View the entire 2009 SMMP Software Buying Guide

THE NEW PLAYER
Certain Software

The Story: Certain was launched in 1994 as an online registration and meeting management provider. A merger with Australian company Amlink Technologies in 2008 gave Certain additional event management and continuing education capabilities, and a global footprint, says Brett Weigl. This summer, Certain launched its supplier-search and e-RFP tool, Certain Sourcing.

Type of Product: SaaS or On- Premises enterprise installation

For Meeting Management:

• Meeting request and approval
• Enterprise calendar
• Planner resource management
• Venue database/e-RFPs
• Budget management
• Attendee management, including registration, surveys, and e-mail marketing
• Custom reports on cost savings, cost avoidance, and spend

Supplier Database? Yes, with about 40,000 hotels, provided by relicensing the database maintained by Meeting Evolution

Supplier Database Marketing Packages: Offered through Meeting Evolution (profile below)

Do you get commissions or finder’s fees from hotels? No.

RFP Customization: “Users customize RFPs based on their own preferences, their client’s preferences, or on a per-RFP basis,” Weigl says. “In addition, corporate planners can make sure the supplier contacts they have worked so hard to cultivate are automatically chosen when working with preferred chains and properties.”

What are the different ways hotels can respond to your RFPs? Hotel contacts, either at the GSO level or on property, respond to RFPs through a supplier-specific URL included in the e-mail they receive from Certain Sourcing.

What do corporate enterprise clients pay for? Certain Meetings is available in a standard and a professional edition, with per-
registration and per-meeting charges. Certain Sourcing is available on an annual subscription basis in standard, professional, and enterprise editions; these editions include unlimited users and RFPs. Certain eventsPro is available in on-premises and hosted editions, with charges for base modules, user licenses, and optional components.

Credit-Card Partner? Under consideration

Enhancements: Quarterly; yearly for Certain eventsPro

Support: 24/7 with support personnel in Seattle, San Francisco, the U.K., and Australia

Our Differentiators: “Our registration tool has strong branding capability. We don’t force anyone into a canned view,” Weigl says. “We can tie into existing corporate sites and leverage employee or membership databases. We are adding the ability to enter and track data for meeting requests on branded forms that can be incorporated into the corporate intranet for easy access and standardization of process across the enterprise.” Corporate clients using Certain Software’s Certain Meetings Professional Edition receive private databases, which offers the benefit of SaaS with the advantage of additional data security and data segregation.

Other SMMP Software profiles:
Arcaneo Metron
Cvent
Lenos
StarCite
Certain Software
Meeting Evolution