The development of unified portals can be traced back to the early 1990s, when businesses and organizations began to realize that information technology could be used to integrate and manage various disparate applications and services. With the popularization of the Internet and the rise of Web 2.0 technology, the development of unified portal is accelerating rapidly.
In the early days, the unified portal was mainly realized by custom development, that is, by writing custom codes and scripts, various applications and services were integrated into a unified web interface. Although this method can achieve a high degree of customization and integration, the development cycle is long, the cost is high, and the maintenance is difficult.
With the development of open source technology and standardized protocols, the unified portal began to be implemented based on open source platforms and standardized protocols. For example, use open source platforms such as Liferay, Drupal, and WordPress to realize the integration of various applications and services through protocols such as Web Services, RESTful API, and OAuth. This method has the advantages of short development cycle, low cost, easy maintenance, and good scalability.
The Necessity and Value of a Unified Portal
In layman's terms, a unified portal refers to a single portal that integrates multiple applications and services. It allows users to access various information resources, tools and applications they need through a login authentication interface without having to authenticate again or switch to other applications.
A unified portal is usually created to solve the problem of information silos within an enterprise or organization. Many organizations have many different applications and services, often with their own independent login authentication and user interface. Such scattered information and services may be inconvenient for users, and it will also lead to the problem of information islands.
Some common external unified portals:
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Government portals : The governments of many countries and regions provide external portal websites, which usually include government department information, public services, policies and regulations, data statistics, etc. For example, the Chinese government portal is www.gov.cn, and the US government portal is www.usa.gov.
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School Portal : Many universities and colleges provide external portal websites, which usually include school admissions information, course information, campus news, academic research, etc. For example, the portal website of Harvard University is www.harvard.edu, and the portal website of Peking University is www.pku.edu.cn.
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Enterprise portal : Many enterprises also provide external portal websites, which usually include enterprise product information, service information, recruitment information, etc. For example, Apple's corporate portal is www.apple.com, and Amazon's corporate portal is www.amazon.com.
For enterprises, the external unified portal has a lot of business value, including the following aspects:
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Improve customer satisfaction : Enterprises can improve customer experience and satisfaction through the one-stop service provided by the portal website, thereby increasing customer loyalty and business volume.
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Reduce operating costs : Enterprises can reduce labor costs and operating costs while improving work efficiency through the self-service and online transactions provided by the portal.
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Increase sales revenue : Enterprises can increase sales revenue and market share through online sales and promotional activities provided by the portal.
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Improve information dissemination : Enterprises can disseminate corporate information and brand image in a timely manner through news, announcements and social media provided by the portal website, thereby increasing brand awareness and reputation.
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Strengthen business management : Enterprises can strengthen business management and decision support through various management tools and data analysis provided by the portal website, and improve enterprise efficiency and competitiveness.
Small program technology brings new ideas to the construction of unified portal
With the development of small program technology, the function of the unified portal has a broader imagination space.
Let’s talk about the mini-program ecology first : since the WeChat mini-program was officially launched in 2017, it has rapidly become an important ecosystem in China’s mobile Internet industry. As of the end of 2021, the monthly active users of WeChat Mini Programs have exceeded 120 million, covering various industry application scenarios such as e-commerce, finance, medical care, education, tourism, and travel. The WeChat mini-program ecosystem is also constantly improving, providing developers with a wealth of development tools, templates, and open source components and other resources.
Let’s talk about small program technology : Compared with traditional native application development technology, small program technology has the advantages of light weight, rapid development, cross-platform, no installation, and more user-friendly. Mini programs can be used without downloading and installing by users. At the same time, the development cost of mini programs is relatively lower, the development speed is faster, and it is easier to maintain and update. The applet technology also supports cross-platform operation and can run on multiple mobile devices at the same time, which greatly expands the coverage of applications and brings greater commercial value to enterprises and developers. Some of the more well-known small program container technology products on the market include: WeChat, Alipay, Baidu, Douyin small programs, etc., all of which are based on the technology base to improve the small program ecology of the big social platform, and can provide third parties for privatization deployment There are: FinClip , mPaaS and other products. It is understood that the small program container technology independently developed by FinClip can enable enterprises’ apps to have the ability to quickly run small programs, and their SDK can also be embedded in functional device terminals other than apps (such as Linux, Windows, MacOS, Kirin and other operating systems).
There is a good combination between the small program container and the construction of the enterprise unified portal, which can realize the combination of the following aspects:
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Provide more channels : By publishing the enterprise unified portal in the applet container, the service and content of the enterprise can be extended to more mobile end users, providing more convenient channels and better user experience.
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Enhanced interaction and user participation : A variety of social functions can be integrated in the Mini Program container, such as circle of friends, comments, likes, etc., which can enhance the user's sense of participation and interaction, thereby improving user stickiness and loyalty.
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Realize online transaction and payment : The mini program container integrates various payment methods such as WeChat payment, which can realize online transaction and payment functions, and bring more sales opportunities and revenue sources for enterprises.
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Provide customized services : Through user data analysis and recommendation algorithms in the mini-program container, users can be provided with more personalized services and recommendations, thereby enhancing user satisfaction and loyalty.
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Strengthen management and data analysis : The applet container integrates a variety of management tools and data analysis functions, which can help enterprises grasp key information such as user behavior and transaction data in real time, so as to achieve more refined management and decision-making.
With the rapid development of the mobile Internet, enterprises need to pay more attention to the needs and behaviors of mobile users in order to provide better services and enhance user experience. The combination of the applet container and the enterprise unified portal can bring more advantages and opportunities to the enterprise. By publishing the enterprise unified portal in the mini program container, enterprises can expand more mobile channels, provide more convenient services and enhance user experience; at the same time, the mini program container also provides a variety of social and payment functions, bringing enterprises More sales opportunities and revenue streams. In addition, small program containers can also help enterprises achieve more personalized services and recommendations, enhance user interaction and participation, and provide more refined management and decision support. Therefore, the combination of applet container and enterprise unified portal is a part that cannot be ignored by enterprises, and can help enterprises achieve better mobile services and development.