Interwoven update

Interwoven had their recent annual event at the Hilton in the Edgware Road in London, I caught up with two of their key figures to get their views and updates on the industry and Interwoven.

Neil Araujo who was a founding member of iManage, which through merger became Interwoven, is a Citytech global top 100 leader with sixteen years industry experience. kicks off the interview by running through some recent achievements from Interwoven. “We’ve just started in the accountancy space to expand our market which is currently running at one new law firm deal a week.” This he says is a combination of gravitations and new clients.
The battle for talent was something that rose out from the two day event, Neil, who is based in Chicago and is VP of Marketing, tells us why. “Firms want the best talent they can get, so increasingly need to be ‘desktop ready’ for the new keyboard generation, who are up to speed with the Microsoft template when they arrive. It’s about consumerisation of the desktop and meeting their expectations rather than making life complex and perhaps losing them to another firm.”

Neil says search is at the top of the agenda for everyone although concedes that the web and Google experience has not made it into many organisations yet. He tells us why. “Google can afford super computers, which are out of the scope of most of us, but the notion of one type of data is really only relevant for the web. Most firms have disparate data everywhere so applying one rule is complex and a difficult job.” He mentions managed and unmanaged data which refers to organised data like document management and then mass unorganised areas like email boxes. “We are making sure with our new search software ‘Universal Search’ that we work across all of these areas and archives.”

The Interwoven Universal Search tool, which launched at the end of September 2007, is like Google with a one box window and many other additions to improve information searches. “It automatically categorizes taxonomy on the fly.” Says Neil before adding in the usual Interwoven punchy style. “We are confident it will knock out most other search vendors and have made it the core search engine on Worksite.” He highlights its usability. “If our clients can use the web, they can use this.”

Mobility is still at the top of the can-we-work-faster-list as well and Neil says there is a big emphasis on performing effectively, even if fee earners are at the mercy of slow internet facilities or dial up whilst travelling. “We want people to be able to work in all sorts of conditions.” Something that many of us will relate to if you’ve ever needed to get an urgent report done whilst in a hotel that doesn’t consider internet a priority. “Firms are so global.” Says Neil. “We want to work on these types of issues.”

Email management processes continue to be the not-new-at-all-big-thing but Neil says as an information management company, Interwoven will keep an eye on this fire ball. He also highlights risk as a key issue and says it comes back to hiring. “Firms have got to hire the best people and also have information hygiene as part of their normal practice.” He tells us why. “If you are ordered by the courts to provide data and your systems are all over the place, it has obvious consequences and at the very least will cause internal panic, tempers flying, higher costs and red faces. Information these days must be easily accessible and organised or your reputation is at stake.”

Neil thinks internet technology is moving forcefully into law firms (and enterprise in general) and says it’s all part of the ongoing consumerisation of the desktop. “It’s the biggest thing I’ve seen.” He says. “And it’s coming whether firms like it or not but the great thing is that much of it will be simple to implement; just like flipping a switch, which will be great for IT directors.”
Ben Kiker, who is SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Interwoven, joined last year and also offers his thoughts. “The last year has been about reviewing where we needed to be to accelerate. We’ve invested more into marketing and it’s leadership team with twenty five more staff hired, bringing us up to sixty five in total. “We are making it a priority to get around to customers who include Singapore Airlines, to really understand what they are doing.” He says. “We have found that firms are investing in IT to grow and because business models are changing.”

Through big deals Interwoven has done with government bodies, they’ve identified themes like the battle for talent. “Baby boomers are leaving industries in droves as they reach retirement and are taking serious knowledge with them and just walking out the door. It’s causing a significant squeeze on staff. Then you have children born at the keyboard who want to access Wiki at work and want more creativity.”

As we alight on Wiki’s, I ask how Ben thinks marketing staff should protect themselves from this surge of un authorised content which can have a negative impact and included a recent US assistant solicitor posting a derogatory song about his law firm online. “Marketeers have to realise that they can’t control their brands anymore particularly with user sites like TripAdviser which just reveal bad bits about hotels in a minute if they aren’t on form. Life is more about transparency now. We are using podcasts, blogging and RSS feeds to develop our Interwoven community and be more open.”

Of the tech world, Ben thinks the general conversation about technical IT has moved on. “Techies now want to talk about broader topics and many roles are diversifying. He mentions an Online Experience Director role at Singapore Airlines and says that most line managers and tech directors are increasing internal collaboration. He adds that people are looking at their web presence a lot more now than ever before. “Ten years ago websites started with marketing then went back into IT but are now firmly back in marketing again.” Says Ben. “There is a lot of investment going into online offerings and people are analysing how purchasers use their websites. Clients like Tesco are introducing lifestyle areas and online forums to invite people in and show them their brand. We’re also investing in our public facing image because we think it’s critical for attracting talent and clients. The online canvas is an incredible opportunity.”
Finishing off Ben says. “DM is the majority of our revenue but the stars are aligning in other areas. People are spending again and the tech investment cycle is in the right place. We’ve had successive growth over fourteen quarters and want to expand and interact with customers more. Community is important to us and we want to help be a facilitator between areas like IT and marketing. We are also broadening our appeal into areas like search because research shows that this is what clients want more than niche operators something that may make life difficult for specialist vendors.” ©

This first appeared in http://www.citytechmag.com/