Pitfall 3: Creating a portal that workers like, but executives (the people who provide funding) see no value in--caused by failure to align to business objectives. While the portal may ease some daily hassles, it does not address any of the critical issues with which the company is struggling.
Pitfall 4: Having a portal project eliminated in last-minute budget cuts--caused by the inability to prove, articulate, or even estimate the value of the portal vs. the significant monetary and human resources needed to implement it.
Pitfall 5: Having disagreement among groups regarding portal success. Without clear goals, determining whether a portal is a "success" after implementation is impossible.
How to avoid: Determine business drivers and expected benefits before implementation. Tying portal projects to business drivers is the best way to align a horizontal portal with business goals and objectives. Determining benefits (including calculating ROI) helps justify the portal project and sets up measurements that must be put in place. The ROI process should yield a set of key performance indicators and a baseline that enables monitoring of portal impact.
