Rich Portal
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Overview
- Business Benefits
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Feature
Tour - Demo & Solutions
- Technology Overview
- Downloads & Resources
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How can I?
Accelerate Business
- Earn Customer Loyalty
- Enrich the Brand Experience
- Accelerate Sales
- Empower the Customer
- Enable Self-Service
- Accelerate innovation
Facilitate IT
- Time to market
- Total Costs of Ownership
- Instant Agility
- Simplicity
- Mix & Match
- No Vendor Lock-in
How Can I ?
- increase my online conversion?
- give my customers a superior customer experience?
- enable web selfservice?
- integrate multiple websites into one?
Accelerate your business
Rich Portal will accelerate your business, because it is designed to service your customers based on their needs, resulting in an unparelled user experience.
OUTSIDE-IN. Delivered.
In the past (Web 1.0), companies were used to offer the consumers what they produced. Customers expect companies to adjust the offerings to their needs (Web 2.0). Companies and brands need to start thinking Outside-In: what does the customer want and adjust their offers accordingly. This means a new way of presenting your brand/product/services. Rich Portal enables you to turnaround easily from Inside-Out to Outside-in thinking, without having to change your current infrastructure (CRM, IT systems, CMS systems). Rich Portal adds a presentation layer on top of your current systems. By nature, IT departments and Business departments have a different heartbeat.
The Business wants to be agile
Adapt quickly to changing needs and trends where as IT department have another objective: making sure that everything works stable and secure. Rich Portal bridges these different heartbeats, because it enables quick changes and adaptations whilst securing the stability and fit within current IT-systems. This is all possible, because Rich Portal is loosely coupled to existing IT environments/build on top of existing IT environments.
Lots of E-business projects are already delayed before they start, because of difficult integrations with IT. Backbase ensures that Rich Portal can be quickly and easily coupled to IT systems, so you can start developing your own business portal right away.
Business Goals
Rich Portal will help you reach your business goals and objectives by accelerating your online customer experience, online conversion and loyalty, and innovation.
Backbase Rich Portal offers a fully personalized customer interaction environment, that integrates information and applications from multiple sources into a superior user experience. Users can personalize the portal by adding content and features, adjusting preferences, setting a theme and rearranging the layout. With Rich Portal you can truly empower your customers and significantly increase customer loyalty and retention.
Rich Portal can easily be customized with your corporate brand identity and will enhance your site with advanced rich media features such as "drag-&-drop", animations, form validation, context sensitive help, conditional lay-outs and real-time communication.
Not every user is the same, so why offer the same content to everyone? With Rich Portal you can use advanced segmentation and targeting technologies to deliver relevant content and features to your end-user. Based on user information, for instance demographics, previous purchases, or browsing behavior, you can target relevant products and promotions more effectively.
Give customers a voice, they want to discuss your product with peers, comment on it, give feedback, and share their insight with friends. They want to be heard, give recommendations, rating, and comments. Rich Portal delivers the voice to your customers.
With the use of pre-build self-service modules such as Rich Forms, Rich Forum, Knowledge Base, and co-Browse and Chat facilities customers will be empowered to organize their business online, at any time that is convenient for them.
Business departments often want to innovate faster then the organization allows them because of existing procedures, IT systems etc. Rich Portal is build on top of existing IT systems. This enables the 'business' to enroll Rich Portal quickly and to add a rich user experience to existing platforms instantly.
Business Solutions
Rich Portal can be applied in numerous manners, business models and industries. Here you will find some examples of how Rich Portal could be used.
An easy to use self service environment that enables customers to do business with you online more easily.
It offers a responsive user experience to get information (e.g. your online bill), and integrates existing applications for self service (e.g. address change).
Benefits: Increased retention due to superior user experience, and smart cross/up-selling opportunities with dynamic content & feature targeting.
Example: Retail banking portal, offering self service modules to view account information, to make online payments, to manage stock portfolio, to track news feeds, to request for new products or services, etcetera.
A B2B extranet that integrates a lot of existing applications and forms in a single personalized interface.
Users only login once, and can access all applications from the same interface.
