Book excerpt: Far beyond simple data archives and streamlined access, enterprise knowledge portals represent the future of corporate information management. Seamlessly interweaving three essential principles -- people, content, and technology -- an effective portal is the ultimate roadmap to every conceivable permutation of the components in a business's landscape. This prescient, authoritative book is a vital reference for anyone concerned with harvesting, creating, distributing, or analyzing company information. HR executives and IT professionals will learn not only how to create the atlas to their company's universe but also how to define and assign the roles and responsibilities that will ensure long-term efficacy and relevance. Companies will have the ability to: * Build technology around knowledge requirements, not the other way around * Customize desktop access around individual requirements and workstyles * Make better decisions as a result of quick access to crucial information * Maximize speed, efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility of knowledge transfer.