Portal development services India

Setting Up E-commerce on Your Website

2009-10-29T21:52:00.001+05:30

By: Sherry Holub

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce the estimated total of e-commerce sales for 2005 was $86.3 billion, which is an increase of 24.6 percent over 2004. Overall business successes can sometimes hinge on that business' ability to accept transactions over the internet. In addition, the internet can help turn a local company into an international company and open up new avenues of business.

However, creating an e-commerce website does not automatically mean website sales. In a future article I will focus more on the aspects of actually operating an e-commerce website, but for now, I will cover the basics that will answer most questions for businesses who are considering the move to selling online.

First Steps

Let's assume that your business already has a professionally designed website. We usually ask new clients with existing websites who would like to start selling on the internet a series of questions to help determine the best solution for selling online:

Who is your target audience?

It is important to know who your customers are when taking into consideration the design of your e-commerce website.

What type of web hosting do you currently have?

The type of hosting can determine what type of programming is used on your website. Also, if you do not have sufficient resources to have an e-commerce website, then it is important to know this in advance so that we may suggest a suitable host for a client's needs.

How many products are you going to be selling?

Sometimes a client may only have a handful of products, in which case, a shopping cart (either pre-developed or custom) is not necessarily the best solution.

What type of special features would you like your shopping cart to have (example: coupons, affiliate program, downloadable goods, etc.)?

This is quite possibly the most important question because the answers to our special e-commerce website pre-development survey are usually the basis for understanding the specifics of a client's needs and for determining the price and time necessary to complete the project.

Explaining E-commerce

The next step in the process usually involves explaining to the client exactly how e-commerce works on the web. Below is a brief explanation of the technology behind the process and what is necessary to sell items on the internet.

The Process

Once a customer visits an e-commerce websites, adds product to their cart, and then clicks to check out, it official begins the transaction of the sale. Programming in the shopping cart enables the credit card information to be sent to what is called a payment gateway. The payment gateway's sole purpose is to offer a secure way to pass this information through the merchant account and on to the credit card processing bank. The processing bank sends the information to the customer's credit card issuer and the transaction is either approved or declined. From there, the results of the transaction are relayed back to the payment gateway where they are stored and sent to both the customer and merchant for verification. At this stage, the shopping cart usually issues a receipt to the customer and a notification of the order to the business.

A Merchant Account

The first thing a business needs in order to accept credit cards online is a merchant account. The merchant account is usually a business back account that is either set up through a Merchant Service Provider (for example, http://www.cardservice.com) or through your regular bank. When a transaction is approved on your website, the merchant account provider will deposit the funds in an account such as your business checking account.

A Payment Gateway

A payment gateway is the online terminal for encrypting and sending transaction information back and forth between your website, the merchant account and to the processing bank. One of the most popular gateways is http://www.authorize.net Most merchant account providers can also sell you a payment gateway.

A Secure Certificate (SSL)

A secure certificate is a necessity when running online transactions as it provides your customers with a secure webpage in order to enter their personal and credit card information before it is sent through the gateway. How can you tell you are on a secure order page? Simply look for a small lock symbol at the top of your browser next to the website address and https:// before the web address.

Shopping Cart Systems

Through discussing all of the details of a proposed e-commerce business website, we can help our clients determine what the best shopping cart solution is; whether it is a pre-developed cart, or a new custom programmed cart. We go through an extensive interview process to make sure each e-commerce solutions is custom tailored to the client's needs.

In Conclusion

I hope this information will be helpful to businesses that are just starting out with e-commerce, but remember, these are only the first initial steps to setting up your website to sell online. In a future article I will cover what happens after your internet store is "live", how you will be able to perform updates to your store on your own, and some tips on how to market your site and products more effectively.

Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Lead Designer and Creative Director at Southern California firm, JV Media Design. Sherry is also a member of the AIGA, the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), and Manchester Who's Who.

http://www.jvmediadesign.com

Article source: Expert Articles

.net dynamic web portal development by Developmentindia

2009-01-10T16:35:00.000+05:30

Dynamic websites / portals have gained importance over the static ones. But did you know that for designing and developing dynamic websites or web portal cutting edge technologies is used. The popular is .net.

.NET is basically software, which helps in connecting people, information, systems and devices. It is a blend of technologies, standards and various development tools. The Windows 2000 and XP completely support .NET. They help in integrating software available to the user.

In the world of Internet, .Net has gained popularity. This technology helps the e commerce business owner in focusing more on business logic. .NET makes it easier to develop dynamic web portals. It is widely to build, organize and direct secure, vigorous and high performing applications.

Some of the advantages of .NET dynamic web portal are:

• Simple to communicate between applications • One can upgrade the applications to use existing services again • Easier to distribute information to more customers • Quick development of application

Due to these features many web portals are developed using .NET. One can easily develop an interested advanced website. If you don't believe this then visit sites like MSN, Rediff, Yahoo, etc.

