In Case of an Earthquake, Head to Higher Ground!

In Case of an Earthquake, Head to Higher Ground!

Topics for Discussion

Information Tsunamis past Tsunamis – recent past; present time

Print to digital content Mobile platforms “Social” media

Infotrieve’s response and its evolution Failure Success

What lies ahead?

1 March, 2011 Slide: 2

A simplified taxonomy (or is it an ontology?), according to Rumsfeld Known knowns:

Earthquakes happen Certain earthquakes produce tsunamis

Known unknown: Drown? Severe injury but still alive? More prosperous than before? Maintenance of the status quo?

Unknown unknowns: After-shocks of what magnetitude? Next earthquake?


Tsunamis Past

“past is prologue”William Shakespeare


My [very] brief history of information technology

2700 BC – 18004,500 years

2700 BCAlphabetic writing

300 BCAncient library of Alexandria

1440Guttenberg printing press

1800 to 1950Next 150 years

1800 - 1900 Telegraph Phonograph

1900 - 1950 Radio Television ENIAC computer Xerox machine


My [very] brief history of information technology (continued…)

1950 to1990Next 40 years

1950 – 1970 Sputnik Jet transportation Moon landing IBM System 360

1970 – 1990 FAX Personal computer Sony Walkman TCP/IP protocol Wal-Mart



1950 to1990Next 40 years

1950 – 1970 Sputnik Jet transportation Moon landing IBM System 360

1970 – 1990 FAX Personal computer Sony Walkman TCP/IP protocol Wal-Mart




1990’s Amazon.com PalmPilot Microsoft Windows Microsoft Office Laptop SAP’s R/3 Software

2000’s Google 3G wireless Facebook & Twitter iPod™, iPhone™ iPad™




1990’s Amazon.com PalmPilot Microsoft Windows Microsoft Office Laptop SAP’s R/3 Software

2000’s Google 3G wireless Facebook & Twitter iPod™, iPhone™ iPad™


What Cardinal Ximénez Might Say…(Monty Python Flying Circus)

“Everyone now expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

“Amongst our weaponry Fear, Arrogance, Narrow mindedness, An almost fanatical devotion to

the Pope, and Nice red uniforms…”


Infotrieve at a glance

Founded in the late 1980’s Services provided:

Pay-per-use document delivery Digital content licensing Business process outsourcing Content supply-chain management technology

“Content SCM®” ~280K scientists, engineers & health care professionals Over 5,000 clients (science, technology & medicine)

Global business: ~50% Fortune 500 companies 45 of the top 50 pharma companies


A tsunami Infotrieve barely survived

Print digital content

Science, technology and medicine


Print digital contentInfotrieve’s first response

Core business - document delivery Concluded that business was dying Activated auto-pilot

Made relatively large investments Search & discovery Fax document transmission Web-based marketing – laboratory equipment Electronic laboratory notebook


Print digital contentInfotrieve’s first response (continued…)

By the fall of 2005…

Significant revenue down-draftCore business; as well asAcquisitions

The Company was drowning in a sea of red ink

CEO walked out on a Friday afternoon with no notice


Print digital contentInfotrieve’s first response (continued…)

So, what wrong? New product investment

Miniscule vis-à-vis competitors Products unrelated to the Company’s core business Products requiring long adoption or sales cycles Little or no client demand for products Entered markets with little or no competitive

advantage and/or expertise Fax transmission technology rapidly became

obsolete

Company was not capitalized as a start-up


Print digital contentInfotrieve’s second response

1. Recapitalized Company as an early-stage growth business

2. Refocused the Company on its core business, i.e. document delivery

3. Made significant investments in: Process automation technology People Sales & marketing Operations management


Print digital contentInfotrieve’s second response (continued…)

4. New product development strategy Develop a comprehensive set of services for a

defined market Identify problems worth solving from a client point-

of-view Adjust course by 45º not 180º Erect entry barriers Seize the first-mover advantage

5. Roll-up fragmented industry Partnerships Acquisitions



New product discovery recipe 2006/07 500-600 hours of face-to-face client and end-

user interviews ~75 hours of face-to-face interviews

Scientific, technical or medical publishers Business partners or vendors

Ample portion of “gray hair”: Three team members Two with 20+ years of experience



Resulting new products and services

Content SCM®

(content supply-chain management)

STM Library™(print collection housing and management)

Business process outsourcing(for the library or information center)

BRAVO™(reprints/e-print order aggregation)


Content SCM®

Hosted by Infotrieve [Software as a Service]

Wal-Mart/SAP supply chain management model as applied to information management: Publishers = manufacturers Content end-users = customers

Problems solved for the client: Content end-user

“Instant” sourcing & delivery High-quality documents Cost v. benefits decision Access to all content ever published

Chief Financial Officer – cost minimization Legal – copyright compliance



Status of industry roll-up circa 2011:

Thomson ReutersPrivate-label document delivery (TS Doc™)

Canadian Institute of Scientific Information National science library operations Content SCM® deployed Document supplier for Canadians

Document delivery “arms dealer” FIZ Karlsruhe British Library

Smaller acquisitions in process1 March, 2011 Slide: 21

What’s next for Infotrieve?

Two earthquakes of immediate interest

Social media iPad™

Will a tsunami or tsunamis ensue?

(in the for-profit scientific, technical and medical content marketplace)

Regardless, it would be prudent to head for higher ground anyway.


Apple™ iPad™ PCs continued to dominate (in 2010)

~350 million PCs (nearly 14% YOY increase) ~20 million iPads (annualized)

The iPad™ is a great device for consuming content but not for creating content

iPad™ is missing key business applications Multiple applications running simultaneously Scientific, technical, medical publishers

Not rushing to take advantage of platform capabilities

Apple’s 30% cut of subscription revenues?.

Not the first mobile platform we have seen1 March, 2011 Slide: 24

Perhaps the tsunami will manifest itself in the tablet PC, no?

This year or next?


Some observations re “Social Media”

Major impact on society as a whole Examples for science, technology and medicine

Peer-reviewed journals Product literature database NFAIS Conference Sermo - 115K physicians

Factors effecting rate of adoption of any new technology Protection of intellectual property Regulatory compliance Copyright compliance


How will social media be used in science, technology and medicine?

R&D collaboration Communications or alerts Drug/medical device marketing Technology transfer/training Other areas…


Infotrieve’s road-map to higher ground…

Extend Content SCM® platform (in March, 2011)

MobileLibrary™ Initial design by

technical team Followed by extensive

client beta

Research collaboration suite (aka social media) Input from product advisory committee [clients] Survey of best practices and products [clients]

Product literature databases Reference management

Infotrieve’s response


Infotrieve’s response (next steps…)

New product discovery recipe 2011/12 Conduct numerous face-to-face interviews

Clients and end-users Scientific, technical or medical publishers Business partners or vendors

Stir in an ample portion of “gray hair” And…


Infotrieve’s response (next steps…)

New product discovery recipe 2011/12 Conduct numerous face-to-face interviews

Clients and end-users Scientific, technical or medical publishers Business partners or vendors

Stir in an ample portion of “gray hair” Hire a Mark Zuckerberg clone

Product manager for social media If “qualified”, please send résumé


In conclusion…

Known knowns Unrelenting, exponential rate of change Future developments are largely unpredictable

Known unknowns Impact of mobile technology Impact of “social media” Source of our next significant growth opportunity

Unknown unknowns Next big thing Relevance to science, technology and medicine Impact on Infotrieve’s business


Questions

Documents

In Case of an Earthquake, Head to Higher Ground!