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Document Management Service Providers Critical to Fulfill Needs of End Users
AIIM - The Enterprise Content Management Association today released results from its new Industry Watch study "State of the Document Management Service Provider Industry." The study of over 232 executives in the document "channel," sponsored by Böwe Bell+Howell, DocuWare, EMC/Captiva, and Hyland Software, found that the "channel" which includes resellers, distributors, consultants, and service providers, is critical to the development, delivery and implementation of document, content, and records management solutions for end users.
"The document channel is strong and healthy," states AIIM President John F. Mancini. "In looking at revenue growth in this year's survey versus last year, companies exhibit virtually the same positive outlook as last year. 18% of those responding reported that revenues 'increased significantly' in 2006, and another 56% reported that revenues 'increased' (a total of 74%). This is virtually identical to the 77% that reported rising year over year revenues in 2005."
The customer base for document management service providers is also growing. 38% of respondents reported that the number of customers increased by more than 10% during 2006, and another 43% reported an increase in the customer base of between 1 and 10%.
"We believe that as core ECM technologies become more mainstream, the document channel will play an increasingly important role in meeting end user needs. The more effective companies in the channel are increasingly focusing their efforts on specific vertical industries or key processes. It is no longer enough to be a generic solutions provider."
The top vertical priorities for the channel reflect the traditional industries with significant document challenges. At the top of the list is healthcare. Likely reflecting the increasing need for automation and compliance solutions -- 78% of survey participants provide solutions for the healthcare industry, up from 66% in the 2005 survey. Banking and insurance (two-thirds of solutions providers are active in these two verticals) and manufacturing (66%) fill out the two through four slots. Those providing manufacturing solutions increased from 56% in 2005 to 66% in 2006. State and local governments continue to represent an important market for the channel, with 63% of companies surveyed providing solutions for this vertical.
The report is available at http://www.aiim.org/article-industrywatch.asp?ID=32703
About the Survey
The survey was conducted in October 2006 using an on-line survey instrument. A total of 232 company executives in the document "channel" participated in the survey. This is the fourth year that AIIM has conducted this survey. During the first two years, the survey focused exclusively on service company executives. In 2005 and 2006, we broadened participation to include VARs, systems integrators, and consultants. This reflects the convergence we have seen among the channel for delivering document management systems.
The overall demographics of the participants include: 38% service companies, 29% VARs, 14% consultants, 12% systems integrators, 5% other, 2% VADs. Two-thirds of the survey participants were either VARs or service companies. This reflects a very similar distribution to the 2005 survey in which 20% of the participants were VARs and 37% were service companies. 21.02.2007, Beth Mayhew, AIIM Association
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