There sites will give visitors advanced convenient options, which are really helpful to them. Easily one can add new features like shopping cart, online ticket / hotel reservation facility without doing much. If you want the portal developed by using .net should be useful to many then with help of ASP.NET you can easily do so.

With the help of ASP.NET programmers can easily develop the multilingual application in less time. Hence if you are planning for a website or want to convert your static website into a dynamic one, just hire a developer who has the knowledge of ASP.NET. Surely they will take care of your needs.

About the Author

Web site design and web site development company www.developmentindia.com solutions@icreon.com + 91-9810045139

Web development services

2008-07-12T10:21:00.000+05:30

By: Aditya patel

The sections present resource on the fundamentals of web development as well as more higher resources on web program.

The Web Development resources focus on ASP, .NET (ASP/VB/C#) and PHP as server side programming languages.
We are serious about developing a successful Internet business, good-looking the time to educate our in such Web Development, Web Site Design, Internet Marketing, Promotion, Copywriting and Search Engine optimization are of the extreme of importance.
More than all factors we get first exactly of way must be on web site. If our web site doesn't look professional, in marketing and promotional efforts will be useless. While we may be developing a lot of traffic to our web site, if it is unsuccessfully planned and doesn't look professional, we will not possible to make any sales.

we are not confident in our skill to design a professional web site, it is highly optional that you purchase a web site template. A web site pattern is simply a pre-designed web page that will enable you to add your own text. We are very logically priced and will instantly give our site a professional look.
In adding to developing a professional web site, we must also know exactly what you will be selling and design your web site accordingly. This will contain developing our web site's theme, sales strategy, marketing strategy and promotional strategy. Every web development strategy will play an chief role in our success.

We greatly suggest visiting Template Monster to decide on up a highly qualified looking web site template. It will be well importance the small price, as it will save you a great deal of time and attempt.

This article has been offer consideration of web development services in www.websoftwareoutsourcing.com/ web site designing, B2B development , web software, B2c business in web development services more than 10 years.

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Quality Web Development

2008-07-10T10:20:00.000+05:30

By: Phil Smulian

Are you looking for a web development company that delivers quality web development and services? There are so many different web development companies out there. It can be hard and confusing trying to find the right one to get your job done. You are looking for a company, which can produce adaptable and eye-catching websites that are lasting, and trendy. You need a company that can help you with your chosen web design and make it appealing to your target market. The internet and your own research into the web design business is the answer for you, getting a recommendation from a family member or a friend, or searching the internet for web design companies, reviewing their past websites for customers is going to help you find the best web design company.

When you are looking for quality web development, you need to find a web design company which moves and changes according to modern technological advancement and knowledge. As further languages and programs are developed and introduced, you need to get services from your chosen company that will grow and adapt with new techniques and the latest software and platforms. Therefore, you need to find a market leading web design company that can tailor make a design and development solution to suit your individual needs.

Your chosen web development expert should be fluent in all the most up-to-date and adaptable online programming languages to ensure your website is found and used by your target market. Try to find a company that can meet your period and deliver quality work for an affordable amount of money. You may need to re-look at your corporate image; your chosen web design company should be able to help you come up with a new and effective corporate identity for your online business.

Ensure your web design company uses the top programs and techniques available to deliver and international standard of website design and development. Look for professional companies that are skilled in web development programs and tools such as .NET, CSS, ASP, HTML, Java-Script and more. Your chosen company should be able to handle all the necessary developing details to ensure you get a quality website that will make a successful and effective platform for an online business. Let the experts take your ideas and dreams and transcript them into an online reality where you can start seeing the benefits and growing your online business immediately. Choose your web development company carefully, taking time to research their experience and skills in the industry, and allow your online business to grow and become a profitable money-spinner for you.

Phil Smulian is a reviewer for a custom web design company who will help you with professional web development cape town, MediaVision Interactive.

Keywords: drupal content management system, drupal web development, drupal ecommerce

Web-Design Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

Web Development

2008-07-08T10:20:00.000+05:30

By: KSM Global Ltd

Professional web design has come a long way from the early days of the internet, from just putting together a few fancy images and text, to state of the art flash animations and highly advanced web applications. There is nothing that you can't do on the internet, from displaying high end corporate presentations to creating innovative e-commerce sites. Web development and web design have come a long way. To create a website is not difficult, but to make it look professional, and feature rich, is quite another thing. Professional web designer's today build websites from scratch and keep on working on them till the customer is satisfied.

The most common error most new comers to the world of website development make, is to confuse web design and web development. Both are interlinked but are completely different entities, and a company that offers web design does not always necessarily offer web development. The two aspects in creating a web site are listed below:

a) Web Design

Web design is related to the actual design of the web site, i.e. The colours, the images, the positioning of various elements like images etc. Web design is a more creative and an artistically influenced aspect of creating a web site. A well designed site does not necessarily mean its a well developed site, in fact this is the reason why most web development and web design companies, build all sites from scratch, there by insuring that design and development go hand in hand.

b) Web Development

Web development is almost exclusively related to programming of web sites, all successful dynamic sites (sites that have forms etc) and e-commerce sites are programmed or are developed. Web development involves using various programming languages like Java, .Net, Perl, Ruby on Rails etc. There are numerous technologies to choose from when one is having a web site developed. In fact a closer look at sites, and you will notice most sites actually have a footer that says 'designed and developed' by such a such company, thereby acknowledging both aspects of creating a website.

