LNC MARKET PERFORMANCE WHEEL PIM AND MAM

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1 LNC MARKET PERFORMANCE WHEEL PIM AND MAM Detailed information on the criteria evaluated in the LNC studies

2 MARKET PERFORMANCE WHEELS Evaluation CONTENTSERV PIM Suite Evaluation CONTENTSERV MAM Suite Ability to Execute / Ability to execute Marktdurchdringung / Market penetration Zukunftsfähigkeit / Future proof Technologie / Technology 2/13

3 THE INDIVIDUAL POTENTIAL ANALYSIS The Market Performance Wheel analyzes four core areas in terms of business performance: technology, ability to execute projects, market penetration and future proof. In the individual potential analysis, each area is further subdivided into four subcategories. This enables a differentiated statement with individual ratings in a total of 16 areas. The average of these ratings is computed and a meaningful average result is color-coded within the Wheel. Once cumulated, these average values represent the overall performance level of the company. This result is placed prominently at the center of the Wheel. Management Summary In these two international performance reports, LNC analysts introduce the top eight PIM software providers that have been chosen from more than 20 providers of Product Information Management solutions as well as the top eight MAM providers. The Market Performance Wheel screens the PIM providers in the areas technology, ability to execute (ability to implement projects), market penetration, and future proof. In turn, four subcategories with over 500 criteria each were surveyed and analyzed to come up with the final ranking. In addition, randomly selected existing customers and partners were interviewed extensively. With an overall result of 80 points, CONTENTSERV achieved an outstanding place in the PIM ranking. In the area technology CONTENTSERV was ranked technology leader, and the CONTENTSERV PIM system was rated as a technologically proven system. In the overall evaluation, the CONTENTSERV PIM comes off as the solution of choice, in particular, for small to medium-sized businesses. In the Market Performance Wheel MAM, CONTENTSERV has also been able to move towards the top in the area technology and reach an outstanding score of 81 points. As winner in the area ability to execute, CONTENTSERV is furthermore able to confirm its role as most innovative solution provider for an integrated Marketing Information Management. Apart from its strong technological approach, which is very well positioned in view of growing multichannel challenges, the CONTENTSERV solution has been awarded top marks in the categories software deployment, support/training/documentation, industry sector/customer references, partnerships, installed base, completeness of vision and management team in the frame of the overall evaluation of all participants in both Marketing Performance Wheels. As the only provider with an integrated approach in a field of Pure Player competitors that only offer one of the two, a PIM or a MAM solution, CONTENTSERV has received top marks in both studies. This unique positioning has proven once again that CONTENTSERV requires no compromises from its customers since it convinces with its best-of-breed approach in both solution areas, i.e. PIM and MAM. With its fully integrated PIM and MAM solution (Product Information Management und Media Asset Management via one single platform), the software company is the first choice when it comes to the interplay of product information and media assets for output in different channels (Multichannel). 3/13

4 DETAILS ON THE POTENTIAL ANALYSIS TECHNOLOGY Evalution: PIM Technology Evaluation: MAM Technology Ø Technology Average Value In the area technology, CONTENTSERV ranks highest among all PIM providers and is the leader of the PIM Market Performance Wheel in technology with 22 out of 25 possible points. For its MAM system, CONTENTSERV also receives the excellent result of 22 points, thus securing a first place among all MAM providers. Solution approach and integration The evaluation area solution approach and integration reflects, on the one hand, how much a software solution is standardized in matters of Product Information Management and Media Asset Management. On the other hand, it presents the number and quality of the interfaces to adjacent system environments such as ERP, PIM, MAM, MRM, CMS, E-Commerce, CRM and print publishing. Thanks to its modular approach, the CONTENSTERV solution is a true end-to-end Marketing Information Management solution whose core modules PIM and MAM act as a unit. Additional modules of the Multichannel Management solution can be added according to customer requirements, for example for print publishing, E- commerce and newsletter management. These modules also act together as a unit, thus creating one single solution. Extensive standard interfaces to ERP, shop systems (such as OXID, Magento, Intershop etc.), marketing systems (such as Evalanche), CRM, and translation memory systems facilitate the integration with best-in-class specialists of adjacent system landscapes. Basic system functionality The basic system functionality illustrates the assessment of the software solution in terms of rights management, breadth of functionality, workflows and multitenancy capability. Also the UX of the interface and performance is analyzed. The topic is completed with evaluations relating to the topics of import and export functionality. 4/13