Benefits: Increase partner loyalty and sales with an easy to use and highly personalized partner engagement platform.
Example: Extranet for an insurance company, where agents can find product information, online calculation modules and hundreds of application forms. With Rich Portal they can easily create a personal start page with the content, applications and web forms they use most frequently they can add relevant applications (when needed) and set preferences for each application.
Content can be selected from the gadget catalog, and the user decides where to position it.
Custom content can be combined with predefined channels offered by content providers.
Benefits: Increased engagement, because users can fully customize their page. They will set it as their browser's default start page.
Example: internet start pages like iGoogle or kpnvandaag
Enable knowledge sharing and collaboration between special interest groups (e.g. industry experts such as accountants, or human interest topics such as health).
Benefits: Connect experts, and offer interaction and collaboration between them.
Example: Knowledge and Network portal for all accountants, financial managers and CFo's to track the latest industry news, learn about new legislation and to network with industry peers.
Key Differentiators
Superior User Experience
Rich Portal enables personalization, rich user interface and customer-to-customer conversations.
E-Business results
Rich Portal is not just technology, it's a e-business solution designed to increase customer loyalty (retention) and maximize online conversion.
Mix & Match
Rich Portal is a based on a modern Web Oriented Architecture (WOA) that makes you completely free to mix & match any server-side development environment (e.g. Java, .NET, PHP).
Start today, Enhance tomorrow
With Rich Portal you first integrate existing content and applications in a single personalized interface. Next you enhance your portal step by step with low cost iterations, based on customer feedback and analytics.
Eliminate Complexity
Rich Portal uses basic Web technologies such as HTML and XML to achieve quick results. Forget about complex portlet protocols, server API's, legacy systems and "stone age" release cycles.
No Vendor Lock-in
Due to the open architecture the Rich Portal doesn't force you to use a proprietary suite of interconnected systems. Without vendor lock in you are free to integrate any system any time.
Don't go through a whole release cycle for only changing a text. Edit portal texts and gadget content directly from the editing interface. (beta)
You can easily manage the gadgets available for the user to select. Import a new gadget to the catalog, and make it available on certain pages for the user to select.
The portal editor manages the content and layout of the tabs. Drag gadgets from the catalog, arrange the layout, set preferences and publish it. Users can add pre-filled tabs to their portal, or you can push content directly.
Use Rich Portal technology to segment your customers based on online surveys and customer profiles. (beta)
If certain content or gadgets are only relevant to some customers, create rules based on customer segments or -profiles to target them. (beta)
Extend your targeting palette with dynamic content delivery. Portal content or content inside a gadget can be varied based on user targeting rules. (beta)
Besides segment targeting you can also reach your customers with behavioral targeting. Based on portal behavior you can enable gadgets, change content or offer specific recommendations. (beta)
Want to know how many users use a certain gadget, how often they use it, and where it is located? With usage reporting you get these facts within seconds.
A personalized start page contains mini applications and websites you selected, and recommends related content. You are in full control and can customize what is shown, and how it looks.
Built on top of the Backbase Client Framework the Rich Portal offers a usable and responsive interface. You can navigate tabs, select gadgets and define the layout with drag and drop, all without a single page refresh.
You can browse and search through hundreds of gadgets in the gadget selector. Preview the gadget of your choice, and add it to your page.
Easily add an RSS feed to your page with the RSS Wizard. Enter an rss feed url, and add the gadget to your page.
If you want to view a website directly under a tab, just add it with the Web Page Wizard.
You can select from a variety of pre-filled tabs, filled with information around a topic. An editor maintains a tab, so it always contains the latest content and gadgets.
Gadgets can be displayed in multiple columns, and you can position them yourself. If you would like to have a gadget in a different place, simply drag and drop it to the preferred location.
As your page grows you can use tabs to organize the gadgets. Simply add a new tab, and start adding gadgets to it. Tip: you can even drag gadgets between tabs.
You can choose from a variety of themes to personalize the look and feel of the portal. Pre-filled tabs can even have their own theme, for instance Sports or Entertainment.
