Use Case What can I use a portal for?

Portals are ideal for managing structured processes with people outside your organisation, as well as internal staff, members, or franchisees who need a simple way to engage without relying on back-end access.

Common use cases include:

  • Applications: Funding, scholarships, grants, licenses, permits, housing, events, internships, training, and more
  • Registrations and renewals: For memberships, professional certifications, service providers, contractors, or schemes
  • Recruitment and onboarding: Job applications, candidate vetting, referee forms, and employee onboarding workflows
  • Procurement and supplier management: RFx submissions, onboarding, contract negotiation, due diligence, and performance tracking
  • Public consultation and feedback: Structured input for policy development, project proposals, or community engagement
  • Complaints and incident reporting: H&S issues, public complaints, whistleblower processes, and internal reporting
  • Training and certification: Course applications, attendance tracking, assessment submissions, and renewals
  • Internal submissions: Programme proposals, business cases, travel requests, funding approvals, or change requests
  • Document collection: Secure submission of declarations, supporting documents, evidence packs, or compliance materials
  • Case management intake: Lodgement of requests for support, legal assistance, reviews, disputes, or appeals
  • Audit and compliance workflows: Submitting evidence, signing off policy acknowledgements, or completing checklists
  • Customer self-service: Lodging requests, tracking status, updating details, or accessing resources
  • Partner or franchise portals: Sharing resources, templates, brand tools, training records, and updates across a distributed network

Frequently asked questions

Voco Ltd FAQs
Why would I choose a portal?

If you're managing external requests through email, shared inboxes, or manual forms, a portal gives you structure, consistency, and control. It guides users through the process, triggers workflows automatically, and gives your team full visibility, reducing admin and improving turnaround times.

How does a portal work?

Users access a secure web interface to submit forms, upload documents, and track progress. Behind the scenes, those submissions trigger workflows, update records, notify teams, and feed into dashboards, all built around your systems and processes.

How secure are custom portals compared to a website?

Custom Portals are secure by default, built on Microsoft 365 and continuously tested to meet enterprise and government standards. Unlike traditional websites that require separate penetration testing and manual patching, security is managed for you and updated automatically.

What security measures are built in?

Portals use secure, role-based access so users only see what they’re meant to. Data is stored in your Microsoft 365 environment or approved cloud, with full audit trails, field-level validation, and integration with your existing identity and access controls.

Where is the data stored?

Your data stays within your environment. Portals are built inside your Microsoft 365 tenancy or a secure cloud platform you control, meeting local data residency and public sector standards.

Can portals handle high traffic?

Yes. Portals scale instantly with demand and can handle hundreds of thousands of hits in an hour without falling over. With a website, you need to manage capacity yourself.

What do security teams think of portals?

Security teams trust them because sensitive data stays private, updates are automatic, and features are continuously improved. The result is confidence in compliance and peace of mind for IT and risk teams.

Does it meet government requirements?

Yes. Our portals are designed with public sector standards in mind, including data residency, auditability, privacy, and accessibility. We regularly work with agencies and departments across central and local government.

Do users need a Microsoft account to log in?

Not always. Portals can support public access, authenticated logins (including Microsoft, Google, or email-based), or restricted access for specific user groups, depending on your needs. For example, portals we built for Health NZ use My Health Account for secure access.

Do portals improve the customer experience?

Yes. Portals provide another secure channel with guided steps, live status updates, and a richer, easier experience for customers, partners, and suppliers.

Can we have different views for different users or roles?

Yes. Portals can display different forms, content, images, and workflows based on user type, role, or status, whether public, authenticated, or internal.

Can portals include rich, interactive content?

Yes. Portals can go beyond simple forms. For example, users could upload documents, select areas on a map, or interact with visual elements that feed directly into your workflow. This creates a more engaging experience and ensures you capture accurate, structured data.

Can external users upload documents or supporting files?

Absolutely. Users can securely upload files as part of their submission. Those documents are stored in SharePoint or your preferred document repository, with metadata and retention rules applied.

How long does it take to get a portal live?

If you already have a Power Platform environment, most portals go live in a matter of months. Timelines depend on the complexity of your process, but we move quickly and focus on delivering value fast.

Can we change the portal later if our process changes?

Yes. Portals are built to evolve with you. We can update forms, workflows, permissions, and features as your needs shift, without starting from scratch.

How does your government experience help our project?

We have delivered portals across central and local government, so we understand the standards, approvals, and common pain points. That experience means we bring ready-made templates and patterns, from privacy consent to service design, so your portal is faster to build, easier to approve, and lower risk.

Our Impact Measurable change that matters

We’re here to shift outcomes, not just deliver outputs. From faster apps to smarter sourcing to better-informed decisions - we design for real impact, and we measure it.

Healthcare Client - Clearer strategy, stronger IT

When a key healthcare client needed to strengthen its clinical IT, they chose Voco for its extensive experience in strategy and roadmap development.

Health NZ - Lotus Notes replacement

In 2023, we led a Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora and Pacific Health Funding - project to replace Lotus Notes with a modern Microsoft ecosystem.

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency - Getting on Top of Contracts

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency keeps New Zealand's national transport system moving. But, with thousands of suppliers supporting its network it needed a better way to manage its contracts.

Ministry of Health - Goodbye Email Requests, Hello App

In the early days of New Zealand's COVID-19 response, the Ministry of Health faced a formidable challenge: managing a flood of requests for proof of vaccination.

Ministry of Health - Making Claims a Breeze

The Ministry of Health had a goal to vaccinate 80% of frontline workers against the flu but needed a fast and simple process to reimburse costs to healthcare employers.

Learn how our Voco SmartApps can work for you. Talk to us today.

Julia Dol

CEO

Business and digital transformation, strategy, sourcing and commercial negotiation, stakeholder engagement, quality assurance.

Dudley Harris

General Manager Sales & Innovation

CTO advisory, sourcing, technology strategy and assurance, Microsoft Power Platform, architecture and design authority.

Andrew Clark

Head of Australia

Business and Digital transformation, strategy, CxO advisory, Programme Management, Finance leadership, Sourcing and commercial negotiation, Stakeholder engagement, Quality assurance.

Vaughn Woods

General Manager Customer

Business and digital transformation, programme management, operating model design, process efficiency, sourcing and commercial negotiation.

Jamie Smith

Head of Architecture & Security Consulting

Jamie is Voco's lead for strategy, IS roadmaps, architecture and design, technical leadership, and digital transformation.

Jeanne Viljoen

General Manager - Delivery Services

Business and digital transformation, optimising processes, elevating project delivery, and empowering teams - with people at the core.

Get in touch with the Voco team for a free discovery call.

Auckland
Level 6, 22 Fanshawe St, Auckland 1010

Wellington
Level 2, 88 The Terrace, Wellington 6011

Melbourne:
Level 17, 459 Collins Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000

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