Hoover's and First Research announced this week that they have completed the first phase of the integration between the two information providers owned by D&B. First Research was acquired by D&B in March and was folded into Hoover's. The completion of the first phase means that First Research customers can access Hoover's company data through a Hoover's search box that appears on First Research's web site. Hoover's subscribers now have free access to a subset of First Research's industry profiles.
Customers who purchase a bundled subscription can access First Research and Hoover's content from the Hoover's site. Some of that content includes: Directory of First Research Industry profiles that cover more than 600 industry segments and a subset of industry profiles, including industry overviews (which provide a summary of key players and outline the competitive landscape of an industry) and call prep questions (that can guide users when they engage prospects and clients in discussions about business issues).
Alone, Hoover's and First Research provide users the tools they need to be successful in their business endeavors. Together, they will provide an even more robust service. It makes perfect sense for D&B to bring the two entities together and it was likely the plan before D&B officially closed on the First Research deal. And D&B didn't take long--only a couple of months--to bring customers the first benefits of the integration. Customers expect the most complete database of information from their content providers and Hoover's consistently bolsters its offerings to comply. This is just another example of the company's commitment to providing that content and functionality users need to compete in today's marketplace.