In order for a portal to be successful, it must be able to integrate many different data sources across campus. In order to facilitate this, agreements will have to be made between departments regarding information access and maintenance. This will encourage users to use the portal for more then occasionally checking grades. By default, each group would have access to different tools, depending on their unique informational requirements. However, since all of the services provided by the portal are kept in a common pool, all tools and services can easily be incorporated into any or all of the roles.
Flexibility is the key to a successful portal.
However, it will require a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to gather and maintain all of the role-oriented hyperlinks to relevant data sources internally and on the Internet. External links have to be constantly monitored for reliability and accuracy. Internal links will also require monitoring and updating. One of the ways that data integrity and reliability could be maintained would be through partnerships with other institutions that are the source of much of the information, e.g., government agencies and other universities. Departmental Partners will be the key to involving members of all departments from the conceptual stages of the portal design, to ensure compatibility with existing systems and services.