Web Portals in SMEs – Two Case Studies

This paper examines how two small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) implemented Web portals as part of a new e-business strategy to underpin future corporate expansion. The first company (Unified Office Products Limited) transformed itself from a traditional office supplies company into an intermediary trading over the Web with a range of business partners in the office supplies supply chain. In the second case study, a small consultancy and training organisation (C&G Services Europe Ltd) saw the opportunity to develop a Web portal to improve its on-line service to key customers, including some of the major utilities companies in the UK. Both these projects were implemented via the knowledge transfer partnership scheme that provides UK government funding to support university employed project managers working in industry to lead projects of key value to the partner companies. The progress of both companies across the duration of these projects is gauged against two mainstream models of IT and e-business development.