Thomson Enters B2B Social Networking Market
January 15 2008 - 2:47PM
PR Newswire (US)
Contact Networks underscores strategic value of B2B social
networking EAGAN, Minn., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The Thomson
Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) has established a strategic
presence in the emerging business-to-business social networking
space, announcing today the addition of Boston-based Contact
Networks, and its enterprise relationship management (ERM) product,
ContactNet, to its portfolio of business intelligence and
relationship management services for legal and other professional
markets. ContactNet, the first and most powerful social networking
application built specifically for corporate environments,
automatically uncovers, aggregates and prioritizes a firm's
internal relationships with external business contacts. Now,
determining "who knows whom" is as simple as doing a Google-like
search, with no data entry or ongoing database maintenance.
"Contact Networks positioned itself as the leader in this space by
virtue of its unique product attributes, its strong team and its
proven ability to add value for its customers. With the backing of
a trusted brand name like Thomson, this already-thriving product is
poised for explosive growth," noted Thomson Executive Vice
President and Chief Technology Officer Mike Wilens. "Thomson
recognizes the emerging trend of ERM/B2B social networking, and
with the addition of this offering to our services we are setting
out to help organizations make better use of their relationship
assets." To deliver quick, accurate and comprehensive search
results, ContactNet casts a wide net, pulling data from address
books, e-mail logs, Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
applications and other enterprise systems. ContactNet then
pinpoints search matches with multiple layers of filtering and
de-duplication technology, coupled with proprietary algorithms that
analyze more than 37 unique variables. The result is a searchable
database where the deepest connections always appear first, which
is ideal for: -- New-business prospecting -- Referrals -- Talent
recruitment -- Cross-selling -- Event invitations -- Competitive
intelligence "Relationships are the lifeblood of every law firm and
professional service organization. Based on customer research, we
know that up to 85 percent of outside contacts communicating with
these firms are never entered into the company address book," said
Geoffrey Hyatt, founder and CEO of Contact Networks. "ContactNet
makes it easy to understand firm-wide relationships, without
additional manual data entry or maintenance. It's a simple yet
powerful application that changes the way these firms develop
business and market. The social networking wave is just reaching
the corporate market and joining forces with Thomson will allow us
to bring our extended vision to market very quickly." More than 50
organizations, including several Am Law 100 firms as well as
financial institutions and consulting firms are already using
ContactNet. It can be used as a stand-alone application or as part
of an integrated West Monitor Suite, which provides critical market
and business development intelligence to support law firm
operations. It also can be embedded into a variety of platforms
including intranets, extranets and CRM systems. "Professional
services firms know that client relationships are an enormous
business asset," said Mark Messing, marketing head for Weil,
Gotshal & Manges, the leading global law firm. "But it's often
underappreciated that failing to leverage all the relationships
within an organization can also be an enormous liability.
ContactNet makes customer information more visible to the business
development process -- and increases its value -- which is critical
when you consider the millions of dollars in potential business
that never materialize because of relationships that are unknown."
Contact Networks, http://www.contactnetworks.com/, will retain its
headquarters and team in Boston and operate as an independent
business unit of Thomson West. Contact Networks Contact Networks is
the pioneer and most experienced provider of Enterprise
Relationship Management (ERM) solutions. The company's
award-winning ContactNet software helps professional services firms
unlock the enormous value of their complete relationship network to
generate new business. ContactNet is an automated search
application that instantly identifies colleagues who have the
strongest relationships with a client or prospect. Customers
include leading global consulting, law and financial services firms
such as Skadden Arps, Mintz Levin, Duane Morris, Sheppard Mullin,
Greylock Partners, and Sagent Advisors. Visit
http://www.contactnetworks.com/ or call 617-329-4300. The Thomson
Corporation The Thomson Corporation (http://www.thomson.com/) is a
global leader in providing essential electronic workflow solutions
to business and professional customers. With operational
headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson provides value-added
information, software tools and applications to more than 20
million professionals in the fields of law, tax, accounting,
financial services, scientific research and healthcare. The
Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto
stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). DATASOURCE: The Thomson
Corporation CONTACT: John Shaughnessy of Thomson West,
1-800-778-8090, ext. 74749, ; or Pete Stoddard of Haberman &
Associates, +1-612-372-6472, , for The Thomson Corporation
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