Enterprise Portals as a Service

Enterprise Portals as a Service

As cloud computing continues to grow (in terms of the scope of services that it is capable of deploying), one intriguing offering that many cloud service providers are beginning to explore is that of enterprise portals. But just what are enterprise portals as they relate to cloud computing? Enterprise portals are often offered as a type of cloud-based service that can be added to existing cloud service packages (which would include various hardware and software packages as well as architectures).

Individuals seem to benefit the most from the use of enterprise portals as they are essentially gaining a single point of access to cloud-based applications, other users, as well as specific data. The enterprise portal is actually employing cloud services, but it is not actually a part of the cloud itself, just a solitary access point. It makes no sense for groups to employ the use of enterprise portals as a service simply because most organizations (that utilize cloud computing) have their own networks which are located locally (as opposed to remotely). Enterprise portals can be used to host certain cloud based applications however. But given that utilizing them in this fashion often leads to troublesome upgrading, and decreased flexibility / overall control it's probably best that organizations avoid widespread use of enterprise portals as a service as they exist in their current configurations.

Employing the use of remote enterprise portals wouldn't make sense in these types of cases, since the provisioning of assets can be performed in-house. Why host something externally if it's right next door? And for groups that may be utilizing cloud services from a provider, an enterprise portal system would only further complicate the already present structures in place that govern user access, management and data flow within the cloud. There's simply too much customizing needed for organizations to make effective use of current enterprise portal service models. However, for individual users, an enterprise portal is an excellent all encompassing solution that is more than capable of serving a variety of different roles.

The ability of an enterprise portal to requisition cloud resources is a particularly interesting subject. Up until this point however, their ability to make full use of cloud assets have been fairly dismal at best. In their current configuration, they simply lack the advanced structures necessary to give users a totally secure access point at this time. This is largely because of problems related to privacy as well as management of an established cloud infrastructure.

The emergence of new technologies (which promise to not only make better use of cloud resources, but to also provide users with a more fully developed experience) like advanced browsers, intelligent widgets, Html5, as well as sophisticated internet-based applications are pushing enterprise portals toward even greater heights. The idea that many are pushing for involves combining enterprise portal services with a host of useful applications included that are relevant to specific users' interests. This might include adopting measures and applications packages that are suitable for business users (who might be interfacing with customers) as well as recreational users (who might be using an enterprise portal for a variety of purposes).

Emerging cloud computing companies are beginning to craft enterprise portal solutions that allow for much easier integration with third party applications, databases, web content in addition to the various cloud computing tools that are out there. The goal of these organizations seems to be to provide a multipurpose platform that can easily integrate with the various existing technologies, as well as provide an outline for future technology integration. Support for all Java and .net technologies is paving the way toward greatly enhancing the capabilities of the basic enterprise portal model / service.

As stated earlier, most businesses and organizations aren't using enterprise portals for cloud access; they are however, using them for creation of, integration of, deployment of and management of cloud apps. The goal of utilizing enterprise portals in this fashion is to provide a system that can effectively assist the developer in creating a standard approach, if you will to basic application architectural design. This will not only cut the time required to produce new applications down by a significant amount, but it will also eliminate incompatibility and integration errors to a certain extent as well. And of course, the creation of a standardized architectural 'modus operandi' will no doubt translate into reduced budgetary expenditures to some extent. These emerging enterprise development models are also able to accept and communicate in/with an extremely large (and ever-growing) series of programming languages and models. The ultimate goal is to create an enterprise portal development platform that is virtually all-encompassing.

Widespread usage of enterprise portals as a service is currently relegated to individual users and development teams (that are producing applications and tools for cloud computing networks). The use of emerging enterprise portal services is leading to a more comprehensive integration of available web applications and protocols for use in cloud computing environments. In time, enterprise portals will be readily available for use by users, IT professionals as well as service providers; each having access to their own unique set of applications and tools that can be deployed for their own unique purposes.