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This article proposes a definition that distinguishes portals from all other types of information systems and a General Portal Model for identifying and organizing the basic services portals provide. The potential of the web portal market and its technology has attracted some of the biggest computer and software firms. It has inspired the mutation of search engines and the establishment of new vendors. Yet the meaning of portal is not well defined and its use, even within the industry, remains problematic. Originally coined to describe Web-based applications that provide organized access to the resources of the Internet through search engines and lists of Web sites, the term portal has been applied to systems that differ widely in capabilities and complexity, from static Web pages providing links to resources on a given topic to interorganizational systems providing access to multiple heterogeneous data sources and applications. Portal is defined as an infrastructure providing secure, customizable, personalizable, integrated access to dynamic content from a variety of sources, in a variety of source formats, wherever it is needed.

Surveying the wreckage of the dot-com marketplace meltdown of 2001, it is easy to overlook the persistence and rapid growth of e-business throughout the U.S. economy. While many high-flying dot-corn firms, including Beyond.com, Boo.com, DrKoop.com, Kozmo.com and Webvan vanished, use of the Internet as an essential business tool continued to grow dramatically. At the peak of the e-business hype in 2000, most pundits ignored the nascent effort of large legacy firms, or those that existed before the advent of e-business and had yet to embrace the Net. A common misperception about e-business was and still is that one either has it or didn't get it. By definition, flashy e-business pure-plays, or the dot-corns, got it and except for a few visionaries, legacy firms didn't. Today, legacy firms represent the future of e-business and understanding e-business from their perspective gives a clearer picture of how e-business will develop in the future. The online grocers represent a clear example. The pure-plays Homegrocer and Webvan received enormous media attention and heavy investment from venture capitalists. Today, both are out of business, while traditional British grocer Tesco has emerged as the most successful grocer online. INSET: Emerging Role of CeCO..

Information service is the focal point of all networks. In recent years, Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN), a prominent network-based service-independent architecture for current circuit-switched telecommunications networks, has been widely accepted by the global telecommunications and computer industries. Its merit is to introduce and develop network-based information services intelligently, rapidly and economically. Although considerable achievements on the concept and architecture of AIN have already been made, progress on its real development and deployment aspects is much slower than what is expected due to many network-based distributed computing technical issues, especially in a multi-vendor multi-provider wide-area network environment. New design concepts concerning secure network computing for information service creation emphasizing both security and efficiency on a future high-speed asynchronous transfer mode-based intelligent. Improvements of secure remote procedure call technology has positively affected the advancement and maturity of electronic commerce.

The article presents various news related to technology, computer industry and recent development in these areas. The transfer of space technology of the U.S. to China is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department. A preliminary Defense Department report found that Hughes Electronics Corp. gave China potentially damaging information after a Chinese rocket carrying a Hughes-built satellite crashed in 1995. In order to benefit from the job-creating capacity of e-commerce, Europe must improve skills and technical literacy of its population. A pen-like device designed to move files from one computer to another without touching a mouse or keyboard is in the development stage at Sony Computer Laboratories in Tokyo, Japan. In 1998, network professionals salaries rose more than 10% from 1997. Intel Corp. and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico have developed a radiation-proof chip. Intel provided the government with existing technology that then allowed it to build a radiation-hardened product, said a source close to the deal. INSET: Y2K COUNTDOWN..

Presents news briefs on computer-related issues in the United States. Predicted growth on the number of information technology (IT) professionals; Decline in the number of companies refusing to purchase their needs online; Growth in the annual sales of online commerce.

Presents news briefs on computer-related issues in the United States as of June 1999. Percentage of companies using the Web to provide customer support; Market that will offer great opportunity electronic commerce; Capabilities of Linux operating system and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows; Increase in net income of 3Com Corp.

Covers information on computer-related issues in the United States. How companies should developed customer-relationship management through its channel partners; Companies that drive the electronic business; Estimated cost of setting up an electronic commerce site; Why enterprise portals are the least popular electronic-business applications.

