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Organizations have long sought to provide employees with consolidated desktop access to the various applications, business processes, and sources (both technology and human) required to perform knowledge-based work. But as recently as five years ago, the desktop environment was still woefully inadequate to this task. The ability to access aggregated enterprise information on-demand required a more reflective, process-centric model of desktop computing-that is, if someone were to look over your shoulder as you work, would their view of your desktop reflect the nature of the work (i.e., the business processes) in which you're engaged? The classic desktop computing interface did not allow this kind of on-demand access-much of the integration between information, enterprise apps, and business process still occurred in the "gray matter" between the ears of knowledge workers. The enterprise information portal (EIP) addresses this need.. At their core functional level, EIPs are all about access-a single point of personalized, on-line access to business information and knowledge sources, as well as, increasingly, real-time access to core applications and processes. Key enabling technologies here include advances in security (including sophisticated directory/authentication services), the proliferation of "portlets" or "gadgets" (API-like chunks of code for plugging enterprise apps into the portal), as well as the maturation and widespread adoption of XML (for "active" or "intelligent" content). As the technology behind portals evolves, so do the ways in which enterprises are using enterprise portals to achieve their business goals. Originally adopted by small departments and subsets of employees, the portal concept has expanded to encompass virtually all employees as well as the extended organization's partners and su ppliers. Enterprise portals are reaching all the way out to individual customers, providing them with a personalized view of the organization or enterprise.