portal effort, and provide measures of success that can be used as input into the feature selection process. Designating a portal owner (often in a project management office or central IT function) provides a common point for portal coordination efforts.
