IBM Corp has announced several new integration features for its WebSphere Portal, the technological core of IBM's new 'Dynamic Workplaces' initiative.

These enhancements include: new portal templates for several vertical sectors; integration of IBM's Content Manager product into WebSphere Portal; and a framework for viewing applications from third party application providers. IBM says that the upgrades will give portal users easier access to more relevant and manageable information.

IBM will roll out portal templates and interfaces tailored to specific user communities, allowing them to participate in processes and projects unique to those groups. It unveiled a new feature called 'Click-to-Action' which enables portlets from multiple vendors to intelligently communicate with one another. IBM will initially target portal templates at the enterprise software development community.

IBM also aims to improve portal integration by the introduction of a new portlet framework (downloadable from the Web) for viewing information from business applications from SAP AG, PeopleSoft Inc, and Siebel Systems Inc. The framework consists of out-of-the-box portlets (software to consolidate and personalize information) for these sources that can be easily customized. IBM claims that it is the first standalone J2EE-based framework for portals that does not require a specialized integration hub or proprietary connectors to link to these vendors' applications.

The company also plans to provide tighter integration of WebSphere Portal Web content publishing with IBM Content Manager. This will allow non-technical users to find, create, store, and publish content of any media type to public or private Web sites.

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