AIIM/On Demand and Xerox...A Long History
The buzz and excitement is building for the 2007 AIIM/OnDemand beginning next Tuesday. While I was getting my talk ready for my Wednesday Panel and preparing for some press interviews, I paused to reflect on the role this show has played in the history of the new Xerox. Thirty five years ago, I attended the National Microfilm Association – the forerunner of AIIM which now bills itself as the Enterprise Content & Information Management – show to test my concept for a direct laser-based computer-to-film recorder. That show was attended by prim and proper librarians and geeky archivists. Today AIIM is all about using, processing and sharing information, not about locking and preserving it. And there is exciting interplay between images and information. Some of the same companies are still there, but they are significantly evolved and the big booths are sponsored by the likes of Adobe and Microsoft.
On Demand is a product of the digital print age and was the child of Charlie Pesko. Charlie began his career at Xerox Square in the mid 70’s as one of the bright young tigers in Art Stauffer’s marketing group in Xerox Square about the time when digital was just beginning. In the wake of the DocuTech launch, he began On Demand to convince “regular printers” that digital was real, was the way to go, and that he (the show and his consulting firm) was there to help. Charlie and his sequence of consulting firms did a great deal to advance the digital print industry, as well as provide gainful employment to many former Xerox execs over the years On Demand has always been more of a series of tutorials than a regular trade show. Many of the speakers are lead users and early adopters. In the beginning, it was more about mind share than order taking, but this year Xerox is trying to balance that out.
Putting AIIM and OnDemand together seems very natural and convenient for Xerox. It plays to our two established businesses and the interplay of Technology, Document Management and Services can be seen across the show floor.
In my next blog, I will replay some stories from Xerox’s first big splash at AIIM in 1994 and how I am looking at this years show through that prism.
Peter Crean
Senior Fellow, Xerox Innovation Group
Xerox