Once the basics difference between design and development is clear the next logical step in getting a web site created is, choosing a web development/ web design company. There are a lot of competent companies out there that can meet your requirements both for web development and web designing, so look around before you settle for any company.

Mark Preston is the author of this article and he is a qualified professional web developer and designerWeb programming. Find more information about Web programming here.

Keywords: drupal content management system, drupal web development, drupal ecommerce

Web-Design Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

custom web development company

2008-07-06T10:19:00.000+05:30

By: Rohit kapur

MAG studios is a leading custom web development company in India. It has perfected its delivery processes and aims to deliver value to its customers.MAG studios defines the expectations of the customers upfront and custom web development is taken up accordingly. The expectations are detailed in terms of quantifiable deliverables. MAG studios, as a leading custom development company in India, prepares a work plan with appropriate milestones and reports progress against these defined milestones

The primary objectives of MAG studios - as a leading web development company is to use this work as an entry point to take up further work and delivervalue to its customers.As custom web development company in India, MAG studios has perfected the process of working and delivering from the remote (offsite). This permits MAG studios to take up work in an offshore mode also and compete with others
who work in the onsite mode. Thus MAG studios is proud to say that as a leading custom web development company in India it has delivered number ofassignments in US with remarkable success.

As a leading custom web development company in India, MAG studios has prepared a template and has thus structured a highly creative and innovativeprocess This structuring helps MAG studios to deliver consistent quality work as a practice.MAG studios being the leading web development company in India has number of key differentiators. It offers the cost advantages of outsourcing in India,
the quality and consistency as a result of its matured processes and tangible value to its customers.

MAG studios is a leading custom web development company in India with a successful track record with number of overseas customers. Such a strategy has the following twofold benefits It permits MAG studios to fully involve the customer in the assignment.The risks are recognized upfront and risk mitigation strategies have the buy in of the customer.MAG studios undertakes the software development in an outsourced application development in India as per laid down and agreed software engineering practices. In cases where the customer has established practices, these engineering practices are followed. Alternately, the engineering practices are discussed upfront and agreed. Next, MAG studios compiles the agreed metrices and compares with the bench mark statistics.

Rohit Kapur is a high profile technical writer and E-Business Consulting consultant and tries his best to provide you latest information about various software development software development. Read more on Outsource Application Development

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Choosing a Web Development Framework

2008-07-04T10:19:00.000+05:30

By: Christine Anderssen

I recently had the opportunity to develop a small online booking system. This time round I was determined to make use of some development framework. Not for me the slow slog of writing all my code from scratch - surely we have moved beyond that now in web development?

The big question was - which framework to use? Since the advent of Ruby on Rails, development frameworks have become quite the flavour d'jour and there are now, well, maybe not thousands of them, but quite a few! The last time I heard there are about 80 development frameworks out there. I am not 100% user of this number, it could be a bit higher, it could be a bit more conservative (on this site you can find about 40 PHP frameworks listed - http://www.phpwact.org/php/mvc_frameworks). The point is, the web developer is now really spoilt for choice. Which is a problem in itself, since having too much choice can leave you dithering between different options.

This article is therefore about how I made my choice, which was CakePHP, and which factors I took into consideration.

Obviously and certainly I will get bombarded with "Why don't you try X framework, it is really much simpler to use..." type responses. That is quite OK, to each his own! But this is the choice I made and I am sticking to it. Frankly, the idea of going through another learning curve gives me the heeby-jeeby's....

I found that the selection criteria were not independent. In other words, once I've ruled out some frameworks due to some specific criteria, other factors came into play. It was therefore more a process of elimination than judging all the frameworks off a predefined set of criteria.

The first major selection point was: Ruby on Rails or not.

Obviously there is the attraction of using a brand new, hip, buzz-word hyped framework. You can't go wrong with something that is getting so much attention... or can you?

Let's look at some of the selection criteria that filtered out Ruby on Rails"

1. Ease of installation and ability to run on shared hosting
The problem is that most of my clients make use of a shared hosting environment. Can Ruby on Rails run on common-or garden variety type shared hosting? The answer was, I soon discovered - no. One needs to either have access your own private servers or run on a shared hosting environment that has Ruby on Rails pre-installed. Admittedly, there are a couple of them now starting up. A comprehensive list of hosting providers that offer Ruby On Rails hosting can be found on the RoR Wiki - http://wiki.rubyonrails.org/rails/pages/RailsWebHosts.

2. Minimize the learning curve
Even though I knew that any new framework will involve a steep learning curve, I really didn't have the guts to go through TWO learning curves - one for the language itself and one for the framework. I might still have been prepared to go through the learning curve though if it wasn't for the fact that RoR requires special hosting.

