EMC World 2012 – May 22 – IIG Solutions – Andy Crowne and Dave von Klemperer

Andy is the Senior Director of World Wide Delivery and Dave is Director of Solutions with IIG Consulting.  With the overall push theme of user-driven solutions, this session was very interesting given IIG’s overall goals. This post will highlight the presentation.

Andy began the session acknowledging that ECM is moving to a commodity.  As an organization, IIG needs to get closer to customers/clients and offer something more.  Solutions are at the heart of cloud and intimacy goals with the customer.

What is a solution?  Andy defined it as “An agreed answer to an acknowledged problem with a measurable benefit.”

Solutions Groups

• Formed 2007
• Building and enhancing repeatable solutions
• A mix of Consultants, Architects and Developers
• Results in customer-driven solutions built using cutting-edge IIG products

A productized solution…..

• Is a product on the price list
• Has long-term roadmap
• Supported and maintained
• Has training
• Delivered by IIG Consulting or by trained and “accredited” partners
• Addresses a specific customer business problem

A Consulting Solution….

• Is NOT a Product, but is a Consulting offering
• Has a price associated with it
• Is supported and maintained by the IIG Solution Group
• Implementation delivered by IIG consulting
• Education delivered by IIG consulting
• Address a specific customer business problem….

EPFM – Engineering, Plant & Facilities Management (productized solution)

This solution focuses on the infrastructure for the management of design and documentation.  The presentation focused on a copper mining operation that was changing mining direction.  The solution manages the complex interaction of documents in the engineering network.  Solution was very task driven.  Application showcased some interesting features with progress bars on documents in regards to their progress.

I was surprised that it is a Webtop solution (and not xCP) as that would seem to break some of the “latest technology” approach.

ECS- Enterprise Compliance Solution (productized solution)

This solution is a way of melding together challenges content management with compliance.  Business needs to balance records management with end user desire to move quickly.  The solution links end-user tools (SharePoint as an example): records management classification happens on the back-end, while SharePoint is the user interface.

 Introducing – Quality and Manufacturing Life Sciences (product solution)

This solution provides for a stricter set of rules for compliance including SOP Management.  D2 experience at Sanofi (slide showed Merck as well) and other life science companies.  Build on standard implementation of the DIA EDM reference model.  The solution included integrated paper capture via Captiva.  They also highlighted integrated collaborative authoring via SharePoint, which is something FirstDocs tends to show off.

Includes:

• Compliance – Auditing, Reporting, E-Signautre, Watermarks, Overlays
• Tools – Scanning into D2, SharePoint Collaboration
• Lifecycle Management – Workflow Automation, Review/Approval, Version, Change Control, Archiving/Purging
• Document Control
• Life Sciences Industry Modeling – IIG will be releasing solution with both 3.1 and 4.0 versions of D2.
• Solution targeted to have an OnDemand component.

Mentioned goal of having partners build complementary solutions on configuration solutions.

EAS – Enterprise Archiving Solution (not productized)

This solution is targeted towards companies that have regulatory obligations to retain data from legacy applications.  Multiple sites have been implemented including a French bank.  The solution archives structured database information as well as unstructured documents. to xDB and the Documentum content server.  Very simple search interface – bulk of work seemed to be focused on getting information into the archive with a small search.

SharePoint SDF – SharePoint Documentum Framework (not productized)

80 companies using SDF.  (Alyeska Pipeline and Viteos Capital Markets).  Solution is focused on the benefits of Documentum presented to the end user in SharePoint.  See initial write-up from two years ago here.  Includes customizable/extensible software development kit.

 EMC OnDemand

Consulting is working on getting all the solutions in the OnDemand environment.  OnDemand hopes t0o reduce the start-up time and make it easier to upgrade while providing all of the important features and functionality.

Tentative Solution Roadmap

Q2 – 2012

• Enterprise Archiving Solution 2.1 (Search, Results, Modify Search Order)
• EPFM 1.6 SP2 (OnDemand)
• Enterprise Compliance Solution 1.1 (MOSS 2010, D6.7, • Documentum Quality & Manufacturing Solution for Life Sciences 1.0 (D2 Release, DCM Migraiton Offering, Validation Offering)

Q3 – 2012

• Enterprise Archiving Solution 2.2
• SDF Solution 6.7
• EPFM 1.7

Q4 – 2012

• SDF solution 6.7 SP1
• EPFM 1.7 SP1
• Documentum Quality & Manufacturing Solution for Life Sciences 1.0 SP1

Q1 – 2013

• Enterprise Archiving Solution 2.3
• SDF Solution 6.7 SP2

Questions

Question – Where is DCM on the roadmap?

Answer – Life Sciences Solution is a new solution on new technology.  It is feature parity with DCM.  Plus we have a migration toolkit to the new offering.  DCM is feature complete and is not a strategic direction.  Life Sciences solutions will require new purchase.

Summary Thoughts

Presentation was consistent with what we first pointed out with the SharePoint Documentum Framework back in 2010.  Similar to our experience with TSG solutions, good consultants can drive product direction based on direct client feedback.  Software companies can get caught in the “build it and they will come” mode.  Consulting solutions provide a great way to see if clients really want features  by putting some of their own skin in the game.

Some key observations:

• Notice how the consulting solutions have little social or collaborative features.  Software companies want to jump on these viral applications but customers only pay for business benefit.
• Some OnDemand but doesn’t appear like a huge amount.
• Why isn’t SDF a product yet?  80 clients – 1.5 years.  Begs the question that consulting wants to keep this rather than release it to clients and partners.

How successful these solutions will be for clients depends on how they are sold and staffed.  IIG really needs experienced consultants pushing realistic goals rather than software sales reps overselling and overpromising.  Our experience with Documentum Sales and Consulting in the past with other solutions has not been great, although it appears to be much better in Europe.  Documentum users considering solutions should be careful in engaging to make sure the right team is staffed to their engagement.

Let us know your thoughts below.