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About portal software, intranet development and extranet
solutions.
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iport4business Ltd
Suite2, Airdrie Business Centre
Airdrie ML6 6GX
Scotland
United Kingdom
T: 01236 439447
E: info@iport4business.com
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the iport business portal model
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The iport business portal model is a different approach to IT deployment.
 iport offers layers of capability using components which manage the underlying applications and databases to present the user with one coherent front-end, personalised and tailored to their requirements.
iport can be accessed by any system running Internet Explorer.
There are no user license fees associated with iport and, provided the right security is in place (Firewalls etc), the iport interface can be used either inside the organisation (as an Intranet) or outside the organisation (as an Extranet).
iport treats every user of the system as a customer of the system, delivering data and transaction capability to the individual dependent on their “relationship” and authority.
Staff, customers and suppliers can all have different “relationships” with the system and the relationship determines the business processes that they can execute whilst they are logged in or online.
The final goal is Systems Unification rather than mere Integration: one common Portal that can be used by the vast majority of users wherever they are located.
This unified view also makes training easier for new members of staff: after all it is not possible to train every user of a web-site so the interface needs to be intuitive and friendly.
iport does not get rid of the need to have “power users” of applications and nor does it remove all need for user licenses. But what it does do is open up these systems to a larger population of users who, in many cases, only need high-level enquiry (senior management and customers for example) or straightforward transaction processing (order entry, delivery processing, timesheets, service call management, sales calls, asset tracking, performance management, etc.) and will never use the full functionality of a user license.
But iport can go further.
Using the iport interface, it is possible to post and retrieve data simultaneously from different systems, making them appear to the user as though the applications are one. Duplication of input and data remains the major source of errors and waste in many systems. iport can drastically reduce the need for duplication by capturing transactions once and updating the underlying legacy systems automatically with the relevant parts of the transaction.
For example, the Accounts and Project Costing systems could be run on a UNIX server using Informix databases, but the Asset Management, CRM, HR and Project Information System could run on Windows 2000 with a SQL server database. By inputting a transaction through iport, all systems can be updated simultaneously thereby reducing input time and improving accuracy and simplicity. The user/ customer is unaware of which system they are connected to.
Which is how it should be.
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