So basically the decision was: Not RoR. And based on criterion 2, I decided to stick to a PHP framework, and not go for something else based on Perl or something else since I've been developing in PHP for the past two, almost three years. Having said this, it is all very well to say that CakePHP allows you to use your PHP skills - because it is an object oriented framework/MVC based framework it has its own rich language infrastructure. You still need to learn the CakePHP terminology and the learning curve is pretty steep!

3. Ability to run on PHP 4
Although PHP 5 offers more object oriented features, once again, not all shared hosts offer PHP 5 out of the box. I decided that I wanted to stick to a framework that will offer backwards compatibility and enable me to run on most of the servers that I, as well as my clients, host on.

My further criteria came down to:

4. Must have good documentation
Under good documentation I count the following:
- User manual

- Examples and code snippets

- Screen casts and videos - although I do not see these as essential

5. Good support by the user community
This, in combination with formal documentation is absolutely essential. All of these frameworks are pretty young and the documentation is also constantly evolving. Some documentation might be patchy in details. This is where the user support in terms of the community comes in. How active are the forums? Is there a bug tracker? Any other informal tutorials, write-ups, comments, blogs and other support?

6. Regular upgrades and bug fixes
..but not so close to each other that the software becomes unstable and unusable. Backward compatibility is also important.
Version number of the software can be used to indicate maturity.

Working off the following list (http://www.phpit.net/article/ten-different-php-frameworks/) one can see that the list has narrowed down to the following frameworks:

- CakePHP

- Seagull Framework

- WACT - 'disqualified' since the latest version now requires PHP 5

- Zoop

- CodeIgniter

The next step was a bit less scientific - but still fitted in with point 5 - how well is this Framework regarded? How much support does it generate in the 'community'.

I scouted through forums and followed links and surfed the net and tried to get a general feel - and overall, CakePHP did seem to come out tops. A similar check that one can do is the following - do a Google search for each of the frameworks and see how many results are returned. This will give you a good idea of the general support, number of tutorials, number of forum posts and general 'talked about' factor for the specific framework. The results for this exercise can be seen here: http://www.tm4y.co.za/cakephp/ruby-on-rails-popularity-for-web-development.html

In summary therefore, the support for Ruby on Rails and the amount of information available for it is astounding and you will probably not go wrong if you decide to go this route. But if you want to stick with a PHP framework - CakePHP seems to be the route to go!

Christine Anderssen is the owner of Tailormade4you and specializes in Joomla, CakePHP and PHP/MYSQL Web Development to build cost effective website solutions for small to medium businesses. Visit us for free Joomla tutorials or read more about our specific Web Development services.

Keywords: Wholesale Jewelery, jewelery stores, wholesale products, wholesale retails

ECommerce Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

Web Development Process-Development Life Cycle

2008-07-02T10:18:00.000+05:30

Web Development process can also be classified into different development life cycle steps just like traditional software development process. Basically Web development is process of designing a website for World Wide Web using various programming and designing technology.

Web development includes six processes:

Analysis:

Study and analyze the exact requirements. This can be through emails, questionnaires, interactive sessions, etc. Analysis must cover all aspects including the existing web system as well as audience.

Specification and documentation:

Create system functionality document which perceive all the requirements of the client with all the minute details. It will create better understanding about the system to be developed. Also mention all the future requirements as well as all the costing details.

Design:

This process includes designing a small prototype or small working model. It covers activities directed towards the architecture of the system and function flow diagrams including detailed specification of the system. In this process there can be lot many suggestions from the customer and those changes should be noted down and should discussed and before moving onto the next phase.

Development:

Development phase transforms the detailed design and specification into actual product through various hard code programs. It includes the integration of source code, database files and content into a single module or product.

Testing and Deployment:

It includes testing the product or modules of the product through various testing process like load testing, cross-browser compatibility testing, resolution testing and integration testing. It also includes the validation of pages through w3c consortium. The finished product is deployed and functions are carried out through the system, which the system is supposed to do.

Marketing and Maintenance:

Marketing is a process which involves preparation of Meta tags, optimizing pages from various factors, submitting the website to different search engine. Maintenance is the important step of the whole process. It includes frequent updating of the web site to keep it fresh. Various bug fixes and errors will be done during maintenance phase.

The above mentioned all the steps are not fixed for web development process. It may vary according to the company's policy and strategy. But the Web Development process explained above is generally used by many companies in their development process.

Insider in the web development and its strategies.
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Japanese In Web Development

2008-07-01T10:16:00.000+05:30

The Japanese in Web development have mastered the art of delivering web designs appropriate to the target audience not needing numerous design changes. The Creative Methodology takes into account the feasibility of a design from business and technology standpoints, while maintaining the high-impact branded image you desire. With the Production Department's extensive expertise, your final solution is always in conformity with the original creative and strategy concept.