This article presents results of a survey conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC)which indicate that the amount of Web sales is expected to increase dramatically from $2.6 billion in the year 1996 to $220 billion during 2001 in the U.S. IDC also predicts 300 million devices will be accessing the Web around the world in 2001, up from 32 million in 1996. In the area of electronic commerce, IDC forecasts an 80% increase in the number of global Web transactions

Focuses on the business performance of the FastTrack top 500 top computer technology innovators. Increase in revenues for electronic commerce; Rise of information technology spending; Performance of private exchanges of the businesses.

Focuses on the plans of electronic-businesses for an online expansion in the United States. Impact of the expansion on the corporate revenues; List of top industry winners; Forecast on the revenues in the internet and retail industries; Effects of the internet on consumer satisfaction. INSET: METHODOLOGY.

Reports on the gradually decreasing number of personal computers that can be bought at stores. How many computer companies take orders over the Web or telephone; Introduction to how `PC World' magazine's Guide to the Top 100 works; The changing prices and sizes of computer monitors in 1999.

Focuses on the challenges faced by hardware vendors due to the booming demand for information technology (IT) systems, software devices and applications that support electronic business. Factors that put pressure on hardware vendors; Issues that halt the exploration of Compaq in electronic business; Product offerings to be launched by Hewlett-Packard Co. for its commitment to electronic business.

The article presents news related to recent development in the area of computers in the U.S. The U.S. government plans to ease restrictions on exports of encryption software and hardware products, a major shift in a long-standing policy and a victory for U.S. technology companies. The government announced it will unveil simplified rules governing how the companies may sell data-scrambling products abroad, changes that will let them sell products to companies and non-government users after a technological review by the U.S. Commerce Department. California became the first state to recognize the legal validity of electronic signatures, a key building block in defining e-commerce over the next couple of years. Two out of three U.S. professors say they are stressed trying to keep up with emerging technology passing up such traditional troubles as publishing pressure and teaching loads, according to a new study. NASA and Michael Moshier, founder of Millennium Jet Inc., announced that NASA will provide the engineering, technology and testing and Millennium Jet will build and eventually market the eight-foot-tall craft, called Solotrek.

Looks at a variety of computer-related products. The computer game `Toy Story 2'; The Webpc computer from Dell; Information on so-called shopping bots, which can help consumers with online shopping.

Mentions items relating to the computer industry and the Internet. Sony's DCM-M1 digital camcorder; Gift registry Web sites for electronic shopping; Motorola's DSP56690 chip, which allows manufacturers to make mobile phones compatible with worldwide standards; iSong.com's Web site, CD-ROM lineup of recordings of legendary musicians, and iLessons.

This article reports that Air Canada Ltd. became the first legacy carrier to transform to a low-fare, low-cost carrier. In doing so, it whittled down dozens of fare types to five, with the ticket price corresponding to the type of travel flexibility/services desired. The carrier in October 2004 signed a five-year contract with e-travel, Amadeus GTD's e-commerce business unit, and implemented e-travel Planitgo, a fare search tool for the web that would mirror remodeled Air Canada's simplified and transparent fare structure. On the carrier's web site, the passenger chooses travel dates, times and origination/destination cities. The subsequent search results in a columnar display of matching Air Canada fare types and prices within a seven-day period in one view, along with lowest fares and best travel dates.

The article presents a comparison of several virtual assistants including AskSunday, BPOVIA, and GetFriday.

This article discusses the future of information technology. The next 25 years of information technology will blur boundaries between previously well-formed and discrete concepts, entities, or states of being. Some people believe the next step is for some of those bits to have value. That is to say, consider a string of bits to be like a virtual cow or shell. All of these requirements are easily achieved in both traceable and anonymous systems of E-cash. In these cases, the money does move. The point can be generalized beyond money. Peer-to-peer is a much deeper concept than people understand today.

