Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Overcoming the problems in offshore portal development

Outsourcing of the portal development works could be a really cost saving formula for foreign companies engaged in the development and running of the portals. The offshore portal development is certainly not easy since all the remote controls need to function well and in a coordinated way in order to produce the desired results in time. The portals belong to the client and all the documentation and hosting is done in the name of the clients. The Portal India services providers work on contract basis and take their charges for working on the project. Alternatively, the foreign company could open their own office here to carryout these tasks by hiring the skilled manpower here. Whatever may be the arrangement, there are many hurdles to be crossed on the way of development and then in their regular management.
Technically, it is possible to get any type of portal development done in some other country. An offshore portal could be a business web portal, education portal, tourism portal, real estate portal or even the social networking portal. Some of the companies even outsource their enterprise portal development works. However, certain considerations of the following likely obstacles shall be duly dealt with before embarking on the project.
1.    Communication problems: Since the offshore portal development will require good coordination, there is a need to set up dedicated teams and channels of communication which can be used for effective communication. Modern channels using the internet based telecom facilities are used to good effect. In fact, these modern communication channels are believed to have laid the foundation of the effective and efficient management of outsourced works.
2.    Role and job clarity: When there are two teams working in different countries, it is important to designate the right people on both sides to be able to work in a mutually coordinated way. For this it is important that the roles of each member are clearly defined and it is known who is authorized to give the work.
3.    Cultural influences: The management of the offshore portal development work shall also take note of the cultural aspect of the country where the work is being done. It shall be determined which holidays would be granted and which not. Further, there might be some portals such as the  tour portal and the education portal which shall be developed keeping in mind the cultural sensitivities of the people for whom these are being developed.
4.    Operating environment: The operating environment includes both the organizational environment as well as the external environment. Whether the outsourced location has satisfied employees or not, whether the legal and the regulatory framework of the country and the State is conducive to the outsourced operations or not are some of the other considerations which need to assessed.
Similarly, there could be a number of other obstacles which shall be thought of beforehand so that the due arrangements could be made for tackling those. Some problems might crop up all of a sudden and therefore, these shall be resolve, commitment and fundamental understanding at both ends to address these.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Web Portal India: Types and Classification

There are many ways in which a portal is distinguished from a website. It could be on the basis of the facility of log-in or the extent of coverage of a particular subject and domain or even on the basis of extent of customization that can be done. Some would even say that the portals are more comprehensive in scope for a particular theme than a website. These have a lot more resources than a website. Further, a website is generally meant for some particular person or organization and showcases its ideas, products and services, whereas a portal India is not individual or entity centric but is theme-centric.
There are different types of portals and these can be classified on the basis of theme carried and on the basis of the users being catered to. Based on these factors, the classifications could be:
1. Vertical portals: These are also called Vortals. These are specific to a particular industry or vertical and carry all the possible information and resources pertaining to that industry. These could be made for giving information about a particular company or these could even be meant for conducting ecommerce.
2. Horizontal portals: These are focused on a wide range of topics and interests. The users can visit that section which of interest to him on the portal.
3. Knowledge portals: These are the portals essentially focus on providing information to the people on different topics or subjects. For example, a property portal might be providing the information of different land use patterns of a region, types of lands and even the registration details of the people who own the lands. Also, there could be a travel portal informing the users about the different attractions of a place.
4. Company-specific portals: If there is a large organization spread over different locations, it could develop a web portal for its employees for their better communication or for sharing enterprise-wide information from a single platform. This is also called an enterprise portal.
5. Networking portals: It is quite common to find groups of people coming together for some common cause or interest. Broadly, there are two online communities, social and professional. A social networking portal aims greater interaction and sharing among the people have some things in common. These could be common interests, likings, common classes, schools and colleges as well as common places of residence and work. Similarly, the professional networking portals enable professional interaction among the providers and the buyers.
As the number of services, products and their providers grow, it often becomes difficult for a person to find them at one place. A web portal can provide the ideal platform for meeting this requirement saving the time and effort of people to search for different things on different websites. Sensing this need of the people, a number of portals based on varied themes have come up in recent times. Besides, the portals provide a number of independent services such as authenticity and verification of the providers which could be of good use to the users of the portals.