Workflow integration is a buzzword in the industry today, and the concept really came alive with presentations by companies identified as Models of Excellence by the InfoCommerce Group. StarCite has developed an integrated approach for the corporate meeting planner, and a fascinating case of creating value by beginning with a simple directory of hotels and their available conference facilities. Then it expanded to a process of submitting electronic RFP’s, and then managing the logistics of attendee registrations. With opportunities to monetize at each step, through transaction fees, advertising and management reporting, this is an attractive business model!

Another Model of Excellence was GuideStar, which provides information about the non-profit sector, an underserved area. They obtain copies of IRS financial filings for non-profit organizations and build a database for use in different markets: grant seekers for funding sources, vendors to market goods and services, researchers to analyze the dynamics of the non-profit sector, and donors for discovery and due diligence. Financial institutions may well become significant customers with the rise in donor advised funds. Questions from the audience made us realize how little we knew about the finances of this sector, in contrast to the readily available wealth of public company information.

On the surface, IT research would not appear to be a promising area for growth, yet Wendover Corporation, another Model of Excellence, is prospering in providing IT sales leads for B2B technology companies. They do this by making over a million phone calls a year to determine what companies will really be buying, their technical platforms as well as the names of the people who will be making those buying decisions. This database can then be analyzed to provide market research reports indicating buying trends in the large ticket technology sector. Interestingly, the challenge to their technology customers is the actual followup by sales reps, so Wendover is expanding into providing appointment services for the reps. Workflow integration does indeed provide new opportunities to provide high value content and value added services!