Every gadget has preferences you can set from the gadget header. These preferences define the behavior of the gadget, for instance the number of articles shown or the way they are visualized.
Basic Internet search let's you search Google from within the portal. You can choose to view results in a portal tab, or inside a gadget.
For an even better user experience integrate your own search feature in the portal. Let users search your site, FAQ's and help texts without leaving the page. (beta)
Use the Google maps gadget to locate an address or plan a route, directly from the portal. In maximized view the map extends to fill the whole page.
Search and preview images from flickr easily in the portal.
Search and view youtube videos directly in the portal. Again the maximized view shows the video across the whole page.
Use the integrated chat to start a conversation with your customers, while they are browsing the portal. Assist them filling in a form, respond to questions or simply make them feel comfortable. (beta)
Give your customers a voice by adding a forum next to the actual content. Let them post questions, comments and feedback, directly in the portal. (beta)
Improve your site with social features, like comments, rating and polls. Get valuable product feedback, and use it to understand your customer's wishes. (beta)
Use intelligent forms to make filling in forms as easy as possible. Use interactive controls, rich help texts and validation to improve usability. Choose a wizard style to break up complex forms in simpler steps.
Use Rich Calculators to start an interactive dialogue with your customers. Based on a few simple questions engage them in a visually enriched product offer, with graphs and drag and drop interaction.
Functionality doesn't stop here; you can extend the portal with any gadget at any time. Choose from a set of existing gadgets, wrap existing pages and applications, or create your own gadgets with minimal effort.
The Rich Portal's client technology is built on top of the Backbase Enterprise Ajax Framework. It offers a responsive, flexible and robust user interface. All interaction is done instantly, without reloading the page.
The easy Web Oriented Architecture ensures that you can use basic Web technologies to create a portal. There is no need to learn new skills or specifications, and forget about complex portlet protocols, server API's and “Stone Age” release cycles.
The portal's gadget format extends the HTML standard with portal specific functionality. This means existing pages can be turned into a gadget without breaking standalone functionality, and any portal gadget can run outside the portal.
The portal is a real SOA consumer. Both the client and the server handle Web services natively. Now you can use your existing business processes directly in the portal.
Due to the Web Oriented Architecture you are complete free to mix & match any server-side development environment (e.g. Java, .NET, PHP). Rich Portal enables you to bridge different back-end technologies into a more integrated and seamless user experience.
Unlike most portal vendors, Rich Portal doesn't force you to use specific IT hard- and software. Use the hardware, operating system, web server, application server, database and Single Sign On solution you want.
User authentication and authorization is handled by the pluggable security service. It is possible to connect to any Single Sign On infrastructure.
Rich Portal integrates existing, distributed web applications in a single interface. Based on the user profile only relevant applications are shown, and the user only needs to login once.
The portal's main purpose is to provide access to existing content and applications, not to store content. That's why integration with ECM systems is key to the pluggable architecture.
If you need to integrate existing databases in the portal, automate all data operations between client and server with Data Services. Leave all the synchronization and authorization complexity to the framework, and instead focus on using it.
Due to the open architecture the management of pages and gadgets can be fully outsourced to an external WCM system.
Rich Portal is compatible with every major browser on the planet: Internet Explorer 6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+, Google Chrome 1+ and Opera 9+.
Why create a specification of your own, while you could use standards? That's why Rich Portal is built on top of W3C standards, like: Document Object Model, XML, XHTML, XPath, XML Schema, XSLT, XInclude and SMIL.
Business - FEATURES
Backbase Rich Portal offers business departments the opportunity to quickly adapt the content to changing market/consumer needs or campaigns.
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Easy Portal Editing
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Personalization & Targeting
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Reporting
End-User - FEATURES
Your customer will be enabled with an easy to use interface that facilitates personalization in look & feel, content and lay-out.
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Create your own start page
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Add content and applications
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Personalize your page
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Search & Find the right information
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Consume Multimedia Content
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Enable User Generated Content
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Use Rich Forms
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Open for extension
IT FEATURES
Rich Portal facilitates IT departments to quickly respond to needs from the organization by adding Rich Portal on top of current and existing systems.
