In this chapter, we briefly cover the notion of portals; specifically, their use as a form of application integration. Because so much is written about portals, it does not make sense for us to repeat a lot of content here; thus, the chapter is petite. Focus on the concept of portals, and how we can achieve integration by bringing together information from many different systems within a single user interface. However, you should also note that portals are not Web services. Indeed, Web services are an enabling technology that may be leveraged by portals. Many are finding the concepts of portals and Web services confusing because both typically bring forward the value of remote applications using a single interface. Portal-Oriented Application Integration (POAI) allows us to view a multitude of systems both internal enterprise systems and external enterprise systems through a single user interface or application. POAI avoids the back-end integration problem altogether by extending the user interface of each system to a common user interface (aggregated user interface) most often a Web browser (see Figure 5.1). As a result, POAI integrates all participating systems through the browser, although it does not directly integrate the applications within or between the enterprises. Figure 5.1. Portal-Oriented Application Integration.Portals have become so common and so much has been written about them that we will cover just the basic concepts here. The important point to remember in the context of application integration is that portals have become the primary mechanism by which we accomplish application integration. Whether that is good, bad, or indifferent doesn't really matter. It is simply the way it is. Trading partners have extended the reach of internal enterprise systems by utilizing the familiar Web browser interface.
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