Primary objective of this paper is to offer an exclusive view of constructing and deploying enterprise portals by using a component-based development approach. As the dot-com hype dies down, most companies are forced to revisit their enterprise-wide Web integration strategies. This paper offers a pragmatic roadmap that these companies may follow in their upcoming enterprise portal deployment initiatives.The academic world plays a significant role in the advances of the portal technology. In this paper, we address the challenges faced in building enterprise portals as a new principle of software engineering. We also explain how the academia will play a significant role in meeting most of these challenges.