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Web Oriented Architecture
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Integrate content and infrastructure
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Compatibility
FULL RICH PORTAL FEATURE OVERVIEW
This downloadable document will give you a full overview of all available Business, End-user and IT features in Rich Portal.
Business Solutions
Rich Portal can be applied in numerous manners, business models and industries. Here you will find some examples of how Rich Portal could be used.
An easy to use self service environment that enables customers to do business with you online more easily.
It offers a responsive user experience to get information (e.g. your online bill), and integrates existing applications for self service (e.g. address change).
Benefits: Increased retention due to superior user experience, and smart cross/up-selling opportunities with dynamic content & feature targeting.
Example: Retail banking portal, offering self service modules to view account information, to make online payments, to manage stock portfolio, to track news feeds, to request for new products or services, etcetera.
A B2B extranet that integrates a lot of existing applications and forms in a single personalized interface.
Users only login once, and can access all applications from the same interface.
Benefits: Increase partner loyalty and sales with an easy to use and highly personalized partner engagement platform.
Example: Extranet for an insurance company, where agents can find product information, online calculation modules and hundreds of application forms. With Rich Portal they can easily create a personal start page with the content, applications and web forms they use most frequently they can add relevant applications (when needed) and set preferences for each application.
Content can be selected from the gadget catalog, and the user decides where to position it.
Custom content can be combined with predefined channels offered by content providers.
Benefits: Increased engagement, because users can fully customize their page. They will set it as their browser’s default start page.
Example: internet start pages like iGoogle or kpnvandaag
Enable knowledge sharing and collaboration between special interest groups (e.g. industry experts such as accountants, or human interest topics such as health).
Benefits: Connect experts, and offer interaction and collaboration between them.
Example: Knowledge and Network portal for all accountants, financial managers and CFo's to track the latest industry news, learn about new legislation and to network with industry peers.
Technology Overview
This section highlights the technical benefits, the comparison with other Portal servers, technical features, package contents, compatibility and requirements, architecture and documentation of the Rich Portal.
IT Goals
With Rich Portal it's easy to unify existing (legacy) applications into one user interface. You don't have to redo your current systems, but can start by chopping them into so-called gadgets (mini applications) that can be presented inside Rich Portal. The easy to use gadget architecture only requires HTML skills and will enable you to launch your rich portal in an extreme short timeframe. Once you have your basic portal in place you can innovate quickly according to the changing needs of your customers.
flexibility to change
With Rich Portal you start by integrating existing content and applications in a single personalized interface. Next you enhance step by step with low cost iterations, based on customer feedback and analytics.
By using short and pragmatic cycles, based on the Backbase 'Build & Improve' architecture, you can quickly adjust to changing customer preferences or new business requirements.
Backbase Rich Portal is based on a modern Web Oriented Architecture (WOA) that utilizes lightweight web technologies such as HTML, HTTP and XML to achieve quick results. Forget about complex portlet protocols, server API's, legacy systems and “stone age” release cycles.
Due to the Web Oriented Architecture you are complete free to mix & match any server-side development environment (e.g. Java, .NET, PHP) and use it in the portal. Rich Portal enables you to bridge different back-end technologies into a more integrated and seamless user experience.
Due to its open architecture, Rich Portal doesn't force you to use a proprietary suite of interconnected systems. Rich Portal is completely based on open industry standards (XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, XSLT, Java, Spring) and is easy to learn. Without vendor lock in you are free to integrate any system any time.
Features
Rich Experience
The superior user experience differentiates Rich Portal from other portal products.
RIA experience
The client side technology, built on top of the Backbase Enterprise Ajax Framework, offers a responsive, flexible and robust user interface. All interaction is done instantly, without reloading the page.
Gadgets
The portal offers gadgets to integrate external web pages, execute a web- and video search, view news headlines, interact with maps, view photos and read news in the integrated RSS reader.
Personalize it
The user decides the content and look of his personalized environment. Gadgets can be dragged and dropped, and personal preferences can be set for each gadget. New content can easily be previewed, and added to the page.
