Collaboration Tools

Today's portals should contain collaborative tools such as online presence awareness, instant messaging, virtual communities, threaded discussion, and user profiles. According to a study cited by IBM, 70% of those implementing a portal desire collaborative features. ^[1] For interacting with the public, a virtual community can create a sense of belonging and create closer relationships than with a read-only web site. You may want to allow customers to share information and tips with one another, or ask technical support questions in a moderated forum (Figure 2.10).

^[1] IBM, "A Portal Strategy to Deliver a Complete Portal Solution for E-Business," April 2002, p. 11. ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/software/websphere/portal/pdf/G325-5537-00.PDF.

Figure 2.10. Threaded Discussion Group

If you are planning to support collaborative tools for the public, you must beware of abuse of the system. The content will be read by competitors , who may post unflattering or inaccurate information. The forum may become a blank wall for graffiti or even hate mail from people with lots of time on their hands. Indeed, you may expose yourself to legal liability for what you show and don't allow to be shown in this forum. People may impersonate others in order to commit fraud. Therefore, be sure to monitor all such content and clearly post the rules of engagement and your liability on the site.

Another constraint for public collaboration is the lack of standardization for hardware, software, and user ability and training. You may find yourself forced to cater to the least common denominator in your user community ”old browsers with low bandwidth and limited user patience for learning new software. On the other hand, highly motivated users may overcome these barriers if content is sufficiently compelling.

For internal collaboration, neither of the problems of public collaboration should apply. You will be able to expect or demand standard infrastructure, bandwidth, and even training. In the cloistered environment of a workplace, legal liability is different from on a public web site, and the lack of anonymity may encourage a modicum of civility. Employees are motivated to learn a new system when proficiency is tied to their success in a career. As a result, you can have more sophisticated collaborative offerings in an enterprise portal.