StarCite Integrates All Tools

Meetings technology firm StarCite Inc. has integrated its multiple tools on one platform that incorporates previous technology acquisitions, adds functions and a user interface and will be sold as a packaged system.

"We had a lot of technology that was sitting out there. We built some light integration into it as we had a number of modules and applications that we either developed or bought over the past few years," said company founder and CEO John Pino. "This is now completely integrated."

The platform, called StarCite Global Meeting Solutions, will power the future development of the StarCite global meetings technology system, he said.

Although Pino said "end-to-end" would be a misnomer for the system because the process continually is expanding, he said the system "is as close to that today as anything in the market."

StarCite users can expect a new interface and improved performance in terms of speed and power, Pino said. The company also has named five steps to correspond to different functionalities of the system: plan, budget, buy, attend and measure.

"There's a lot of functionality within each of those modules, but you should look at the string not only on an individual, ad hoc, meeting-to-meeting basis but as the same string an entity would use to aggregate spend globally," Pino said.

StarCite also hopes to migrate customers to the all-encompassing system, but Pino said users may have the option to continue purchasing individual tools, rather than the whole package.

"If we have a customer that has one particular need and that's all they're willing to commit to, we will certainly not walk away," Pino said, "but we are trying to have people understand the Global Meetings Solution concept is more than any one-point solution."

The system also includes some new functions not previously offered by StarCite, Pino said. One such function is real-time metrics.

"It's a platform that has all the functionality people were used to. There are lots of surprises in there in terms of new functionality that we didn't even plan to do, and it's all driven by the real-time data that's going to be delivered to the users," he said.

The drive to offer a complete meetings technology system reflects a growing industry trend, Pino said, as companies want one system to use for meetings anywhere in the world, with standardized data and metrics.

"Corporations are really trying to get their arms around the total spend. It's not a new message," he said. "What's important to note now is we see corporations looking at how they can maximize their global investments. They are looking to manage it in a more aggressive way."

StarCite also plans to offer more than technology solutions, Pino said, and the GSM system reflects a focus on big-picture ideas. Meetings management is the next phase for corporations in controlling their travel spend, he said, and technology tools have reached a level to help speed the process.