Enhance existing applications
With Progressive HTML Enhancement technology you can enrich existing web applications with RIA functionality with minimum effort. Backbase software takes care of all the technical difficulties, while the developers can focus on functionality.
Branding
The portal can be fully skinned to create a complete brand experience. This includes the layout, style and animation, up to the smallest details. Two out of the box skins are included, and easy tools are provided to create and test your own skins.
Web Oriented Architecture
Rich Portal is based on a Web Oriented Architecture, takes full advantage of RIA technology and offers loosely coupled integration with back-end systems.
Client presentation technology
In the portal architecture the client is responsible for the presentation layer, while the server is responsible for business logic and data. The client software is built on top of the Backbase Enterprise Ajax Framework, that transforms any web browser into a high performing, rich presentation environment.
Separation of Concerns
The Rich Portal architecture allows for clear separation of concerns between client and server development. The Portal Framework handles all user interaction for an advanced portal experience, while the developer can focus on application development with known web technology.
Lightweight server
Because the presentation layer runs on the client the footprint for the server can be kept at a minimum. The server only needs to take care of core services like personalization, authentication and data access.
Use any language
You can build portal gadgets in your existing web application language, like PHP, .NET or JSP. You can start immediately, without learning a new programming language or a complex portlet specification.
Scalable
The Web Oriented Architecture ensures that each service can run on a dedicated set of servers, and can be scaled on demand. Gadgets can be deployed on any web- or application server fully independent from the portal server.
Compatibility and standards
The portal is fully built on W3C standards, and runs on 99% of all web browsers in use. Also almost any operating system, application server and database is supported. See the compatibility overview for more details
Integrate and Consume
The portal integrates very well with your existing resources and infrastructure:
Existing security infrastructure
The Access Manager, built on top of the Spring Security Framework, integrates with existing authorization providers to offer Single Sign On functionality in the portal.
Existing Web Applications
Rich Portal integrates existing, distributed web applications in a single interface.
Existing Web Pages
Your current pages can easily be integrated in the portal without the need to migrate them. On top of that existing web pages can easily be enhanced with portal specific functionality, without breaking standalone functionality.
Existing Content Repositories
The portal's main purpose is to integrate existing content and applications, not to store content. Access to and integration of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems is part of the portal's architecture.
Existing Web Services
Both the portal client and -server can use web services natively. This allows the integration of business services at any point in the portal.
Existing WCM systems
Due to the open architecture the management of pages and gadgets can be done by an external Web Content Management system.
Innovate quickly
The portal can be enhanced with minimum effort: gadget development is easy and you don't need to learn a new language.
Simplicity
The easy Web Oriented Architecture ensures that you only need basic Web technology to create a portal. There is no need to learn new skills or specifications, and forget about complex portlet protocols, server API’s and "Stone Age" release cycles.
Quick wins
The easiest way to add value is to wrap existing content and applications without any coding at all. Custom gadgets can be developed quickly with the XSL Transformation service, that transforms external data and enhances it with Backbase Client Framework technology. This reduces time to market and increases maintainability significantly.
HTML based gadget formalization
The portal's gadget formalization extends the HTML format with portal specific tags. This gives maximum flexibility, because existing pages can be turned into a gadget without breaking standalone functionality. Another advantage is that portal gadgets can run outside the portal without additional effort.