5 CONTENTSERV impresses with its unique graphical Workflow Engine, which enables a highly flexible configuration and automation of processes across all CONTENTSERV modules and integrated third party systems. Moreover, its granular roles and rights management makes it possible to specifically restrict many different users to their fields of duties. Comprehensive import and export features facilitate the central integration of data from and to any third party system. More importantly, the intuitive interface guarantees very simple handling. Function blocks The topic function blocks is one of the essential building blocks in both, a Product Information Management system. and a Media Asset Management system. It comprises all evaluations of the basic data model. This is where all components of both systems are screened, from initial data transfer via data maintenance structure to product relations in the PIM and the asset relations in MAM. For the PIM system, this includes text management, language and translation management, as well as the different classification models, such as search and quality assurance functions. In the MAM system, the search function, metadata, security templets and comprehensive classification options including inheritance and modification options are put to the test. In this category, CONTENTSERV sets an example with its highly flexible data model, comprehensive classification options, inheritance rules, attribute options, filter and search functions and many professional features such as the automatic creation of barcodes or where-used lists of products and their assets, such as images and videos, in the output channels. CONTENT- SERV s fully integrated Media Asset Management ensures together with the PIM system ensure a clearly minimized maintenance for product information, images, graphics, videos and downloads. Moreover, the integrated Translation Management transparently manages the translation jobs for multilingual product information, including interfaces to leading translation management systems, such as SDL Trados and Across. Product groups and variants can be created as required. Product attributes can be managed flexibly. Moreover, customer-specific product ranges and detailed product comparisons can be generated and mass data processed automatically. Output Channels The category output channels is dedicated to all output processes. Starting from the media-neutral approach, the analysis enters into specialty areas such as web content provisioning, e-commerce connectors, and includes complex print publishing integrations. Erläuterungen durch CONTENTSERV: Thanks to the media-neutral data storage, the centrally stored product information can be output across any existing channel and format, online and offline, at the touch of a button, including e-shops, websites, marketplaces, newsletters, and XML exports, etc. CONTENTSERV supports the complex print channel like no other PIM system with fully integrated processes from product planning to media creation based on templates, through to the preparation of print data that is ready for press. In the print area, many different rendering engines are used depending on the print publication from the fully-automated preparation to the individual creation and editing in the InDesign Client and/or InDesign Online Editor in the web browser. CONTENTSERV offers a completely web-based end-to-end solution which meets all print requirements. 5/13

6 Editing and output via MAM The category Editing and output attends to all modification, collaboration and output processes. Starting from the conversion approach, the analysis enters into specialty areas such as asset management (singular and mass mutation), collection management with collaboration room and includes the supply of the online channels, E-commerce connections and complex integration scenarios with PIM and MRM systems (for dynamic replacement of security templates). The multitenant capable MAM suite facilitates the central and media-neutral maintenance and management of the entire media data for all marketing channels as well as the supply of all output channels and target groups. In accordance with the Single Source principle, image and graphic data, video and audio files, office files and Adobe InDesign files are made available only once in the central production database before being automatically converted via the MAM image server for use in different media ( i.e. different sizes, resolutions, color spaces and formats). Possible changes of the original file are immediately adopted in all links in the PIM system. Simple image editing features are even available directly via the browser. External and internal employees, service providers and partners receive fast access to media files via the web platform. A comprehensive workflow and a role-based rights management control the processes regarding authorization, licensing, processing, editing, image ordering and releases. Import and export interfaces allow the exchange of diverse file formats. During import, image and file sizes, creation dates and file names are adopted and thumbnails and the likes can be created from the image data. Moreover, comprehensive meta information can be pre-allocated in an automated manner. In addition, the integrated version management facilitates a comparison of versions as well as the retrieval of previous versions. Where-used lists and back references in the MAM and the PIM system facilitate full transparency over the use of media data across all channels and campaigns, regarding their linking to the individual products and possibly even their period of validity. If image rights have only been granted for a certain time period, the images can automatically be blocked via a workflow as soon as the rights expire. It is easy to track where images have been used and images can be replaced in one central location for all applications. Not only individual media files, but also mass data changes can easily be accessed and implemented efficiently and directly from the MAM system or from the seamlessly integrated CONTENTSERV PIM system. Print documents require high resolution and thus memory-consuming image files. The Open Prepress Interface enables the use of low resolution image files for the editing of print documents. These low resolution images are then replaced by high resolution images in the pre-press stage. Where-used lists and back references across the entire CONTENTSERV system immediately point out which version of an image is used and for which channel. 6/13

