Oracle releases 2nd portal product
As we reported in August, Oracle has now released a new portal product called Oracle WebCenter Suite (OWS). While the press release mentions Web 2.0 and some vague feature highlights, an online FAQ (PDF) offers a few more helpful details. OWS seems focused on serving as a development platform for enterprise integration, where the existing Oracle Portal product emphasizes self-service and enterprise intranet scenarios. As readers of the Enterprise Portals Report know, competing vendor BEA has offered 2 different portal products for some time. What we are seeing here is a kind of bifurcation in the portal marketplace between "dashboard" servers that expose legacy applications, versus "integration" platforms. Meanwhile, although Oracle touts services oriented architectures, both their portal products run exclusively on Oracle software. As with BEA, buyers should look carefully at product roadmaps before embarking on serious portal projects.