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The market for enterprise portals is expected to grow from $1.1 billion in 2005 to a whopping $9.9 billion by 2012, as companies look for faster, efficient, and lightweight technology for their mobile work force. Companies are looking for portals that are customizable, as they adapt to the rapid pace of the new business world.

Dublin-based Research and Markets released an analysis of the enterprise portal market this week entitled "Portal Software Market Opportunities, Strategies, and Forecasts, 2006 to 2012," from which we glean our information.

Businesses are increasingly looking to enterprise portals as a way to manage content, for internal search, personalization of access to intranets and Web-faces - the nimbler the better, and with as few wires as possible.

As businesses embrace this market, increasing the need for multiple points of access to multiple systems, the industry also grows at all levels, from creation to support. The need for content providers, information technologists discovering better ways to find necessary sources, technicians to keep these systems running smoothly and secure, and methods to better access decision-makers will be the boosters under the corporate rocket.

Research and Markets contends that implementing a portal can lead to increased productivity, improved work collaboration, knowledge sharing, and maximized investment on expensive back-end packages.

As the pace of business increases, users want access to applications, services, and information at all times, no matter where they are. This includes wireless capabilities, helping to eliminate delays, through WI-FI laptops, PDAs, wireless phones, J2ME devices, and Pocket PCs. Integrating all of it to the end that an employee can run a conference while hanging from the side of a cliff will push enterprise portal success into the next decade.

Research and Markets expects the next frontier to be the advancement of wireless services, such as mobile personal information management (PIM) for collaboration, voice XML technology to render enterprise portal to disabled users who can speak but not read or type, and location services to render highly customized information to users based on their location.

Though IBM commands 48 percent of the portal market, RaM expects companies like Oracle, BEA / Plumtree, Vignette, SAP, Tibco, and Microsoft to step up to the plate in what could be a highly competitive playing field.

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Jason L. Miller is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.