Print.IT Reseller - issue 54

01732 759725 28 PARTNER PROGRAMME “We have also seen a healthy growth in our pipeline from newly acquired co-sell partners. Over the past few months, since we appointed Mark, we have started to push hard on that recruitment programme and we are already into the high single digits in the number of new co-sell partners that we’ve added. In terms of additional reach that’s really quite substantial.” Key to growth The extended channel approach with its broader range of partnership options is all about reach and relevance – making M-Files accessible to as many customers as possible while leveraging the relationships and speciality that comes from a broad and rich partner network. “The M-Files UK business continues to go from strength to strength but the information management sector is competitive and we have no intention of sitting back right now. It’s all about making sure the customer benefits from the right blend of partner expertise and M-Files expertise and we are convinced that this is the formula for customer success at scale,”Waterton said. The enhanced partner program is key to M-Files’ 2018 growth plan. “Our plan is to continue the strong growth within the UK and we’re looking for 100 per cent growth in the UK this year. The new leadership team is lined up to deliver the next level of growth; which we see coming from an extended M-Files channel. We are targeting 50 per cent growth overall from our pure resell business and importantly we see the channel influence or co-sell category comprising 20 per cent of that overall number. As we start to run through Q3 and Q4 we have a lot of our pipeline coming through this category.” Trends The increased focus on digital transformation is one factor that is driving growth in the information management sector. “There are a couple of trends driving wider adoption of content management solutions. If we take digital transformation as an example, as much as I like the concept, there is a tendency that organisations can get a little stuck in it – focusing on the journey as opposed to the destination,”Waterton explained. “When having conversations with customers, it’s a lot more interesting to talk to them about the digital workplace. Whilst this can be different depending on what industry you’re looking at – everyone knows what it looks like. Our approach is to encourage them to consider the digital transformation process as a means of getting to where they want to get to, rather than getting too wrapped up in the technology options along the way – that’s what I mean when I say the focus should be on the destination rather than the journey.” Taking cost out of a business also remains high on the agenda and the cost associated with an inability to find information can be high. In research conducted by M-Files, nearly half of organisations (48 per cent) believe that their company struggles with managing information silos. Plus 67 per cent of firms are seeing negative impacts on staff productivity caused by them continually needing to navigate through different systems to find and verify the most current versions of their documents. There is also mobile working, a survey conducted across 250 IT decision-makers revealed that 90 per cent found it at least somewhat challenging to search for and access documents when working remotely. “Increasingly at a senior level the one topic that is playing out is the impact of the generation change and the advent of digital natives in the workplace. Statistics show that already 33 per cent of the workforce is comprised of digital natives and by 2025, it’s expected this will rise to 75 per cent,”Waterton said. “Senior executives are concerned about the fact that unless they deliver a vision of the digital workplace they will not attract this next generation and be able to hire the right talent in order to be competitive, as an information management specialist, M-Files is well positioned to help,” he said in conclusion. www.m-files.com The increased focus on digital transformation is one factor that is driving growth in the information management sector ...continued