For customization and scalability, out-of-the-box solutions hardly address your image and technical needs. The Japanese web developers work with you to build customized applications that achieve your specific goals and are inter-operable with your existing applications. Their seasoned, cross-functional team is capable of working with any combination of operating environments (Windows or UNIX), server/client-side scripting languages and database management systems. Irrespective of your industry focus, the Japanese in web development can create the applications suitable for your target audience.

To make the most of your investment in web, it is important to drive and convert site traffic. With options galore to promote your site - from search engine placements and email marketing to affiliate programs and viral marketing, it is definitely difficult to choose the right one.

The Japanese in web development help you select the tools for maximum benefit. This is done by analyzing company-specific marketing objectives-if the goal is to build brand recognition, awareness or loyalty. The Japanese web developers break through the clutter and offer creative solutions to attract and maintain your target audience.

The Japanese in web development specialize in conducting rich-media; viral marketing campaigns which include tools designed for generating a "buzz" around your company's brand and get your business community to take notice of your offerings. They continue to support your requirements even after the brand is built and loyal customer following through our follow-up campaigns and email marketing.

The Japanese in web development help make your marketing more effective by assisting in identifying problem areas in business marketing by recommending appropriate courses of action through the power of internet. The specific needs and goals are identified by one or more of the categories: Building brand awareness, Creating/improving revenue streams, Boosting internal efficiencies, Cost reduction. This is followed by a rigorous analysis of your existing technology infrastructure and business model, setting success metrics, and defining your target audience. They will formulate a plan of action based on your company's implementation schedule, resources and budgetary concerns.

Tom is a well known author who writes articles on web design and development. For more details, please visit the site www.web-design.nr10.com.

Keywords: drupal content management system, drupal web development, drupal ecommerce

Web-Design Article Source: http://www.eArticlesOnline.com

Web Portal Development Functions

2008-06-24T07:56:00.001+05:30

What are the Major Functions of Portals?

The ideal portal is based on following functionality areas:

- search and navigation

- personalization

- notification

- task management and workflow

- collaboration and groupware

Although most of the functionality is not new, what is new is the idea that the business value of the whole is considerably more than the sum of its parts. Thus, a successful portal does not only consist of either a good collaboration support or a good integration of the information sources. Rather it consists of - just like a successful cooking recipe - a well-integrated mixture of the basic portal functionalities.

Search and Navigation

This functionality forms the basis for most of the successful public web portals meaning that a successful portal should support its users in an efficient search for contents.

A portal should:

- automatically present its users with the information appropriate to the user’s role

- suggest additional information to the user, and/or allow the user to voluntarily personalize the information presented by the portal

- allow the user to search for information that was not previously known to be relevant to the user’s role, but which may be available through the portal.

Provide Personalization

Personalization is vital to the delivery of appropriate information to portal users: each user gets only the information which is specifically tailored to his/her needs. Personalization should be based on user roles, as well as user preferences.

There are several types of personalization:

- Personalization of navigation

e.g. shortcuts to specific information, mostly known as bookmarks or favorites

- Personalization of data/content

e.g. which stocks do I want to see in my stock ticker

- Personalization of layout

e.g. what information appears where on the screen, in which format, color or size.

An important high-level distinction exists between:

- Design personalization

the initial appearance of the portal, which may be ‘pre-personalized’ according to the user’s role

- Voluntary personalization

where the user is offered a menu of personalization options to choose from

- Involuntary personalization

where the system itself unilaterally makes decisions for the user according to ‘guesses’ about user preferences.

On a Web site, personalization is the process of tailoring pages to individual users' characteristics or preferences. Commonly used to enhance customer service or e-commerce sales, personalization is sometimes referred to as one-to-one marketing; because the enterprise’s Web page is tailored to specifically target each individual consumer. Personalization is a means of meeting the customer’s needs more effectively and efficiently, making interactions faster and easier and, consequently, increasing customer satisfaction and the likelihood of repeat visits.

Provide Notification

Notification (push technology) is referred to as a system in which a user receives information automatically from a network server. Push technologies are designed to send information and software directly to a user’s desktop without the user actively requesting it. Thus, the user has the opportunity to subscribe to active information sources (such as news feeds and periodically updated reports) and ask to be alerted when documents are updated.

Provide Task Management and Workflow

Portals providing task management services can help users take part in and/or manage formally defined business processes.

The workflow functionality allows the automation of business processes. Thus, as part of a workflow-automated business process, a portal should be able to prompt its users when they have tasks to perform.
E.g. Digite Application.

Provide Collaboration and Groupware

Knowledge management and groupware ensure that the required information is stored in the right place and in the right mode. By this means the right persons are brought together with the right information. Groupware software assists in less formal collaboration than workflow tools. As with workflow automation, groupware increases the value delivered by many types of specialized portals; for example, it:
- increases the attractiveness of business-to-consumer e-commerce portals

- enables informal communication between suppliers and customers in business-to-business e-commerce portals.

Supply chain portals are also dependent on collaboration support in order to help suppliers and their customers manage their relationships. Moreover, collaboration support is a key requirement for knowledge portals.

