It’s hard to believe that Horizons 2017 has already come and gone, but, before we start planning next year’s customer appreciation conference, we’d like to take a minute or two to reflect on the big things that happened at this year’s conference – and the big news making waves across the industry.
Enterprise Content Management Is Now Also Called “Content Services”
Perhaps the biggest news discussed at Horizons 2017 is that Enterprise Content Management (ECM), the market definition that we all know and love, is no more.
According to Michael Woodbridge, Analyst at Gartner,
“ECM is now dead (kaput, finite, an ex-market name), at least in how Gartner defines the market. It’s been replaced by the term Content Services, a strategic concept that covers three aspects, namely Content Services Applications, Platforms and Components.”
Without getting too bogged down in the details, we’ll just say that Content Services is less about consolidating your technology into a single platform and more about bringing together various technologies to solve your greatest information challenges.
The change in terminology represents an honest look at the fact that most organizations today need multiple content repositories – not a single solution – and offers a more realistic approach to achieving all of the benefits promised by ECM technologies.
During Thursday’s KeyMark Kickoff, our fearless leader Jim Wanner talked about what these changes mean for the industry and reiterated our commitment to making information easy.
The big takeaway here: we still believe that information should be easy, and although products, technology and terminology are evolving, our promise remains the same – to be the most knowledgeable, trustworthy and responsive go-to partner for our customers.
KeyMark Labs: Fertile Ground for Killer Content Applications.
What better way to unpack the shift in thinking from ECM to Content Services than by looking at it through the lens of innovation?
Our very own Aaron Moller, Innovation Manager at KeyMark, announced the creation of KeyMark Labs, a place where strategic thinking, caffeine-fueled collaboration and deep technical competence creates winning mobile and custom applications leveraging micro-services on top of our core solutions.
If you’ve ever found yourself saying, “How would we do that?,” KeyMark Labs may be just the team for you. The truth is that innovation has always been a part of who we are.
We’re always tinkering and testing behind-the-scenes to come up with smart, forward-thinking solutions for ourselves and our customers. We are now simply providing access to our internal product development team to create the unique solutions that you may need but can’t find or figure out.
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
Last but definitely not least, we want to say thank you to everyone who joined us for Horizons 2017 and to everyone who helped make it happen, from attendees and presenters to partners and sponsors – and everyone in-between. This year’s conference once again proved that the hours and hours of preparing and planning make the action-packed agenda worth every minute.
We pride ourselves on our ability to put on a good customer appreciation conference, one that our customers actually want to attend and one that actually delivers practical, proven ways to make organizations better.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that our event is hosted in downtown Greenville, one of America’s favorite destinations, or that our Customer Appreciation Party features delicious food, an open bar, outdoor games and rocking live music from our house band, Kami Ocean and The Rhythm.
Speaking of, our second annual ECM Expo out-shined the first, if you can believe it. It was good to see a number of new faces in the crowd, and it was good to see so many people with technology demos, getting wheels spinning and having a great time. There’s no doubt that the third time is the charm, so we look forward to seeing you all there next year.
Let’s Make Horizons 2018 Even Better.
As proud as we are of Horizons, we’re always looking for ways to make it better. If you have suggestions or recommendations for Horizons 2018, just let us know, and we’ll keep them in mind when planning next year’s conference. Until then, wear your hand-lettered T-shirt proudly and keep practicing your corn hole skills. The talent is only getting stronger!
What You Can Do Next:
- Follow KeyMark on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and Instagram: @keymarkinc.
- Download additional resources to learn more.
- Talk to us about a solution that would fit your needs. Fill out a brief contact form. We promise not to blow up your email. This just helps us to keep track of who is reaching out.
