The power of the portal is its
ability to deliver the right information to the right person at the
right time.
Although
the portal can provide access to enterprise-wide information, all
users in your organization might not need or want to view the exact
same information. With the portal, information can be organized and
presented to users according to their roles in the organization.
Consider
the following sample roles and requirements:
-
Executives must respond quickly
to external market forces, manage internal organizational changes,
and develop strategies that improve their business.
-
Sales managers must understand
the problems that prospective clients face in order to provide adequate
solutions for those problems.
-
Customer service representatives
must monitor both their customers and their competitors to find the
best combination of superior service and low cost.
-
Engineers require a clear understanding
of customer requirements. They must stay informed about technical
advances in their field and be able to measure the relative value
of one feature over another in the products that they design.
-
To make cost-effective purchases,
purchase managers and IT administrators require adequate information
about suppliers. Managers also need a clear understanding of the infrastructure
and tools that employees need to do their jobs.
-
Managers in the Human Resources
department must develop competitive compensation packages in order
to attract and retain the best people, while serving the organization's
cost-saving strategies.
The roles
vary with each organization, but the premise remains the same: different
people require different types of information to make good decisions
or to do their jobs.