Business Case ROI Intranet Portal Development

2008-06-16T06:51:00.001+05:30

The days of easy money are over

In these post-dot-com days of the 21st Century, the hype attached to IT is well and truly over. The modern Board is deeply suspicious of large IT projects with questionable benefits and a long-term payback period.

The good news is that a world-class portal implementation has the power to completely transform your organisation and touch everyone, from the office of your CEO to the lady in the canteen.

First a little on Costs

Sorry, but the cost of the software is only a relatively small part of the overall bill; with other major costs in hardware, process change and integration activities. Your first (and major) portal project is (in terms of cost) more an infrastructure investment than it is an application.
As a rough rule of thumb (for a user base >10,000), budget for £250 per desktop to put in the essentials (including portal and content management solutions). If you are also integrating to (and exposing) your ERP or CRM systems, add £150.

Direct Benefits

Based on my experience, Direct Benefits (those that you can directly bake into line budgets and make an individual directorate accountable for realising) are only 20-25% of the total prize and will not generally cover the portal implementation costs by themselves. Direct benefits include reduced printing and distribution costs, decommissioning legacy intranets and FTE savings in operational areas (including IT development & support, Finance & Procurement ledger processing and HR employee services).

Soft Benefits include improved employee satisfaction, better communication and corporate belonging, the importance of which should not be under-estimated in your business case. After all, there is always an emotional, as well as a rational, reason for every purchasing decision.However, the bulk of portal benefits are Indirect Benefits, where time saved in line areas leads to (for example) reduced call times in call centres, higher sales, faster time to market for new products, fewer failed projects and so on. Benefits realisation is the issue with such benefits. After all, you can't fire 10 minutes of a person a day! The time they have saved is real - ultimately saving cost and driving sales - but it cannot be readily tracked to either.

Making the Business Case: A 10 Step Approach

In the business case chapter of my (free to access) Intranet Portal Guide, I outline a 10 step approach to making the portal business case.

1) Seek External Legitimacy:

Consider using a leading consulting firm to lend weight to the business case. They can bring with them experience (from having done it before elsewhere), a knowledgebase (of facts and figures about the benefits other companies have achieved) and a fresh perspective on your organisation, valued by executives.

2) Benchmark other Organisations:

I have included in my guide details of public-domain benefit claims from early UK & US portal adopters, including British Airways, BP, Ford Motors Company, IBM, Bell South, Dow, Cisco and BT. Showing your Board that others have delivered real benefits lessens the feeling that their decision is a ‘leap of faith’.

3) Collect Hard Metrics:

Direct benefits may be only 15-25% of your total benefits, so work hard to identify savings in Intranet & Collaborative decommissioning; Print, Postage & Distribution Costs, Processing Manpower reductions; and Third Party expenditure savings.

4) Use a Comprehensive Time Survey:

In my guide, I suggest that you survey several hundred (representative) users to establish how much time per day they expect to save by using key portal functionality. This will help you to put a financial value on indirect benefits. I outline 10 sample questions and provide benchmark results you could expect to see.

5) Build a Wall of Benefits:

When you are trying to build an ROI based on indirect benefits, you can expect those benefits to be challenged vigorously. By having literally hundreds of individual line items and a big overall total, you improve your chances of surviving the Finance ‘Red Pen’. In my guide, I outline 101 benefit ideas to get you going.

6) Link to the Strategic Agenda:

Tie the investment closely to the Strategic Agenda of your organisation. If there is another key initiative currently grabbing all the attention at board level (e.g. CRM or ERP) then make sure your portal case complements, or ideally completes, that strategic picture. Use camouflage if necessary, as all is fair in love and war!

7) Identify 2-3 Killer Apps:

That will focus the attention (and support) of key sponsors. Look for win-win apps, where the user loves using them but the provider department also extracts key benefits. For example, a self-service HR application where the employee can keep their details up-to-date easily and the company can reduce employee service heads.

8) Use a Cost Avoidance Argument:

Your investment will reduce future project costs. After all, a portal is essentially a free infrastructure, a free user interface, a free user client with pre-built security & authentication and a free development framework. HP and others have saved up to 20% on development costs, post-implementation. You could too, so raid the budgets of other approved projects!

9) Consider Larger Scope:

Could you make your case if you include internet and extranet in scope? An extranet allows you to securely expose part of your intranet to selected third parties, including B2B customers, suppliers, regulators and government agencies. The incremental cost is quite low, once your intranet platform is there, but the benefits can be large!

10) Use Innovative Phasing:

Most companies budget on an annual cycle and are under huge pressure from investors to deliver short-term profitability. The bitter pill of portal costs might be easier to swallow if you spread the implementation over a two-year period.

Conclusions

Making the business case for a corporate Intranet Portal will not be easy. You will need all your reserves of patience, cunning and good old-fashioned hard work. Good luck and don’t forget to check my guide for more detail, help and tools.

