Thomson Enters B2B Social Networking Market

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).
SOURCE The Thomson Corporation

John Shaughnessy of Thomson West, 1-800-778-8090, ext. 74749,
john.shaughnessy@thomson.com; or Pete Stoddard of Haberman & Associates,
+1-612-372-6472, pete@habermaninc.com, for The Thomson Corporation