IBM Corp.'s Websphere Commerce 5.5 provides enterprises with an extremely powerful and flexible platform of handling online business, from business-to-consumer to business-to-business to hosted services. WebSphere Commerce 5.5 is an excellent platform for running the most complex B2B and B2C electronic-commerce operations. The new quick-installation option for WebSphere Commerce 5.5 made it simple to install the entire platform on a single system. Also included is an extensive Reporting Framework that made it possible to quickly get information on any aspect of the electronic-commerce system. INSET: WebSphere Commerce 5.5.

Discusses several changes that occurred to Data-Link Associates, a computer-supplies company in Long Island, New York, since it utilized the Internet selling technology. Leverage with prospective customers; Expanded marketplace; Increase in credit-card sales.

Reports the preparation of Sun Microsystems Inc. to introduce software and services complementing the hardware platform in Santa Clara, California. Announcement of the Net Effect strategy and a hardware based on UltraSPARC processor range; Plan to unveil software technological advancements; Provision of electronic commerce reliability and scalability.

Focuses on issues concerning the Internet and computer industry. Introduction of the Apple Mac PowerBook G3 computer; Views on wireless networking; Emergence of electronic commerce; Launching of the MP3 technology. INSET: What You Think.

Reports on Novell Inc.'s plan to introduce an application service provider (ASP) initiative in October 2000. Novell's plan to link a network of distributors and ASPs via Novell's directory service software; Company's efforts to make it easier for businesses to purchase and deploy software from Novell or any third-party developer.

Reports the launching of an E-marketplace for computer and component companies developed by Hewlett-Packard Co. with a group of vendors. Benefit offered by E-marketplace; Launching plans for the E-marketplace; Details on the partners of IBM Corp. for the exchange it will launched; Factors that will hinder the launching of a marketplace.

Reports on Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Internet vision called e-services, replacing its earlier E-World initiative. Battle with other computer companies remaking themselves as providers of solutions for the Internet economy; Lessons from the mistakes of E-World; Past software breakdowns possibly stalling e-services. INSETS: HP reaches out to new partners to build revenue stream.;PhotoLoft feeling overexposed.;After a rocky start under HP, VeriFone looks to the future..

Presents the top ten computer technologies to watch in 1999, according to `PC Week.' Network operating systems like Solaris and NetWare; Functional year 2000 date conversion tools; Electronic commerce; Application servers; Extensible Markup Language (XML); Server hardware; Desktop and portable computers; Automatic speech recognition; Internet multimedia; Enterprise resource planning (ERP) products for small and medium companies.

Focuses on RosettaNet, a computer industry organization set up to define the terms of the languages used in electronic commerce transactions. Companies including Ingram Micro Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc. who are involved in RosettaNet; What RosettaNet hopes to define; Benefits that standard definitions will offer information technology departments; Why standard definitions are so important in business to business electronic commerce with multiple supply chain members. INSET: Ingram Web e-commerce system's at your service.

Focuses on the online trading hub trend among industries. Concept of Infomediaries; Relevance of trading hubs; Creation of electronic catalogs and automated procurement conduits; Revenues generated by vertical market trading hubs; Views about the vertical portals; Factors affecting the success of trading hubs; Consolidation of business trading hubs.

Focuses on the release of the first version of the Information & Content Exchange (ICE), a specification for setting up and automating business rules that govern Web content exchange, by Vignette Corp. and 80 end-user partners. Products supporting ICE; Benefits of the widely adoption of ICE; Submission of ICE to the World Wide Web Consortium for consideration as a standard.

Presents news briefs from the computer industry on August 9, 1999. Information on the electronic-commerce site of Edge technologies Inc. and Manco Genetics aimed at dairy farmers; Decline of stocks of Internet- or electronic-commerce companies during their first day of trading; Details on the cost of suite deployment per desktop.

Discloses plans by major computer vendors to roll out new capabilities that will enable users to install locally encryption applications to their computers and make payment for the software over the Internet. Emergence of solutions that would use Internet push technology; Microsoft's Internet 4.0 Active Channels as a marketing front end; Fault-Line Software's virtual software vending machine.

