Data Streams
Handling the intense amount of data that streams through it every day is INTTRA’s state-of-the-art technology infrastructure. CIO Jeff Pattison says being a start-up in the early 2000s made it easy for the company to build a modern platform that was powerful and scalable. “We’re not burdened with old legacy systems that some older companies would have to maintain,” he says.

To keep INTTRA’s talent aimed solely at serving its customers, the company outsources non-core functions not related to the portal to other companies. “We really try to avoid bringing in-house any applications that are not core to business,” Pattison says. “We want to focus our intellectual horsepower on our portal.”

The talent behind INTTRA’s platform is more essential than the equipment it maintains, Pattison asserts. “You can spend all the money on hardware, software and technology, but it’s our people, their expertise in e-commerce and knowledge of the industry that is really important,” he says.

“We created INTTRA when many of the dot-coms were melting down, so we were fortunate to bring a lot of talent into the company,” DeBenedette says.

The earliest days of the company were marked by how fast the online world was changing. We had to innovate, he adds. “Internally, we had to fix the race car while we were running the race,” he says. However, that constant early revision to the infrastructure has given Inttra a strong foundation of technology.

“We’ve had to change out many of the components and strengthen them over the years to the point where now we are an Internet business handling a massive amount of ocean trade transactions,” DeBenedette says.

The company’s technology infrastructure is now so advanced, in fact, that Pattison estimates it would take a full year for INTTRA’s volume to outstrip its current capacity if the company were to put a hold on further improvements. That won’t happen, he adds, because of the company’s culture of continually making improvements.

Riding the Trends
Because the company is so closely tied to international shipping, Bloom says INTTRA increasingly pays close attention to global business trends. “The No. 1 challenge that we keep a close eye on is what the world economic growth story is looking like and what the chance for increased trade barriers is,” he says.

Even if global trade growth decreases overall, INTTRA still has room for growth, Bloom says. “A customer may use us for bookings, but not shipping instructions, so we have the opportunity to sell them our other products,” he says. “Even with our current level of growth, a small percentage of customers use all of our services, and that represents significant upside.”

Bloom says the company is paying close attention to the consolidation of ocean carriers. Although one might assume that this would be a negative trend for INTTRA, given the reduction in the number of potential carriers, Bloom says this could actually end up benefiting the company. Larger customers, he says, tend to seek out independent portals like INTTRA to enable agile supply chains and INTTRA offers easier collaboration between shipping partners.

Potential for Growth
As the company moves forward, Bloom says INTTRA is working to create closer relationships with current and potential customers. Alongside those efforts, the company is working to find new ways to package its services and open up new revenue streams.

One key to maintaining the company’s growth is increasing its attention on local markets, Bloom says. “You need to have smart, local people in local markets,” he says. The level of attention the company has paid thus far to local markets has helped it develop new products.

“Be close to the market and you will learn market requirements and better satisfy your customers,” he says.

One new product developed by INTTRA is OceanSchedules.com, a Web site that provides up-to-the-minute information about shipments that is searchable by origin point and destination. Bloom says the site is designed to generate ad revenue. He says continuing to develop new services and products will always be one of INTTRA’s top priorities.

“If you think that you have invested in the last best thing and there’s nothing left to develop, you’re done for,” he says.

DeBenedette says the company will also continue working to find solutions for its customers that address current industry challenges as well as any future concerns. “I see INTTRA continuing to grow,” DeBenedette says. “I see that the returns on the investment for adopting global shipping standards and shipping information are going to be exponential.”