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Enabling e-business for the wider business community.

This page describes two different types of market structure. Participants in these markets have different needs and different tools are used to serve them.

Horizontal Market Communities

Horizontal markets have participants who come from diverse sectors but share common networking goals. Chambers of Commerce, Industrial Associations and Federations or regional business associations are good examples. Smaller special interest groups, specialist trades and others with common interests can combine to create an on-line horizontal community.

Vertical Market Communities

As connected activity develops, communities are emerging whose participants come from one business sector. Often, their members come from different parts of the supply chain hence the term "vertical community". Opportunities emerge for intra-community commerce as members forge working alliances, sharing knowledge and commercial practice. (Vertical Communities are often referred to as Communities of Practice.)

What MAINHighway offers your horizontal market community

We implement these communities as Hosted Communities. The initial step is for their administrators to put their membership on-line and provide a tailored portal to allow searches, either open or closed, to help to build electronic links between buyers and sellers, creating a community of connected companies.

Our Hosted Communities take advantage of our high speed master database, obtaining an advanced web search engine at very low cost. Each search engine is produced in the branding of its community. See some examples on the right of this page.

MAINHighway offers more for your community if you wish it to be open. Within Main Highway each hosted community portal can be configured to become part of our larger extranet. Hosted Community members can be found quickly by those from other communities seeking suppliers or business partners. (If you want a closed user group accessible only by other members we can arrange that as well - it's your choice.)

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A community of communities

Once a hosted community is connected Main Highway works to catalyse electronic working through a development program for all its communities. - we promote their presence, their abilities, and their interest in being connected companies. Any membership organisation or user group can join us as a Hosted Community.

Benefits include:

• Saving large sums of money by avoiding customised development.

• Widespread promotion across our community of like-minded businesses

• Access to generic technology and e-tools at low cost

• Joining a common registered member platform for inter-community trading

• Access to our common platform TollWay payments system

• A presence within a wider community making e-business happen

What MAINHighway offers your vertical community

Main Highway can provide your vertical community with the infrastructure you need to operate; from core database technology to user registration, shared working and market trading technology. (See our page on Supply Chain solutions for more on this.) We provide:

• Community database solutions and management.
• Closed or open user group configurations.
• Member registration and administration.
• News management tools; news postings, forums, bulletin boards.
• Shared working areas.
• Classified advertising solutions and e-markets.
• Members areas.
• Advanced exchange, auction and market hub solutions.
• Access to our common platform TollWay payments system

Every market community implemented by Main Highway can share wider benefits; a presence within our wider community of communities as a Specialist Host. You get a head start in our ready made marketplace of buyers and sellers. Each community provides a service delivery point accessible across our extranet.

Solutions in partnership:

The Main Highway community of communities wants to hear from any community of practice that wishes to extend its presence on-line and, if acceptable, as a specialist host. You will be surprised how quickly we can help build your community with our expertise in content, community and technology. Contact us now

Home

Click on the logo to see the search engine.

Horizontal Communities

North Hampshire Chamber of Commerce & Industry Search Portal

Southampton and Fareham Chamber of Commerce & Industry Search Portal

Vertical Communities

<Wired Wessex>
Wired Wessex represents the media community of South Central England Search Portal

<Hampshire Fare>
Hampshire Fare are a group of Specialist Food Providers.
Search Portal

Other communities are in development now.