About the Author

David Viney (david@viney.com) is the author of the Intranet Portal Guide; 31 pages of advice, tools and downloads covering the period before, during and after an Intranet Portal implementation.Read the guide at http://www.viney.com/DFV/intranet_portal_guide or the Intranet Watch Blog at http://www.viney.com/intranet_watch.

Online Casino Gambling Portal Development

2008-06-14T06:46:00.001+05:30

One of the most imformative and up to date avenues for the latest in online gambling is Cyberspace Gambling. This site is a top notch gambling guide covering the best online casinos, casino games, news, promotions, casino bonuses, jokes and much more. Serious gamblers and novices alike will find a wealth of information, not just a lot of advertisements for run of the mill online casinos.

You'll find full casino reviews complete with all the information you need to pick a quality online casino based on the software platform, the deposit and withdrawal options, game selection and the bonuses offered. Each casino has been thoroughly checked out and has passed a strict criteria for honesty, integrity and game fairness.

Locating the best online casinos is not always as simple as just using the search engines. Your best bet is to use the advice of experts who have first hand knowledge and experience, such as Cyberspace http://Gambling.com, who have researched online casinos extensively and played in these casinos and are able to evaluate what the casinos have to offer.

Here are a few suggestions that players should keep in mind when deciding where to play. We suggest that you look for a casino that uses one of the leading casino softwares. There are a lot of really good casinos out there, that have great graphics, smooth playing games, high payout percentages and most importantly, security. As a consumer, you look for quality in purchases in everyday life, it only makes sense to go with the best quality in casinos too.

Next, is to check out the games available at the casinos. Many offer more than 100 games and some even offer more than 200 games. The casinos listed here have unrivaled game selections that offer all the traditional casino games plus a huge variety of new games as well. The payouts of these casinos' games rival and more often than not, beat the odds you'd find in a land based casino. The casinos that you'll see on this website all offer the best of the best and have a huge and loyal following of players from around the world.

Each casino also allows it's players a wide assortment of deposit options to choose from. Depending on the country you live in and your financial preferences, you can select with confidence from among e-Wallet, bank debiting, prepaid credit cards, credit cards and dozens of other methods, many of which will suit your personal needs. With so many banking choices to select from, you're assured of being able to deposit funds into your casino account and withdraw your winnings with just as much ease.

The best online casinos offer some of the most generous bonus programs out there. These are designed to enhance and extend your playing time as well as you reward you for being a loyal player at the casino.

Safety and security are the top priority at a great casino and all measures available are taken to make sure you and your money are safe 100% of the time. All of your personal and financial information is kept private and safe with every transaction.

choose reliable web development company

2008-05-30T16:49:00.001+05:30

Once you decide that your company requires an Online presence, you begin searching for a web development company that can work on the construction of your website. Searching for a good and qualified web development company is quite a tough task as it is extremely important that your web designing firm be trained, skilled and most importantly must understand the need of your business.

To begin with your search for a good web site development firm, you can take the help of the search engines. Search for web development companies that are expert in their work and most importantly have a great clientÃ¨le. The worth of a good company can only be judged by the client they support. If a firm has big corporates in their client lists, that have impressive Online projects too, you know that the company is professional and skilled in their field too.

If you do not really rely on the companies that appear in the search results, or are unable to find a suitable company to design your website, the next best option is to ask friends. When in doubt about something, word of mouth suggestions always make it easier to decide. Float the message in your circle that you are looking for a good web development company. Your friends will automatically come up with suggestions and recommendations making your job simpler.

Once you have found your web development firm, the first thing you need to discuss with them is their rates. A professional website development company will not hesitate to place their quotation in front of you before they begin discussing the project with you. Do a good survey of the market rates, ask a few people who have got their websites constructed about the rates and services that they received, before to hand over your website project to them.

Your website is your virtual business place. Hence it should have features and facilities that you desire it to contain. Before discussing your website project with the designing company, sit with your team and chalk out a frame work of how you wish to have your website. What are the features that you require and the pages that you need to include.

In order to create an excellent website, it is important that your web development company understands your project requirement. It is only then, that they will be able to create a website where your thoughts and ideas will rightly be projected in the website design and the applications that are developed in the site.

e-commerce portal designing development

2008-05-30T10:47:00.000+05:30

In the last 5-8 years, ecommerce has become a household term. With its growing popularity, there is some confusion as to what eCommerce means. Does it mean an online form? Is an online registration a part of ecommerce? Or does it only mean payment of money online?

Ecommerce or electronic commerce is the transaction of business over the internet. It features electronic transactions and the transfer of rights or ownership to use a service or some goods. If you've ever booked a ticket online, or bought a book from Amazon or rented a DVD through the internet, you already know how a transaction progresses online.

The first component of an ecommerce transaction is the ecommerce website. Ecommerce websites act as virtual storefronts. This is where the customer 'sees' the product they are going to buy. Virtual storefronts are more complicated that ordinary website designs because they contain a number of ecommerce tools built into them. Some examples would be the ability to add items to your wish list, leave a review, ask questions or calculate the price.

