Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Success [Paperback]

José Cláudio C. Terra Ph.D. (Author), Cindy Gordon Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0750675934 | ISBN-13: 978-0750675932 | Publication Date: October 30, 2002

Thoughtful and provocative, 'Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals' illustrates the vast potential of corporate portals and what your company can do to implement them for business success. Based on the authors' extensive backgrounds and consulting focused on implementing corporate portals this exciting new book extends IT theory into business strategy.


Terra and Gordon explore the components and architecture of typical corporate portals and fundamental issues in knowledge management. Geared for decision makers at the executive level, this book provides a comprehensive view of the market landscape, powerful and detailed case studies, and collected best practices and lessons learned to help organizations successfully implement corporate portals. The book also includes detailed checklists necessary for selecting and implementing appropriate corporate portal technical solutions.

Learn from their detailed case studies of hugely successful corporate portal implementations, including:
* ADC Telecommunications Inc.
* Bain & Company
* Bank of Montreal
* Context Integration
* Eli Lilly
* Hill & Knowlton
* Nortel Networks
* SERPRO
* Siemens
* Texaco
* Xerox

* Detailed case studies of hugely successful corporate portals and best practices for implementing corporate portals
* Authors' extensive technical backgrounds extends IT theory into business strategy
* Provides guidance for managers when choosing software, consulting services and developing implementation programs

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book should be a first read for managers of knowledge-intensive enterprises and a must read for IT professionals who implement Corporate Knowledge Portals. Claudio Terra and Cindy Gordon provide excellent insights into the role and functions of CKPs. They provide an unusual understanding of how CKPs change the way business is conducted to improve enterprise performance. This understanding is crucial to ensure successful and effective portal implementations and has been missing from most books and articles." - Karl M. Wiig, Chairman & CEO, Knowledge Research Institute


"Corporate portals are at the leading edge of knowledge management practice. Terra's and Gordon's book provides valuable insight into this key area of business innovation. This book will be of interest to academics as well as practitioners. Anyone who is involved in developing or managing corporate KM initiatives will find many useful learnings in this book about portal solutions, their technical solutions, their performance metrics, and the organizational roles, strategies, and cultures that support successful KM-oriented portals." - Charles H. Davis, Ph.D., Professor, Management of Technological Change, University of New Brunswick


"Corporate portals are key to knowledge management as well as a host of productivity improvements within and across enterprises. Anyone involved in developing a corporate portal will benefit from reading this book, but it will be particularly valuable for CEOs, without whose active support a comprehensive portal is impossible to create. The authors' emphasis on the human side of portals highlights critical organizational and cultural issues that are often overlooked. The case studies provide valuable guidance to the efforts required to create a portal and the benefits that it can deliver." - Rick Stuckey, retired Accenture senior partner responsible for Global KM


"Terra and Gordon have managed to write a book that is unique in that it is equally valuable for professionals with business AND IT backgrounds. By clearly linking Corporate Portals and KM to business goals, the authors help organizations to justify why such projects should be implemented. The book relies on in-depth case studies that are presented in a very structured, objective and pragmatic way. It is a must read for practitioners." - Juliano Benatti, Head of Ericsson University, Region Latin America

From the Publisher

Terra and Gordon explore the components and architecture of typical corporate portals and fundamental issues in knowledge management. Geared for decision makers at the executive level, this book provides a comprehensive view of the market landscape, powerful and detailed case studies, and collected best practices and lessons learned to help organizations successfully implement corporate portals. The book also includes detailed checklists necessary for selecting and implementing appropriate corporate portal technical solutions.

Learn from their detailed case studies of hugely successful corporate portal implementations, including:

* ADC Telecommunications Inc.

* Bain & Company

* Bank of Montreal

* Context Integration

* Eli Lilly

* Hill & Knowlton

* Nortel Networks

* SERPRO

* Siemens

* Texaco

* Xerox

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann (October 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750675934
• ISBN-13: 978-0750675932
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,039 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keep this book a secret..., August 25, 2003

By 

David Brett (New Westminster, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Success (Paperback)

This is the kind of book I actually hesitate to recommend because it is so good my greedy side wants to hoard the valuable knowledge it contains! I am in the "knowledge management" business and believe reading this book has given me a competitive advantage. I also believe that an organization seeking to deploy a knowledge portal of any kind should have this book beside them at all times. José Claudio Terra and Cindy Gordon get to the heart of what all the spending on "portals" is for: to drive value in your business. They also provide a roadmap for ensuring your efforts and spending don't go down as yet another misguided IT boondoggle. The 10 recent and originally researched case studies are like gold. This is a very good book. David Brett, CEO, Knexa.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing book on overhyped subject, June 20, 2004

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Success (Paperback)

I've read one book after another about attaining a viable knowledge management solution using corporate portals, and was left wanting because the books either required great leaps of faith or were little more than marketing hype. This book closes all of the gaps between theory and practical application, and backs up assertions with a wealth of case studies that prove the connection between the goal (KM) and the means (portals).

In the first part of the book the authors address knowledge management and portals at the conceptual level. The second part is comprised of case studies that fully support the concepts by showing how results were achieved in a large number of corporate settings. Each case is a study in specific goals and objectives unique to companies that embarked on KM initiatives, and are diverse enough to overlap with your own goals and objectives. The important material covers barriers, how they were overcame, results and how they improved business operations.

The authors are subject matter experts who come across as credible and factual, and the content of this book is accurate and hype-free. I like the way they place KM and portals within the context of business objectives, and the way they impart their extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of KM and portals. It's obvious that they are writing from the trenches, and equally obvious that they maintain an objective view throughout the book. Another aspect of this book that I like is how carefully they chose and documented the case studies. Each goes to the essence of concepts in the first part of the book, and clearly show that KM can be effectively achieved through correctly designed and implemented corporate portals. It's worth noting that Appendix B, "Technical criteria to select a corporate portal platform", is an invaluable tool for readers who are seriously considering an implementation.

If you only read one book about corporate portals this is the one I highly recommend.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Practice Case Studies, February 14, 2004

By 

Perry Muhlbier (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Realizing the Promise of Corporate Portals: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Success (Paperback)

I found this book to be a well researched and practical book for senior executives that want to clearly understand what an enterprise portal is, what the value is, and how to execute a portal strategy. I particularly found the lessons learned and best practices as very helpful insights. Highly recommend this book to be read by any one in senior management that needs the fundamentals, but also more experienced professionals implementing portal strategies.