Print IT Reseller - issue 52

01732 759725 22 AI Importantly, people can find that information on M-Files from a desktop client, web client or increasingly through our mobile app Artificial intelligence A critical component to M-Files’ success has been the continued expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. In 2017 it partnered with ABBYY, a global provider of innovative language-based and artificial intelligence technologies, then in August acquired Apprento, a Canada-based provider of AI technology solutions that brought new natural language processing (NLP) and natural language understanding (NLU) technologies to the M-Files platform. In December, it launched M-Files 2018, a major new product release that represents a fundamental step forward in how businesses manage information. “When we look at AI and M-Files 2018 and what we call the intelligent metadata layer – we’re taking metadata one step further, allowing people to apply this contextual metadata model to information that lives outside of M-Files,” Waterton explained. “In essence we’re providing connectivity to other repositories – from network drives, other ECM systems, Dropbox or SharePoint etc. etc. We’re able to look at those systems and identify the content that lives within them and then present and surface it through M-Files without ever having to migrate all of that content or lift and shift it.” He continued: “Importantly, people can find that information on M-Files from a desktop client, web client or increasingly through our mobile app. That’s pretty powerful, even before you start adding the AI layer on top. “By applying metadata to information that lives outside M-Files, we are able to provide context for that information. If we go back to the contract mentioned earlier, if it lives on a network drive you can choose to index that data just as you would within M-Files, as well as put it through business processes and workflows without moving it from the repository,” he said. “Another advantage is that whilst NLP allows the system to look within the document for candidate metadata, NLU is able to look sideways within M-Files to the key information that is synched with the CRM or ERP e.g. contacts and companies. This means we can match what we find within these documents with knowledge of the entire business ecosystem, enabling us to make even more intelligent suggestions about what metadata should be applied for particular documents,”Waterton added. This functionality means that the metadata attached to a document is more accurate and also the process of categorising the information is much more efficient. “Rather than asking people to choose from a drop down menu, we’re able to make the suggestion for them. The end result is a richer set of metadata being delivered faster and by fewer employees,” he said. Channel model Up until now M-Files’ channel model has been pretty exclusively resellers. “Our channel partners have driven a lot of growth in different territories,”Waterton confirmed, adding: “What we’ve seen in the UK is an opportunity for lots of different partners to work with us in this ecosystem. So to complement our reseller channel, we recently rolled out a referral programme whereby partners work with us to introduce business that we can effectively close to the end customer. Equally if those referral partners have a strong business relationship with existing customers, we’re able to co-sell alongside them and jointly deliver solutions into their end clients.” Waterton also said that the company is looking to dramatically expand the referral partner network particularly with partners who have got either a strong geographic presence or who have vertical market expertise. “Resellers may in fact have technology solutions in those vertical markets and simply want to strengthen their offer by carrying a world leading ECM system alongside their current portfolio.” He added: “We have a blend of partners, referral partners who are able to identify opportunities alongside their existing business will sit alongside resellers who are finding opportunities, selling and delivering solutions to support these. Referral partners are an on-ramp for reselling – as they establish more expertise and build a revenue stream from M-Files though the referral and co-selling models, they may well choose to deepen their investment and establish a particular business unit or team – and that’s great for us.” The company also has a third partner category – accredited service provider. “These are essentially delivery partners, people who are uniquely focused on the delivery of high value professional services and implementation alongside us. So, we’re looking for partners who aren’t necessarily looking to drive licence revenue but who have specific expertise in delivering ECM systems,”Waterton explained, adding: “Our goal here is not to build a professional services business but to drive M-Files deployment and licence growth and we have three partners already working alongside us in this area.” Plans for growth Waterton said the company is looking to double its UK business this year. “We want to ensure we deliver what customers actually want, the focus for us is ease of adoption and time to value. We are probably looking for 50 per cent growth in our resell business and we really do see the channel as being a tremendous growth opportunity for us in terms of driving the overall number,” he said. Headcount in the UK is expected to grow to 22 or 23 this year, up from 14 people last year. “We’re deepening our investment in people in the UK to drive business alongside our partners, as opposed to taking business from our partners,”Waterton said in conclusion. www.m-files.com ...continued