When it was started way back in the 90's, ecommerce was extremely expensive and vendors often had to pay through their teeth for customized solutions. Today, that is no longer the case. A large number of sophisticated hosting providers offer turnkey solutions to vendors. Vendors can select the features they want, pay only for what the need and run highly successful businesses online even without knowing a single line of code, thanks to these services.

Today, ecommerce solutions come as a package. How sophisticated and detailed your package is depends on your service provider. Some offer low cost packages, where you have to design the storefront and plug the shopping cart into the design. More sophisticated service providers offer you a compete solution, with an appealing website and a seamlessly working backend. This helps you extend a pleasant shopping experience to your client. Such services offer you state-of-the-art templates, user-friendly shopping carts, quick and easy checkout and instantaneous results. This will make your customers shop with you again and again.

Before you select a service, check out whether the ecommerce website design they offer you is unique. You do not want to look like a carbon copy of your competitor. Also check out if the design can grow with your changing needs, so you don't have to change providers as your needs grow. That is why it is important to select a service provider who offers services like a free upgrade or 24/7 support.

Your website is the first point of contact between you and your clients. It is therefore necessary that the site looks professional, with clear navigational links and all the necessary whistles and bells that go towards making a rich and satisfying shopping experience. A reliable and cost effective service provider can help you get your sophisticated virtual store up and running in less than a day, even if you don't know the first thing about website designing or coding.

competition drupal joomla portal development

2008-05-30T02:01:00.000+05:30

There has already been a lot of comparison between Drupal or Joomla, but below are some thoughts from me which might give you a different idea about them.

1) Active Level of the Community

Both of Drupal and Joomla are open source applications. How active their community are will directly determine the future of the product. A lot of people are arguing about their features, performance, etc. But from my perspective, it's ok to me that the system is not power enough, design is not good if there are a lot of people are involved in the community. As a nature of open source application, the issues will be resolved by someone you don't know sooner or later.

So, in terms of community, I would like say Joomla is better than Drupal. And a lot of people are contributing to Joomla from framework development to extension development. What attract me most is that there are a lot of free and excellent templates you can use in Joomla.

2) Development Plan

For development plan, I think Joomla have a better control than Drupal does. When Joomla release its 1.5 version, a lot of people in the community starts creating the component/plugin/template/module in the new platform. And the whole development team manage there progress properly to make sure V 1.5 can be a good version for the customers to use. But for Drupal, when their developer just are done with V6.1, and many core modules still haven't been built by the community, which might block of usage of the system, they have started the development work of V7. It might look more aggressive, but from the promotion perspective, this is really not a good strategy.

3) Speed

This is what Drupal strong at. Even thought people argue if we turn on the cache, the speed of Joomla is close to Drupa, I still would like to give my vote to Drupal. My Drupal site with more than 700 articles and can show up very quickly. And Joomla site is a little bit slower.

Overall, Joomla is more popular and has been the first choice for a lot of people, especially for those who don't have a good web design knowledge. And for Drupal, it is the favorite choice of the developers who have the php background, a Drupal site will make them feel different and more technical.

Low budget for portal templates designing

2008-05-29T23:00:00.001+05:30

Web templates are an inexpensive way to start up a website. They reduce a lot of expenditure on the part of a new business owner. Both small and medium sized businesses make use of these templates for web design to keep their budget under control. Even non-technical persons can easily customize these templates. Thus, it saves the high cost of availing the services of a web designer for creating custom made website design.

You can easily find web design templates on the Internet. A simple search will give you hundreds of results on website templates. Some offer free web templates while some charge a nominal fee for the same. After all, you are looking for website templates because you need a good running website in a short time without incurring much investment costs.

You can get free as well as paid web design templates at Template Kingdom. The most interesting aspect of using website templates is that a single template can be used again and again. Just customize the text and other design elements according to your requirements and you are ready to go. Web templates are a great option for those who do not wish to go through the hassles of hiring a designer. You can save a lot of time that you would have spent on explaining your requirements to the designer.

In some cases, while starting a business it may be important for you to keep your budget under control and hiring a designer could be beyond your means. Web design templates would come to your rescue in such situations. You can download any website template of your choice from Template Kingdom. It has a wide variety of web templates for sale under different categories. This is because different areas of business require web designs that fulfill their specific business needs.

After downloading a design template from the website, you can easily customize it to go with your company's image. With a little bit of technical knowledge you can easily customize it yourself. If some complex changes are needed, then the technical support team at Template Kingdom can help you out. They charge very reasonable rates, as they aim to provide good services in a cost effective way.

The web design templates offered by Template Kingdom are all designed by web designers having years of experience in the field. Thus, website templates you get here provide you excellent designs that are required for your area of business. A website selling flowers will surely be different from a travel related website. And a website design that is devoted to music will definitely not work for a website that is all about cars. If you are not sure which type of website template will suit your business, you can take the help of the technical support team at Template Kingdom.

Web design templates would be of great use to your business, if simple design solutions were what you are looking for. When fast solutions are the topmost priority, a ready-made website template is what you need.