Jeff Potts: Portal

Thu, 15 Sep 2005 22:53:26 GMT

Die hard for FatWire Spark. After FatWire acquired the Content Server product line from divine in 2003, most commentators expected the original FatWire "Spark" product to fade away. Although sold almost exclusively in the USA and not easily upgradable to the more robust Content Server package, FatWire has kept Spark alive and today announced that Sun Microsystems will offer an unlimited - use license free to Sun Portal Server customers. This is an interesting move for two vendors struggling to find their niche. FatWire may see Spark as a lead generator, but some Sun licensees might come to find Spark limiting -- although, to be fair, other portal vendors' CMS tools are similarly light. Other customers might be frustrated that Sun, and not FatWire, will handle product support. Internationally, the FatWire sales force could be left in an awkward position, with Sun giving away Spark for free while the FatWire reps try to push the more complicated (and expensive) Content Server product. By Janus Boye. [CMS Watch Trends and Features]

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:18:37 GMT

BEA to acquire Plumtree for $200 million in cash.[bea]

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 13:21:03 GMT

Plumtree to Make Linux Shift. Plumtree Software is preparing to release its first vertical applications for the retail and pharmaceutical industries while porting its portal, content management and application development platform to Linux. [eWEEK Linux]

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 13:18:32 GMT

New Plone Book: PloneLive.

There is a new Plone Book available: PloneLive 1.0 by Michel Pelletier and Munwar Shariff. What makes PloneLive really interesting is that it is a LiveBook that is constantly being updated. You can buy it print on demand for $44.95 from Amazon or a year's subscription for $29.95. The PloneLive Site also has a blog and other content...[Enter Content Here]

Thu, 05 May 2005 20:45:15 GMT

From a CMPros listserv post by the Product Manager for Vignette Portal, a list of all publicly-available Vignette-based portals:

BankOne (http://www.bankone.com/)
Bechtel (https://supplier.bechtel.com/)
Business Wire (http://home.businesswire.com/)
Chase (http://www.creditcardsatchase.com)
Ciminelli (http://www.ciminelli.net/)
Citibank (https://www.citibank.com.sg)
Caixa Galicia Portugal (http://www.caixagalicia.pt/)
CEO Sydney (http://www.ceo.syd.catholic.edu.au
City of Athens, Greece (http://www.cityofathens.gr
Claro Você (http://www.claro.com.br)
City University of New York (http://portal.cuny.edu)
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (http://www.mass.gov)
EDS (https://www.my-eds.com)
Expopage (http://www.expopage.net)
Fiera Milano (http://www.fieramilano.com)
FundsXpress (http://fxfn.com/fx/)
Georgia Technology Authority (http://www.georgia.gov)
GFI (http://www.gfigroup.com)
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (http://www.hgst.com)
IEEE (http://www.ieee.org)
IHC.net (https://www.ihc.net)
Lesedi FM (http://www.lesedifm.co.za)
Merck Medicus (http://www.merckmedicus.com)
Merck Services (http://www.merckservices.com)
Merck Source (http://www.mercksource.com)
Metro FM (http://www.metrofm.co.za)
Mobitel end-customers site www.planet.si
Mobitel relaunched www.m-vrata.com
Nextel (http://developer.nextel.com)
Nike (https://www.nike.net)
NYC.gov (http://www.nyc.gov)
Optus (http://www.optus.com.au)
PricewaterhouseCoopers (http://www.pwcglobal.com)
Qwest (http://onetouch.qwest.com)
SABC 2 (http://www.sabc2.co.za)
SABC Africa (http://www.sabcafrica.co.za)
SABC Sport (http://www.sabcsport.co.za)
SABC (http://www.sabc.co.za
SaskTel (http://mysask.sympatico.ca)
Scotiabank (http://www.scotiabank.com)
Telenor (http://www.telenorsbc.com)
The Hartford (https://www.hartfordadvisor.com)
TXU Energy (http://www.txusmallbusiness.com)
University of Wisconsin - Madison (http://my.wisc.edu)
Verizon (http://netservices.verizon.net)
Vodafone (http://www.vodafone.com.mt)
Volkswagen Autostadt Pressedatenbank (http://press.autostadt.de)
World Trade Center Association (http://www.wtca.org)
Wyeth Vaccins.be Preventie - Prévention (http://www.vaccins.be)

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:28:19 GMT

"Technology" is one of the three converging forces. Under that heading, Charlie notes how blogs and CMS/Portals are converging.

Technology: the perfect storm for portals?. Charlie Wood has written a blog entry on the uncertain future of portals. To quote: The enterprise portal industry stands squarely in the path of three converging forces, any one of which could be devastating. Together, they might be fatal.... [Column Two]

Thu, 31 Mar 2005 22:15:51 GMT

Portals: are you ready to make the leap?. Shiv Singh has written an article exploring when to migrate to a portal for your intranet or extranet. To quote: For a business manager, choosing a portal package is not an easy decision. While the benefits for corporate IT departments... [Column Two]

This is a short, excellent article that can help you really think about whether or not you will get business value out of a portal implementation. One of my favorite tidbits:

Intranets and extranets built on portal platforms are less usable than regular websites. Most portal vendors limit how much the user interface can be customized to prevent the software from becoming buggy. As a result, most portal packages have user interfaces that are clunky, and relatively unusable for novice computer users.

Agreed. It is somewhat deflating after a large portal implementation, particularly if it is very content-centric, to take a step back and realize that millions of dollars and thousands of person-hours have essentially resulted in a web site that is difficult to maintain and use. Obviously, this anti-climactic feeling can subside if personalization can be leveraged, if applications can be integrated, and if user adoption flourishes, but organizations need to walk in to a portal implementation with their eyes open on this issue.

Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:34:01 GMT

Step-by-step: implementing online forms. My KM Column article for February (released a day early) covers implementing online forms, in the context of a corporate intranet. To quote: Online forms should be a key component of all corporate intranets, as they deliver clear productivity benefits... [Column Two]

Thu, 10 Jun 2004 05:17:52 GMT

Integrating Content Management Server with SharePoint Portal. Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 lacks functionality in some useful areas when deploying a web application. Bill Schneider returns to CMS Watch to detail how to integrate the product with MS SharePoint Portal Server 2003 to obtain key search, asset-management, and portal-integration services...... [CMSWatch Trends and Features]

Mon, 03 May 2004 04:26:49 GMT

Portals magazine has a high-level overview of Business Intelligence in their February issue.

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 19:26:48 GMT

Migrating a Struts application to WebSphere Portal. Struts is one of the best-known open-source embodiments of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework. MVC provides a convenient way for modular applications to cleanly separate logic, presentation, and data. JavaServer Pages (JSP) typically plays the View role in the MVC framework, which generates a dynamic user interface based on business logic and data. Struts is very popular because it helps developers... [cmswire]

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 16:16:07 GMT

Plumtree Launches Executive Dashboard Solution. Plumtree Software released a new services solution for building executive dashboards via the Plumtree Enterprise Web Suite. The services offering, called the Plumtree Executive Dashboard Solution, combines new integration products with a deployment methodology designed to deliver a dashboard application rapidly and at low cost. The typical application combines performance metrics with enterprise search, online collaboration and knowledge management, to give executives a way to respond to events as they emerge across the business. As part of the announcement, Plumtree is organizing its services group to support the development of service-oriented applications at customer sites, and forming a new dashboard solutions team. To support the offering, the dashboard solutions team has developed a new set of dashboard indicator portlets, which are designed to provide executive-level integration of data from many systems. The services offering is available for the Plumtree Corporate Portal 4.5, 4.5WS and 5.0. www.plumtree.com [Gilbane Report News]

Wed, 07 Apr 2004 04:44:36 GMT

Webcast: High Performance Portals. If your organization has deployed a portal or is currently evaluating a portal strategy, this is a relevant event. [cmswire]

This event is tomorrow. Maybe they'll do a re-play.

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 03:13:15 GMT

SAP unveils Enterprise Portal version 6. Computer Weekly Nov 6 2003 8:04AM ET [Moreover - Knowledge management news]

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 03:09:54 GMT

IBM eyes modular WebSphere. IBM next year plans to sell a revamped edition of its WebSphere Java server product line that the company says will improve the integration of components within its software portfolio. Big Blue is creating a "modular architecture" for its WebSphere... [cms~wire]

Fri, 07 Nov 2003 03:09:27 GMT

IBM Beefs Up Lotus Workplace Platform. BOSTON—IBM Corp. announced Wednesday new applications on its Lotus Workplace platform for instant messaging and team collaboration, e-learning and content management. The new products add to Lotus' J2EE-based next-generation platform, which previously had been limited to basic e-mail and some... [cms~wire]

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 03:41:57 GMT

From IBM's Portal Newsletter...

WebSphere Portal Bootcamp for Business Partners

WebSphere Portal Bootcamp for Business Partners: Seven no-charge online modules teach the capabilities of WebSphere Portal, including developing portlets, application integration and customization and personalization plus other informative topics. Visit the WebSphere Portal Community within WebSphere Innovation Connection Online enablement support Web site for business partners to download these courses. (PartnerWorld Members only)

Mon, 20 Oct 2003 03:30:10 GMT

IBM polishes the portal. IBM is catching up with traditional portal vendors such as Plumtree Software, thanks to a portal framework that combines a scalable application server, programs from IBM-owned Lotus Development, and homegrown and third-party portlets — Java-based Web components that make it... [cms~wire]

Sat, 06 Sep 2003 02:18:20 GMT

Portal Vendors Rallying Around Standards. Vignette becomes the latest portal software developer to announce new products built on the Web Services for Remote Portlets standard 1.0. [eWEEK Technology News]

Fri, 05 Sep 2003 00:18:53 GMT

Plumtree Ships Products to Support WSRP & Proposed JSR 168 Portlet Standards. Plumtree released new software to support Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP) from OASIS and the proposed final draft of the Java Specification Request 168 (JSR 168) portlet standard...The Plumtree Container was designed to run on many application servers and Web servers including Apache Tomcat, BEA WebLogic and IBM WebSphere. www.plumtree.com [Gilbane Report News]

Tue, 26 Aug 2003 23:24:08 GMT

Vignette Enhances Portal Functionality. Vignette Corp. announced enhancements to its flagship portal product, Vignette Application Portal, including enhanced team collaboration functionality that enables customers to participate in information-sharing and persistent collaboration environments within their organizations. [Gilbane Report News]

Thu, 21 Aug 2003 12:43:10 GMT

IBM's Portal Newsletter says that the WebSphere Portal 5.0 Reviews are out...

Tue, 19 Aug 2003 01:55:10 GMT

Nucleus Research Issues ROI Comparison Report for Enterprise Portal Software from IBM, Plumtree, and SAP. dBusinessNews.com Aug 12 2003 1:17AM ET [Moreover - Knowledge management news]

Mon, 04 Aug 2003 17:57:28 GMT

WebSphere Portal eTutorials. I haven't looked at them so I can't vouch for the quality.

Mon, 04 Aug 2003 17:50:46 GMT

So You've Built It, Now What? The Corporate Portal Dilemma, Ron Miller [eContentMag.com]

This article is a summary of what is already generally known--you need content management, you need applications that streamline people's job tasks, and, above all, you need to give people a compelling reason to come to your portal if you are to be successful.