An effective Portal Strategy connects the focus and purpose of the portal to the most important goals and objectives of the business, postulating value propositions for the portal that are in acute alignment with the priorities of the business. It crafts a view of the portal as a business solution, establishing direction and defining themes for the portal based on these business objectives that are synthesized with portal best practices. By being explicit about the value propositions for the portal, our portal strategies effectively "connect the dots" from business needs to desired portal outcomes.

LDS' protocol for compiling a portal strategy comprises three sequential phases: Discovery, Synthesis, and Validation with Socialization. Using this approach, we consider the strategic business landscape, understand the strategic direction of IT, factor an early voice-of-the-user perspective, and bring "outside-in" portal strategy best practices to bear.

Our focus in portal strategy is always forward-looking — applying ideas and innovation relevant to the direction of the business and considerate of the user environment — to create a vision of the "to be" portal that is aligned, achievable, and a workplace of the future.

Value

LDS' Portal Strategy services create immediate and enduring value that is realized throughout the lifecycle of the portal by enabling organizations to:

• Establish a clear line of sight between business needs and objectives, and portal themes
• Ensure and enable stakeholder alignment and consensus to drive decisions and resources
• Address user needs, expectations and priorities to establish and sustain adoption
• Define a rational basis for project planning, prioritizing and funding
• Determine which portal features and functionality deliver the highest value.

Duration

8-12 weeks

Deliverables

Deliverables associated with LDS' Portal Strategy services typically include the following:

• Portal Strategy and Recommendations, which include assessment results, portal value propositions, portal vision, logical models, and initial solution requirements
• Visualizations, which illustrate the recommended future-state solution
• Scope of Release 1, which describes the preliminary bounds for the next release of the portal
• Strategic and Operational Governance Considerations, an early view of considerations from our Strategic Governance Planning services and Operational Governance Planning and Design services
• Deployment and Migration Approach, a Migration Planning and Execution Business Impact Service.

Investment

Please contact John Fee, LDS VP of Business Development, for more information.