What type of functional web application does your business need? – Part 1

If you ask yourself which type of web app will suit the most for your business, you need to understand the three main web app types that will give you a headstart. You need to understand how their components are interconnected, how apps look, their application and how business logic is disseminated. This blog will focus on the functional web application types and their features to some extent:

Web Portals:

A web portal functions as a single outlet to containing several features such as published content, personal profile update, access to mail and payment & transaction features that should all work in unison, in addition to other automated functionalities that will allow users finish their intended tasks on their own.

Web portals, whether B2B or B2C, integrate multiple e-shops or business and allow users to view, compare the several features of a product (s) or solution and enable transaction. Patient portals enable patients access their private data and schedule and book medical appointment. Enterprise portals offer employee or staff profile database, company/corporate news, event calendars and updates. If you are running a community-based business, web portals are effective in that they drive the community towards achieving shared interests and overlapping objectives.

Enterprise web apps

Earlier web portals were entirely generalized in nature; there wasn’t any personalization or custom-built features. Nowadays, enterprise web apps are built to address to the needs of focussed or specific user groups: departments, SBUs, project teams, etc. If built-in multiple features in enterprise apps are one thing, personalising them to suit individual user needs are another; therefore best of both worlds. These enterprise apps are built to coordinate the staff’s or employee’s workflow pushing productivity levels up.

Most enterprise apps go as regular desktop applications that are less used by employees to manage their everyday workflow but more for easy remote access and data sharing tasks. A Customer Relationship Manager, or CRM, web app is an example of an enterprise app as the data generated by the system is used to manage a company’s interaction with present and potential customers and for internal communication, presenting a strong reason for any system to be online-based.