The present invention, sometimes called Enterlink, for the first time provides a federated system with state that interconnects applications of multiple companies. The Enterlink connects participant companies and applications, through the Enterlink bus, with each other and with consolidated data stores, third party services, core services, public process applications, and private process applications. The Enterlink bus uses, for the first time, metachannels, a metachannel engine and a metachannel repository. Connectors connect the Enterlink public process applications and the company private process applications with the bus. The invention can be applied to the automotive retail industry, among others. The Enterlink applications, core applications, and bus, may be operated as a service to company participants.