Preface

Not even the implosion of the dot.com bubble was enough to derail the proliferation of Internet technology and the move toward e-business that has extended to nearly every industry in the developed world. Few organizations are content to tolerate the isolation of applications into separate " silos " of information, or poor interoperability among their software solutions. The portal has been held up as a means to achieve better application integration and provide a consistent user interface both inside and outside the enterprise.

Companies and other organizations need to take a broader look at their portal strategy to make the various elements of their architecture work together. This is a pivotal time not only in the emergence of new technology but in the convergence of technologies toward open standards and enhanced interoperability.