Why Backbase Rich Portal is different from other Portal Servers:
| Features | Java based Enterprise Portal | Rich Portal |
|---|---|---|
| User interface building blocks | Portlets are pluggable user interface software components that are managed and displayed in a web portal. They need to comply with Portlet Specification JSR168/JSR268. Interaction and managing of portlets is done via server API calls. | Gadgets are autonomous web applications integrated and displayed in the portal. They are web pages created in any server language, e.g. JSP, PHP, .NET, or just a simple HTML page. Interacting and managing gadgets is done through HTTP calls. |
| Portlet/gadget standard | Java portlets only (JSR168, JSR268) | HTML based gadgets |
| Presentation layer | Server side presentation layer, that requires frequent page refreshes. Usage of RIA technology is still limited. | Based on the Backbase Client Framework it offers a full client side presentation layer. With the Single Page Interface no page refreshes are required. |
| Federation of content from other portals | Typically through the use of WSRP or similar technologies. | By design the Rich Portal is based on a Web Oriented Architecture (WOA), and uses HTTP and plain XML as the most dynamic, scalable and interoperable approach for creating enterprise mashups. |
| Inter gadget/portlet communication | Server side | Both client and server side communication |
| Access rules | Specific types of content and services can be secured based on user profile | Portal Access Manager (Spring Security) is used to apply access rules on functionality and on content |
| End user personalization | Users can add items and position them on the page. Direct interaction by drag and drop is mostly limited, and only simple layout models are supported. | Users can add and move gadgets by drag and drop in the RIA interface. Complex layout models can be used, e.g. multi column span and fixed positioning. Each gadget can be personalized independently. |
| Branding | Skinning is often based on a simple configuration of colors and images. Skins can only be applied to a limited number of items, not the complete portal. | The portal can be fully branded: the layout, style and animation, up to the smallest details. Branding can be done on the page, tab and gadget level. |
| Development language | Portlets need to be developed in the portal server language: Java | Any server language that outputs HTML can be used, e.g.: PHP, .NET, JSP. Moreover different gadgets within the same rich portal implementation can use different technologies. |
| Portlet/gadget deployment | Portlets require a portlet container to run in, and thus need to be deployed to the portal server. | Gadgets are deployed to the application- or web server they are written for. They don’t need to be deployed to the portal server to run in the portal. |
Compatibility and requirements
| Feature | Compatibility / requirement |
|---|---|
| Supported OS | Portal Server: Anywhere Java runs Gadgets: Any platform |
| Browser Compatibility | IE6, IE7, FF2, FF3, Safari 3, Google Chrome 1.0, Opera 9. This covers 99% of your website visitors. |
| W3C standards compatibility | Compound Document Format, XML Base, XHTML, DOM Level 2 Core, DOM Level 3 Events, XML Schema, XPath 2.0, XSLT 1.0, XInclude, SMIL 2.1 |
| Application server compatibility | Any application server that supports the Java Servlet Specification 2.3 or higher, and JDK 1.4.x (starting with version 1.4.2) |
| Databases compatibility | Oracle 10g, MS SQL Server 2005, My SQL 5.1.30, H2 1.0.79 |
| Single Sign On compatibility | Based on the Spring Security Framework so any SSO Service can be used, e.g. LDAP or Sun Access Manager. |
Package Content
Client Software
- Backbase Enterprise Ajax Runtime 4.3.1
- Rich Protal Client Runtime
Services
- Personalization Manager
- Access Manager
- Data Services (Optional)
- Proxy Transform Cache
Server Software
- Rich Portal Server 4.0
Documentation
- Technical Overview
- Application Development Guide
- Services Documentation
- Reference
- Demos and Examples
Technical Overview documentation
The Backbase Rich Portal architecture combines loosely coupled client-side and server-side tiers with responsibility for presentation and services, respectively. For all this information and more, please download the full Portal Technical Overview
Demo:
Experience the Rich Portal by test-driving the demo.
Download PDF:
Read all information in detail about Rich Portal by downloading the following PDF's.
Read Rich Portal Articles:
Backbase blogs about customer engagement at www.customerengagement20.com. Relevant Portal articles are:
How Can I ?
- ... increase my Online Conversion ?
- ... give my customers a superior Experience ?
- ... enable web selfservice ?
- ... integrate multiple websites into one ?
How can I increase my Online Conversion ?
Personalization.
Users want to feel comfortable when visiting a website or internet application. It has to feel like home, where they can decide on the furniture, decoration and colors. A one-size-fits-all website just doesn't feel like home.
Improved retention.
It is important to retain customers at your website. A personalized interactive environment, where the user feels comfortable, gives them a feeling to come back.
Cross and upselling.
Based on user information, for instance demographics or interests, you can target related products and promotions more effectively. Instead of irrelevant product advertising the user receives an offer that really adds value.
