Consulting Firm, The Brattle Group, Selects LexisNexis InterAction for CRM.

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- InterAction's dominance in professional services industry, email integration and Relationship Intelligence capabilities influenced decision

LexisNexis Interface Software announced today that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based consulting firm, The Brattle Group, has selected InterAction(R), the leading CRM solution for consulting organizations. The firm is deploying InterAction to obtain a 360-degree view of its knowledge assets and Relationship Intelligence.

"InterAction will allow us to centralize the information we possess about clients, prospects, relationships and engagements and put more structure around our marketing processes," said The Brattle Group's President and CEO, W. Robson Googins. "Having access to this relationship intelligence will give us a competitive advantage in business development and cross-selling situations."

The Brattle Group had been using an in-house developed contact management system that had limited relationship management, reporting and analytic capabilities. "We struggled with being able to combine internal and external knowledge in order to connect the dots and understand who knows whom and who knows what," added Googins.

Determined to identify a technology that consultants would actually use and trust, the firm undertook an extensive search for a new CRM solution. Of critical concern was finding a package tailored to the business model of the professional services industry that could integrate seamlessly with the firm's personal information manager (PIM), which consultants use heavily. "We knew that many CRM projects fail because the technology isn't accessible where users 'live' - in their PIM," explained Dan Plowden, Director of Finance and Planning at The Brattle Group. "So a key consideration was finding a product that would integrate with our PIM, Novell GroupWise."

The firm looked at a host of products including Microsoft CRM, Siebel, Saleslogix and Onyx. However it became immediately clear to the evaluation team that those packages were not suited to the consulting industry. "They had nothing to do with how we sell," said Plowden. "If we selected any of them we would have taken advantage of only 20 percent of their functionality and paid for a product 80 percent of which we wouldn't use."

In contrast, The Brattle Group found InterAction to deliver precisely the functionality needed, in an environment consultants would feel comfortable using. "We feel that Interface Software understands the drivers in our industry as well as our corporate needs and the needs of our professionals," said Googins. "InterAction has tremendous functionality and flexibility, and with its strong GroupWise integration, we can make it look familiar to users."

In particular, the product's ability to track and manage the complex relationships between people, companies and engagements was a compelling differentiator from the other, more generic CRM products the firm considered. For instance, InterAction's Who Knows Whom(TM) feature instantly reveals who else in the firm has a relationship with a particular contact. Relationship Map(TM) enables users to identify and leverage the extended network of relationships that exist among firm members, colleagues and other contacts known to the firm. "These features fit how we look at our universe of contacts," said Plowden. "We want everyone in the firm to be able to access information about people, relationships and the projects we are working on."

Also compelling was InterAction's ability to deliver a central repository of client information, without taking away users' ability to control their own contacts. Consultants can determine exactly what information they want to share with the firm and what they'd like to keep confidential. Moreover, they can determine if they want contact updates made in InterAction to flow down to their own contacts in GroupWise. "InterAction walks the fine line between delivering a centralized corporate asset while maintaining user control," said Plowden. "This will be a big plus for bringing people on board and buying into the system."

Finally, The Brattle Group's software evaluation team found InterAction's data quality tools far superior to those of other products. The system provides built-in tools and data change management workflow, enabling data stewards to identify, sort, cleanse and edit out-of-date or inaccurate data efficiently and on an ongoing basis. "With better data quality, our consultants will have higher confidence in the CRM system and greater comfort in sharing information," said Plowden.

"The Brattle Group has done its due diligence in the CRM selection process, focusing on the critical issues for consulting firms like PIM integration, usability, relationship intelligence, data quality, security and control," said Barry Solomon, Interface Software's executive vice president. "We are delighted that they found InterAction to be the superior product and look forward to being a partner in the firm's success."

About LexisNexis and LexisNexis Interface Software

LexisNexis(R) (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leader in comprehensive and authoritative legal, news and business information and tailored applications. A member of Reed Elsevier Group plc (NYSE:ENL)(NYSE:RUK) (www.reedelsevier.com), the company does business in 100 countries with 13,000 employees worldwide. In addition to its flagship Web-based Lexis(R) and Nexis(R) research services, the company includes some of the world's most respected legal publishers such as Martindale-Hubbell, Matthew Bender, Butterworths, JurisClasseur, Abeledo-Perrot and Orac.

LexisNexis Interface Software is the leading provider of CRM solutions enabling professional services firms and similar relationship-based organizations to create the Relationship Intelligence they need to generate new business and enhance client service. Its flagship product, LexisNexis InterAction, is a flexible and uniquely designed platform that delivers this Relationship Intelligence throughout the organization, quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively. Relationship Intelligence is a firm-wide asset that reveals the unique and complex connections between people, companies, relationships, experience and expertise, empowering professionals to leverage who and what they know to uncover new revenue opportunities, differentiate themselves from the competition and enhance client service. InterAction is internet-enabled, allowing professionals to view information however they choose--through knowledge management platforms, corporate portals, intranets, extranets and wireless devices. For more information please visit our Web site at www.interfacesoftware.com.

About The Brattle Group

The Brattle Group provides economic consulting services and expert testimony to corporations, law firms, and public agencies worldwide. The firm has offices in Cambridge (Massachusetts), Washington, DC, San Francisco, London, and Brussels. www.brattle.com.

InterAction, InterAction Opportunities, InterAction Matters, InterAction Engagements, Watch List, Who Knows Whom and Relationship Map are trademarks of Interface Software, Inc. and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other product and company names mentioned are the property of their respective owners and are mentioned for identification purposes only.