Authentication
Most e-portals eventually require cross-authentication or single-sign-on functionality because of the need to access data from many sources and the issues involved in the management of multiple passwords.
How well an e-portal solution handles this issue can be crucial to the success of cross-country integration; cross-organizational integration; and general integration of data, applications, and services.
PortalBuilder allows NT logon, cookie authentication, and plug-in (custom) authentication, and provides facilities for integration with Netegrity SiteMinder.
Microsoft SharePoint is very good at allowing single-sign-on across all Microsoft domains. Sybase has integrated single sign-on features built into its e-portal software, whereas additional software is required on top of most other e-portal offerings.