Portal framework use to grow as prices drop

Eighty-five percent of Global 2000 companies will adopt an enterprise portal by 2004, according to Meta Group Inc.

The Stamford, Connecticut, research company on Wednesday reported that portal frameworks, products that enable the development of personalized Web interfaces and dashboards, will become less risky and less expensive within the next 18 months.

A portal framework can be used to build portals that address employee, partner, supplier and customer needs, Meta said. Organizations waiting for the dust to settle in the enterprise portal market will likely lose a competitive edge, it said.

The number of enterprises that treat portals as core (non-discretionary) systems is expected to increase from less than 5 percent this year to 15 percent by 2004, reaching 35 per cent by 2005, according to Meta.

The company expects a continuing migration from portals as all-in-one applications to portals that work to unite existing infrastructure and add value through context management, it said.

Technology is currently the main decision criterion, but viability will increasingly be weighed more heavily as the solution becomes a foundation for various strategic initiatives, the study found.

Craig Roth, vice president with Meta Group's Web & Collaboration Strategies service, noted that market vendors have adopted a more defined vision, in terms of better technology and fair pricing.

However, Roth said in a statement that the portal market is still segmented, so organizations should carefully select a viable product that meets their specific needs rather than blindly picking one of the leaders.

More report details can be found at http://www.metagroup.com.

» posted by abennett

ITWorldCanada.com

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