Portal Framework Overview

Enterprises are often composed of many different information technology resources, such as:

• Shared network directories.

• Department intranet sites.

• Legacy applications.

• Applications developed in-house.

• Purchased Web applications.

With many disparate applications and technologies, IT resources are difficult to maintain and difficult to use. For example, applications:

• Follow different user interface guidelines.

• Are rendered with different themes.

• Track profile attributes differently.

• Vary in the quality of online assistance.

• Have separate login and password credentials.

• Have different search functionality.

One solution to this problem is to integrate the various applications and content sources used in an enterprise and present them in a single user interface, called a portal. The Siebel Portal Framework allows you to do this. The Portal Framework provides you with the tools and supporting technologies that allow you to:

• Aggregate external data with Siebel data and present it in the Siebel user interface.

• Deliver Siebel CRM data to external applications.

• Integrate external application business logic and data with Siebel Business Applications.