2016.

It’s here.

It arrived with a bit of a bump in my house, don’t know about yours!

But it’s here.

It’s a precious 12-month opportunity in front of us. And I think we need to take it seriously in our market – and I have some calls to action for us all!

Information Is Commercial

The world’s biggest taxi firm doesn’t own a single car. (Uber.)
The world’s biggest hotel doesn’t have a single room of its own to clean. (Airbnb.)

The list goes on. It grows every day.

It’s a time of madcap digital disruption that every single day tells us the lesson is that information is what matters now.

We help broker that.

Information Management is important.

A Rising Economy Marches To A Different Pace Than One In Recession

2008 finally ended last year. By which I mean, it’s recovery time. The focus doesn’t always, manically, have to be on paring down cost and preserving the business. Organisations, enterprises, SMEs alike – they’re all expanding, investing. More people than ever before are in work.

We need to keep up. DM now has to be about helping companies spot and make the best of opportunities as much as being about cutting out paper and inefficiency. DM has to be as much about helping spot and recruit human capital assets as it is about restraining cost in the HR function by more use of digital. The digital marketer needs to hear from us as much as accounts receivable. The CEO is open to a dialogue now about using digital to expand, not just save every penny.

It’s a time for us to change the slant and get with the beat. DM contributes to the best steps for a sensible business looking for a place in the sun. We matter as much to the Internet of Things debate as we do to the M&A chat and to the paperless NHS mission.

That’s exciting – and we need to rise to the occasion.

Our technology needs to advance

Mobile. HTML 5. Consumerisation. Smartphones. Peerless service.

They all need to be at the heart of our thinking. We’re making a big push on all of them. If you’re not, then you will be in trouble – maybe not today, but some time this year, rest assured.

Content’s changing, too. Video, sound, animation – and why are you so focused on spreadsheets and words? Content is content, yes, but it’s morphing, changing, expanding. A good DM company needs to be as fluent in movie files as it is about invoice formats. We have to be Enterprise Content Management experts as much as Document ones – this is the year that has to flip over for good.

So I see 2016 as a landmark, decisive year for both my company but also every member of thedmcollaborators community.

The opportunity is there.

Go out and take it.

Here’s to an amazing 2016.

Good luck out there!

Howard

Howard Frear is Director of Sales & Marketing for EASY SOFTWARE UK