Historically, the obstacles in this space (CMS) have been cost and ease of use.
Cost
There is really no rhyme or reason to the cost of CMS software. The cost problem is that the great majority of CMS / portal vendors use competitor-based pricing which has created greyness for buyers. "Why is this CMS product $1000 and this other CMS product $50,000?". Or as I have often heard, "Your CMS app does the same thing as one that was came in at over 6 figures." Secondly, application pricing and offshore programming fees have plummeted, so vendors have tried to reclaim what was lost with increasingly higher license prices. Typically license pricing is done either per CPU or per user.
Ease-of-Use
Out-of-the-box most business users will be intimidated by the user interface offered. If you speak to existing portal users they will most likely call their portal software a nice demo, but very cumbersome to work with. Arranging and placing portlets on major sites can be a very time consuming effort. As the site structure grows, the navigation load time can increase dramatically. This is a problem web content management systems experienced years ago, but most have solved today. If you add a new menu item or rearrange the navigation you might be forced to place the portlets from scratch again. Most portal interfaces were far from designed for business users but instead IT staff. In many systems, flexiblility also means complexity. Many CMS admistration interfaces are so cryptic that they must be deciphered by a technical user in order to configure.
How Can PortalApp.NET Overcome These Weaknesses
Cost has always been a strong point of PortalApp which delivers unbeatable versatility and value when compared to other CMS solutions. The fact the PortalApp's license cost is structured per site and not per user is an added benefit. Existing customers have often commented that the price point is so affordable that it is misleading to the product's actual potential. Formost, PortalApp is a versatile "out-of-the-box" solution that is ready to accomodate 90% of common Web requirements. This means instant deployment of a content managed Website, portal or intranet. Subsequently, PortalApp can be extensively configured and customized (both design and functionality) with minimal technical expertise. By distinguishing these 2 separate tasks the ease-of-use becomes more apparent.
