Tie it together and open it up with Enterprise Information Portals

Page III

Patrick Fitzgerald, Consultant

The future

The time is coming when increased use of Web services will change the way EIPs are made and operate. Already, many EIPs are using XML to a great extent because of its ability to aid interoperability. With the standardization of SOAP and a growing level of comfort with distributed Web services, the very notion of applications and application servers is becoming increasingly abstracted. Thanks to the widespread adoption of workable Internet standards, traditional concerns over operating system interoperability are now being thwarted. Applications themselves will be pieced together by components or Web services to create individualized applications on the fly.

This makes the Enterprise Information Portal a vital piece of business software — now and for the future. With a focus on integrating applications, services and information, EIPs make sense out of the vast wealth of corporate information and provide users with both a manageable window to the enterprise and a powerful tool for making the decisions that will keep the enterprise competitive.

Vendor	Product	Market-place Orientation	Web site / Location	Comments
Autonomy	Portal-in- a-Box	Pure EIP	http://www.autonomy.com/ Autonomy Inc. - United States 301 Howard Street 22nd Floor San Francisco CA 94105 (p) 415 243-9955 (f) 415 243-9984 mailto:info@us.autonomy.com	Very strong when it comes to search and categorization - to the extent that Autonomy partners with other EIPs to provide this functionality. Does that mean Portal-in-a-Box is otherwise deficient? Offers no extensible adapter library.
Data Channel	DataChannel Server	Pure EIP	http://www.datachannel.com/ DataChannel, Inc. 600 108th Ave NE Suite 900 Bellevue, WA 98004 (p) 425 462-1999 (p) 888 534-8352( ( f) 425 637-1192 info@datachannel.com	DataChannel provides XpertLinX - a seemingly limited library for integration with popular business applications.
LINQ	LinqPortal	Pure EIP	http://www.linq.com/ LINQ Stockholm (headquarters) Åsögatan 108 SE - 118 29 Stockholm, Sweden (p) +46 8 410 280 00 (f) +46 8 410 280 01 stockholm@linq.com	Fairly decent 3rd party integration. Small player focused on European market.
Onyx	Onyx 2000	Pure EIP	http://www.onyx.com/ Corporate Headquarters 3180 139th Ave SE, Suite 500 Bellevue, WA 98005-4091 (p) 425 451-8060 (p)1-888-ASK-ONYX (f) 425.990.3343 info@onyx.com	Relatively small player. Based on Windows DNA
Plumtree	Corporate Portal	Pure EIP	http://www.plumtree.com/ Corporate Headquarters 500 Sansome Street San Francisco, California 94111 (p) 415 263-8900 (f) 415 263-.8991 information@plumtree. com	A leader among the pure EIPs in the marketplace. Offers "Gadgets" as adapters along with a full library and online access to new "Gadgets" as partnerships grow.
SageMaker	SageWave 4.1	Pure EIP	http://www.sagemaker.com/ 42 Halley Court Fairfield, Connecticut 06432 (p) 203 368-4888 (f) 203 367-6849	SageWave provides a store of "iComponents" to access internal and external content and applications. Translates all information to the portal using XML via the "SageBus." Allows for the creation of multiple personalized pages called MyPages. Good vertical support for specific industries via bundled iComponents.
Sequoia Software	XPS	Pure EIP	www.sequoiasoftware. com Sequoia Software Corporation Columbia Corporate Park 8890 McGaw Road Columbia, MD 21045 (p) 410 715-0206 (f) 410 715-6835 Toll-free: 1-888-820-7917	Heavily based on XML. Full solution with a graphical flow editor to manage processes and workflow. Main technologies supporting the product are an XML Application Server and a Content Delivery System
TopTier	Enterprise Information Portal Enterprise Unification Portal	Pure EIP	http://www.toptier.com/ 30 Las Colinas Lane San Jose, CA 95119 (p) 408 360-1700 (f) 408 360-1703 westsales@toptier.com	TopTier offers two portal solutions. Both offer full personalization, search, categorization etc. The EUP includes extra functionality: integration to enterprise apps, "drag and relate" capabilities, and wizard-based development tools
Viador	E-Portal	Pure EIP	http://www.viador.com/ Corporate Headquarters 2000 Charleston Road, Suite 1000, Mountain View, CA 94043 (p) 650 645-2000 Toll-free in USA: 877.VIADOR1 Investor Relations: 888.4IR.VIAD (f) 650 645-2001 info@viador.com	A leading pure EIP provider, Viador offers both an E-Portal Framework for building fully customized business portals and an E-Portal Express for an immediate out-of-the-box solution. Extensive integration capabilities via "Portlets." Online library for future integration add-ons.
InfoImage	InfoImage Freedom	Pure portal provider	www.infoimage.com InfoImage, Inc. Corporate Headquarters 4000 North Central Avenue Suite 2300 Phoenix, AZ 85012 (p) 602 234-6900 Toll Free: 800.489.9511 (f) 602 234-6950 info@infoimage.com	InfoImage positions its product as an "enterprise decision portal." Helps with collaboration, workflow, BI, etc. Linked to Microsoft - almost exclusively. Provides a development kit for coding adapters based on standards.

TechMine Members have access to the full EIP vendors table, featuring more than 30 products classified by categories, giving an insight into each product's positioning.

Back to Page II

[ Back to Article | Home | Discussion Board | Tutorials | Columns/Advice ]

TechMetrix Research is a technically focused analyst firm focused on e-business application development needs. Based in Boston, Mass., the firm publishes comparison reports and product reviews designed to aid enterprises with decision making and to keep pace with the fast-moving e-business market.

TechMetrix is a U.S.-based subsidiary of SQLI, a European company that offers on-site development services to international organizations. SQLI specializes in e-business project development.