Whether a company has adapted a portal infrastructure or is just combining multiple software applications into a B2B solution, the communication processes must be unified into a single interface. Even one disconnected communications channel could hold the key to a set of critical transactions that renders the archive ineffective. Eprocess is a vital component of the enterprise information portal (EIP) architecture, one that allows for the ad hoc creation of communities and contextual collaboration around any information resource in the portal. E-process:

» facilitates efficient communication and project management among teams and disparate organizations;

» encourages ‘‘contextual collaboration’’ or ad hoc team communication around specific data sources; and

» is the means of defining, illustrating, and managing the complex interactions between the players.

E-process adds another significant dimension to enterprise portal functionality. It enables workers to collaborate in real time on solving a problem or creating a deliverable. In these cases, integration with strategic business processes is critical. E-process accomplishes this through collaborative workflows, categorized knowledge resources, and linkages to transactional systems.

This ability to collaborate in order to discuss and analyze information from disparate sources makes the potential of any enterprise portal solution more easily realized, allowing teams and individuals to use knowledge and information to improve the performance of a business function and, thus, the overall performance of the business itself. E-process is not a shrink-wrapped, one-size-fits-all commercial product; it is something a company must build to mirror exactly its way of doing business. It is an indispensable corporate asset and a competitive advantage.

To cultivate and grow these assets and competitive advantages, a company must re-orientate its formal and controlled culture to one that is more flexible, responsive, and cooperative. Work should become more focused on processes and less on tasks. Management must concentrate more on building functional teams and less on departments.

Companies need to grasp and implement efficient process controls; implementations need to pull together all the separate pieces of the process jigsaw that often contains people, information, and technology, and manage the pieces in a measurable and repeatable manner.