web portal vs self-service feature

What is the value of the web portal vs the regular self-service? The self-service has authentication in which the user/customer can login to submit/view requests and get information. I see the web portal feature which does not have authentication -- just a URL link. The web portal allows for customization of what the user/customer can view -- links, messages, etc. Will the self-service and web portal features be merged in future releases where there is only one portal and that portal can be customized as to what the client can do and can see based upon roles and credentials?

Feature request: Any chance that Adventnet will update the knowledge base portion where we can post documents for customers to view -- like customized monthly reports from monitoring in PDF. Perhaps a client documents/reports section that works almost the same as the "solutions" feature.

Thanks,

Alex