The AIIM 2003 Enterprise Content Management event in New York introduced visitors to a new concept. Instead of being a standalone eCM event, there were two shows in the hall at the Jacob Javits center - AIIM 2003 and OnDemand, an annual event for the printing and publishing industry. It was quite a sight seeing state-of-the-art software solutions in the same event as the "big-iron" printing solutions from Heidelberg and others! As most attendees knew, the global trade association AIIM, the Association for Information and Image Management, sold this event to Advanstar, a corporate trade show producer, several years ago. Advanstar has also produced the OnDemand event for some time.

The show opened on Monday, April 7 on an ominous note from Mother Nature as the New York City Metropolitan area was hit by a surprise blast of snow - up to 6 inches deep in some locations. The inclement weather slowed transportation to New York and produced significant delays at many of the airports around the city. The net result was a low Monday attendance as well as a late arriving crowd. Walking the floor on Monday showed that many of the conversations taking place were vendor to vendor rather than vendor to end user. Fortunately, the weather was better on both Tuesday and Wednesday and visitor attendance did pick up. The total attendance announced was over 27,000 visitors.

The effects of the North American economic slowdown seemed very evident at the event. While traffic improved throughout the course of the event, the combining of the two events seemed to produce about the same traffic as AIIM Shows of the past. In addition, most eDM vendor exhibits had scaled down their booth size and participation, while some even chose not to show on the exhibit floor. For example, Microsoft was absent, while BPM leader Staffware chose to hold discussions in a private suite off the show floor at Javits. A notable exception to this trend was Hyland Software, who continued their dramatic presence with a large sports bar-themed booth which featured snacks, drinks and of course, product demonstrations. As President A. J. Hyland stated during a discussion in the booth, "We have chosen not to participate in the idea of a weak economy".

The predominant trends we saw at AIIM 2003 reflected trends we have previously discussed:

1. The introduction and refinement of more fully-featured product suites, where the notion of "one-stop shopping" is becoming a reality - many vendors are adding additional features and functionality to support additional applications and address new and broadened forms of information. These address end user needs for a single vendor to install, service and support their enterprise or functional area. Some examples were:
   • FileNet showing new collaboration and suite refinements and tools
   • Documentum showing the first results of its acquisition of eRoom
   • Atomz extending the features and functionality of their product offerings
   • Legato integrating their Content Management Suite with SAP
   • Kofax showing new Content Management solutions for invoice processing
   • eiStream upgrading their offerings and focusing on a new BPM framework
   • OCR for Form changes name to AnyDoc to reflect new offerings to handle any type of document
   • Ektron's new CMS300 Content Management Solution, extending features and functionality
   
   
   
2. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships continue to prove 2003 to be the Year of Consolidation - AIIM 2003 saw both the announcement of new partnerships and relationships, as well as the results of previous partnership announcements. Some of these include:
   • iManage showed the first offerings of their new collaborative efforts with Interwoven
   • Kofax and Xerox extended their partnership. Kofax also showed how their acquisition of Mohomine will extend their capability to automatically capture unstructured data
   • Atomz announced new partner programs which enable them to extend their offerings to new markets.
   • FileNet partnered with Steelpoint to deliver Health Care regulatory compliance solutions
   • FileNet also showed initial results and product direction after acquisition of Shana Corporation
   • IBM showcased their partnership with PureEdge to extend their eForms offerings within their Content management solutions
   • IBM also showing DoD compliant solutions through their acquisition of Tarian Software
   • Documentum showing robust new Records management capabilities through their acquisition of TrueArc
   • Day partnering with Sun to offer Content management solutions on the Sun ONE Platform
   
   
   
3. Increased attention paid to record keeping and eDM and Content management solutions for compliance with new regulatory demands. In the US, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has created new urgency regarding how corporations manage their vital corporate records and paperwork. Also, a higher sense of priority was seen regarding the management and storage of email information. In the healthcare arena, companies around the floor were showing their solutions to support HIPPA and healthcare compliance and privacy regulations. Some items of note:
   • FileNet's partnership with Steelpoint to address Sarbanes-Oxley regulatory compliance issues
   • EMC's new Centera Compliance Edition, which assists customers in replying to new regulatory issues
   • Many vendors announcing new or enhanced email management software and solutions
   
   
   
4. Converging technologies - While this trend continues, the dividing line between eDM, eCM, Workflow, BPM and On Demand printing continues to blur. The driving force here is customer need and the desire for a vendor to sell and implement a complete solution to a key business problem. In our opinion, this is the primary driver of industry growth. As companies add features and functionality, existing customers will add to their applications and user base, and new prospects will find more compelling reasons to invest in new solutions. Some examples at AIIM 2003 were:
   • ABBYY and Toshiba partnering to enhance sales of multifunction copiers
   • Enhanced Xerox partnership with Kofax to broaden and integrate a wide spectrum of imaging offerings
   • Savin's display of Total Document Management using Globalscan
   • XMPie showing enhanced software solutions that can bridge the gap between printing and Content Management

All in all, AIIM 2003 helped to prove the viability of eDM, eCM, and BPM solutions. It provided a great forum to illustrate just how vital these technologies are in meeting regulatory compliance issues, improving productivity and, most importantly, in solving real world business problems. The challenge the industry now faces is to better communicate the true potential of these technology solutions to management in companies of all sizes. The message is compelling; it needs to be delivered clearly and concisely.

One observation - Change is needed! The AIIM Show has not changed significantly in over 20 years. We strongly recommend that the show organizers find a better way to structure the exhibit hall, the booths and the messages to make the event more user-friendly and easier to navigate. Also, if both events are to be kept together, some attempt needs to be made to integrate the exhibits. Two separate events under one roof are less useful than one highly-integrated event. Most vendors we spoke with wanted one thing - More prospects! That will not happen unless the value proposition for the event is made far more compelling.