From Portals to Platforms: The Future of Web Applications in B2B
3 min read
For years, web applications in B2B were seen as functional portals — a place to log in, manage accounts, or download resources. In 2025, that definition is changing. Web apps are no longer passive tools; they’re becoming strategic platforms that drive growth, loyalty, and continuous engagement.
Clients are now asking for web apps that feel less like back-office utilities and more like frontline experiences — designed to attract, serve, and retain customers as seamlessly as any consumer product.
Services
Design, Events, Strategy
Written by
Bryan Cheah
From Utility to Ecosystem
The shift is clear: B2B buyers expect the same level of digital sophistication they enjoy as consumers. According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer 2024 report, 88% of business buyers now say the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services.
That means portals that were once built to manage information are evolving into platforms that enable collaboration, personalisation, and value delivery at every step of the buyer journey.
What Clients Are Asking For
- Self-Service That Works: Clients want apps that reduce reliance on sales reps by empowering users to configure, trial, and purchase solutions directly online.
- Data-Driven Personalisation: Web apps should adapt in real time, tailoring dashboards, recommendations, and resources based on customer role, industry, or stage in the sales cycle.
- Collaboration Spaces: Shared digital environments where sales teams and clients can co-create, exchange documents, and track progress — bringing account management into the app itself.
- Integrated Journeys: Seamless connections between marketing, CRM, and service platforms so the app becomes the hub for the entire B2B relationship.
Designing Platforms, Not Pages
For Charles Elena’s clients, the opportunity is in rethinking UX/UI for engagement, not just access. That means:
- Streamlining interfaces for clarity and speed.
- Designing with modularity so features can grow as customer needs evolve.
- Ensuring consistency across web, mobile, and immersive extensions.
McKinsey research shows that companies with advanced digital self-serve channels achieve 2x faster revenue growth compared to competitors relying on traditional account management models (McKinsey, 2024).
The Future of Web Applications
In the next three years, the web app will evolve into a brand’s primary digital touchpoint — a living platform that hosts sales conversations, product experiences, and customer communities.
For B2B brands, the challenge in 2025 is to stop thinking of apps as portals for transactions and start treating them as platforms for relationships.
At Charles Elena, we see the future of web applications as the future of B2B itself: intelligent, immersive, and designed for growth.