Targeted content.
Sending a message that meets a customer's interest has a significant impact on conversion rate. It's much more effective than one-size-fits-all messaging.
Learn more about this topic in Business Benefits
How can I give my customers a superior experience ?
Rich Portal offers a fully personalized online environment based on Rich Internet Application (RIA) technology, that integrates information and applications into a superior user experience.
RIA experience.
Content and applications are integrated in a Rich Internet Application. The client side technology, built on top of the Backbase Enterprise Ajax Framework, offers a responsive, flexible and robust user interface. All interaction is done instantly, without reloading the page.
Themes.
The portal can be fully branded and skinned with multiple themes, and the user can select the theme he likes.
User experience.
To improve the user experience of a web site focus shifts from server side technology to client side RIA technology. Client side technology offers a responsive interface with instant results, so users don't want to wait for the page to update.
The user in control.
Users don't want boring, static pages anymore, they want to be in control of your website. Enhance your site with personalized recommendations, a custom skin, custom content, comments and ratings.
Learn more about the User Features in our Feature Tour.Personalize it.
The user decides the content and look of his personalized environment. Gadgets can be drag and dropped, and personal preferences can be set for each gadget. New content can easily be previewed, and added to the page.
Gadgets.
The portal offers gadgets to integrate external web pages, do a web- and video search, view news headlines, interact with maps, view photo's and read news in the integrated RSS reader.
How Can I enable web selfservice ?
To consume a highly effective self-service solution that clearly differentiates you from the competition you should allow your customer to Personalize & Customize your Apps, add pre-built gadgets to your Page and group gadgets in new tabs.
To facilitate all this, you could consider using the pre-built Rich Portal and go live in a couple of weeks. Your developers can be very productive, by enabling easy integration with existing WCM and Business Apps, re-use existing applications as gadgets, re-use existing webpages as gadgets and by using Rich Forms and Calculators in gadgets.
By using Rich Forms and Calculators you enable your customer to navigate through complex web forms easily; help them to prevent mistakes by offering real-time validation, context sensitive help, form pre-fill, etcetera. The customer will complete your forms easily and request more info or order your product (conversion).
By using Product Finder as a gadget you allow your customer to quickly filter your product range by selecting relevant product characteristics and get immediate results on the screen. Your customer will feel more confident to make a BUY decision.
By using Co-browse and Chat your customer can ask for real-time assistance via click to chat, click to call and co-browse. You can have a call center agent explain the functions of your website and to assist with filling in the form. Adding this feature you make your customer feel more confident about the choices they have to make and help them to BUY your product (conversion)
All of the above Self Service applications are easy to integrate into Rich Portal. Request an Expert Session to learn more how these applications are related to each other and to Rich Portal.
How can I integrate multiple websites into one ?
No complex implementation projects are needed. Just pick your current content and applications, and integrate them in a personalized experience. That's already a huge step forward!
- Install the software and configure defaults.
- Integrate the portal to your authorization service, so users can login with their existing credentials.
- Brand the complete look and feel of the portal to your needs. You can even style the way it animates.
Easily integrate your existing content, web applications, web services and security infrastructure.
- Existing security infrastructure. All logic for authentication and authorization is located in a single service, that is based on the Spring Security framework. It can easily be integrated with any Single Sign On infrastructure.
- Existing Applications. Rich Portal integrates existing, distributed web applications in a single interface. Based on the user profile only relevant applications are shown, and the user only needs to login once.
- Existing Web Pages can easily be integrated without the need to migrate content. On top of that existing web pages can easily be enhanced with portal specific functionality, without breaking standalone compatibility.
- Existing Content Repositories. The portal's main purpose is to provide access to existing content and applications, not to store content. That's why integration with ECM systems is key to the pluggable architecture.
- Existing Web Services can be called from both client and the server to integrate existing business services at any point in the portal.
- Existing WCM systems. Due to the open architecture the management of pages and gadgets can be fully outsourced to an external WCM system.
To learn more about the technical side of Rich Portal, please go to Technical Overview