People Integration Solutions
Reading the excellent IBM redbook Architecting Portal Solutions I was struck by the definition of a "Portal".

"people integration (or portal) solutions"

Definition: People integration solutions allow a company to provide a personalized, integrated, interactive view of its business by giving customers, suppliers, partners, and employees anytime/anywhere access to information, transactions, and know-how. Key integration requirements include role-based, preference-based, and device-based transformation of business transactions
and information.

I think I prefer Wikipedia's definition

A web portal is a web site that provides a starting point, a gateway, or portal, to other resources on the Internet or an intranet. Intranet portals are also known as "enterprise information portals" (EIP).

Portals typically provide personalized capabilities to their users. They are designed to use distributed applications, different numbers and types of middleware, and hardware to provide services from a number of different sources. In addition, business portals are designed to share collaboration in workplaces. A further business-driven requirement of portals is that the content be able to work on multiple platforms such as personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cell phones.

I've been involved in the development of four or five portals, only one of those was an Intranet portal.

I've had five jobs in the past five years, and was quite surprised when came to work here that there was no Intranet-project, despite the fact that we're very web-driven.

In any company information is essential, even if it's only providing fairly basic information, if you ask someone What should we have on an intranet? you'll be greeted with blank-looks...if you publish limited information, you'll quickly be told what's missing.

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I should perhaps point out that eight pages after that first definition of a Portal, IBM also provides this:

Definition: A portal is an integrated and personalized Web-based interface to information, applications, and collaborative services

- posted by bigkevmcd @ 3:56 AM