The article outlines the opinion published by readers on the web regarding social networking technologies in the U.S. According to Charlene Li, Forrester research employee, there is a possibility that social networks including Facebook and MySpace will crossbreed with electronic commerce giants such as Amazon.com and eBay and portals such as AOL and Yahoo. Such a move undertaken by these companies make sense in the name of efficiency because they want to provide better services and quality information to users.

The article offers information on the governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) Application Suite from Oracle Corp. in the U.S. The GRC Application provides an integrated strength of heterogenous compliance and content management capabilities Oracle acquired from Stellent Inc. including the Oracle E-Business and PeopleSoft Enterprise suites. It was shown that Oracle's GRC Application Suite offers three elements including infrastructure, GRC process layer, and GRC intelligence layer. In addition, GRS also offers information security as well as provide customers with a foundation of sustainable, consistent and efficient risk and compliance management.

The article reports on the plan of computer company Sun Microsystems Inc. in expanding its presence in the competitive blade market. The plan is also to lure new and current customers by offering unique hardware replacement and upgrade service. The company's new offering includes an annual program aimed at making customer upgrades more easier. Furthermore, the company will also be offering its customers a high-performance computing system for their Web-based business with highly dynamic infrastructures.

The article explores the features of DBI for Compliance, an embedded compliance management system for Oracle E-Business Suite users that offers prebuilt key performance indicators around compliance metrics developed by Oracle Corp. The software is designed to aid companies comply with federal regulations that require top-level executives to certify financial statements and to help companies prove effectiveness of internal controls on an annual fiscal basis. On the side of administrators, DBI offers the several benefits including the enforcement of existing E-Business Suite security rules.

The article offers the latest updates in the computer industry. Intel Corp. had once planned to launch its own online music store and even thought of selling devices such as the Intel Pocket Concert MP2 player, a year before Apple's ITunes was introduced. There is a rumor that Novell Inc. plans to change the name of its Novell Linux Desktop to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.

The article presents information on the new shopping service software by eBay Inc. ProStores is the new software designed by the company for business solutions. It is viewed that the software ProStores is a throwback to the old days of the Web. Every major companies including Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and International Business Machine Corp. have hosted shopping sites, which are the first examples of software as a service for the small business solutions. But with the introduction of ProStores much greater functionality has been promised than earlier facilities. It offers fully integrated inventory control. It has the ability to configure checkout, which help the customers to purchase products without registering on the site.

The article presents information about the January 2006 Information Technology Salary Survey, conducted by the research company Janco Associates Inc. According to the survey, the rate of growth of salaries of most of the workers and executives in the information technology sector last year was too slow. The survey also revealed that there is no possibility of any significant increases in salaries in the short term. According to Janco, the average salary of professionals in the computer industry did not increase significantly over the final quarter of last year. However, salaries of executives in the wireless communications and security fields have showed an improvement. The survey revealed that average salary for top executives and some specialized workers in the information technology sector could again begin to rise this year, which would be the first time since leveling off in 2004. The survey revealed that jobs involving e-commerce operations are the ones which could be expected to record salary increases.

Discusses security related issues in the information technology (IT) industry. Discussion of effectiveness of measures against cyber-attacks; View that corporations should be interested in identity-based security rather than perimeter-based security; Opinion that IT security represents an opportunity to build a more competitive online presence rather than being just a cost of doing business.

This article discusses issues related to costs in the information technology industry. Maybe someday all contact will be via e-mail, videoconferencing or seminars, but not yet. Road trips are really bad for things such as diets and decisions about exercise and working more instead of hitting the hotel bar, but they are great for getting closer to what is really happening in business. The reasons for making technology investments still fall into two areas. People are either investing in technology to accelerate a revenue opportunity, or they are investing to decelerate their costs. Even the hot-button issues such as security and application integration fall into those two camps. If they cannot develop a security structure that affords identity and confidentiality in commerce, they are not going to be able to accelerate their revenues through new e-commerce opportunities. The cost-cutting campaign continues and is most visible in the area of application and platform integration. The era of serious computing originated with the need for revenue acceleration and cost cutting; those requirements have been intensified by current events.