7 DETAILS ON THE POTENTIAL ANALYSIS ABILITY TO EXECUTE Evaluation: Ability to execute PIM Evaluation: Ability to execute MAM Ø Ability to execute average value CONTENTSERV ranks number 1 in the potential analysis of the ability to execute for PIM. In the MAM Wheel CONTENT- SERV is also awarded first place. Its end-to-end Marketing Information Management guarantees an enormous efficiency potential for the customer which is only possible thanks to the combination of PIM and MAM. This overall view is missing in the one-dimensional LNC study that strictly separates PIM and MAM. Company Size. The evaluation area company size is crucial, especially for large enterprise projects. Here the number of employees, the associated revenue for the relevant software field and the relation to the total size of the company is integrated into the analysis. With its 120 employees, CONTENTSERV can no longer be counted among the small companies. It is a medium-sized business where employees still know and understand their customers and partners. As a consequence, CONTENTSERV is the optimal partner for (upper) mid-sized companies. Furthermore, the 17 points in the company size area put CONTENTSERV at the top of the medium-sized providers in both surveys. The CONTENTSERV partner network comprising more than 45 partners specialized in CONTENTSERV solutions was not part of this evaluation. This means that an additional 200 CONTENTSERV specialists in the partner companies are also available to support CONTENTSERV customers. With a total of more than 300 experts, CONTENTSERV can thus keep pace with the big PIM providers as well as the highly specialized pure players in the MAM area. Together with its partners CONTENTSERV provides its customers with high security in terms of attractive prices for follow-up projects, scalability and the best possible selection of experts. Quality of Project Execution 7/13

8 In addition to the evaluation of the software product life cycle, the topic quality of project execution mainly contains information on project implementation. Subcategories such as training and qualification of employees and partners, the methodology of project planning and the nature and composition of the project team come to bear here. The evaluation is completed by analyst interviews with customers and integration partners. Again, CONTENTSERV s strong partner network was not taken into consideration. However, the partner network considerably increases the scope for CONTENTSERV projects especially in terms of available resources and qualifications for the implementation of large projects for (upper) mid-sized companies. Thanks to the great number of experts available through the partner network, resources can be increased on short notice and projects can be scaled as required. Software deployment The fundamental IT structure in terms of standard software is analyzed and evaluated in the area software deployment. Here, next to the IT platforms and development environments, the section configuration management is also illuminated. Likewise, the test management, updatability, defined scaling scenarios and system monitoring are evaluated in this area. This is the area where CONTENTSERV really shows its strength. High software standards enable project implementation with low development effort. The standard software can be configured for many application scenarios on the basis of known target processes and is thus updatable and upgradable. The scalability of the basic components and the field-tested performance concepts (load balancing, application clustering and much more) ensure high performance to meet the highest customer demands. Even during the software development, the requirements are also high for testing and quality management Support/Training/ Documentation In the evaluation area support/training/documentation, the analytical result of the analysis reflects the support organization with its different service level agreements using appropriate ticket systems and the customer s access. The range of training seminars and the quality of the user documentation are also in the focus of the evaluation. In this area, CONTENTSERV s support services fulfil all wishes, which is reflected in the outstanding rating. Once again, CONTENTSERV was awarded first place among all software providers in one discipline for the MAM as well as the PIM Wheel, achieving 24 out of 25 possible points. Comprehensible and comprehensive documentation and training are extremely important to achieve good software acceptance. Moreover, good support is essential for day-to-day business. In the survey interviews, customers and partners alike confirm that CONTENTSERV provides exemplary service. 8/13

9 DETAILS ON THE POTENTIAL ANALYSIS MARKET PENETRATION Evaluation: Market Penetration PIM Evaluation: Market Penetration MAM Ø Market penetration average value In the three disciplines industry sector/customer references, partnerships and installation base, CONTENTSERV secured outstanding results among all PIM providers. However, with an average value of 18 points in the overall potential analysis market penetration, CONTENTSERV only ranked number 4. This is due to relatively small license revenues as the evaluation of the license revenue base shows. Since our pricing model is mainly aimed at SMEs, our license revenue is inevitably on a lower level than that of providers that strictly focus on customers from large corporations with license expenses for hundreds of users. You will learn more about this when both the number of installations on the market and the resulting license revenue are examined. CONTENTSERV has higher scores throughout this assessment area in the MAM Wheel and achieves an overall score of 20 points. Once again, the moderate license turnover reflects CONTENTSERV s focus on SMEs. Industry sector/ customer references The evaluation of the industry sector/customer references reflects, on the one hand, the spectrum of possible target sectors such as industry, specialized retailers, banks, insurance companies and tourism. On the other hand, the customer references within target industries play an essential role. To round up this area, the actual number of implemented projects, their magnitudes and evaluations of reference customer interviews are included in the analysis. CONTENTSERV was placed first among all providers in both the PIM Wheel and the MAM Wheel with a good, comprehensive coverage of business and industry, a large number of reference customers in the focus industries, mail order business, banks, insurances, tourism, as well as many satisfied existing customers. CONTENTSERV s high investments in good customer relations over the past few years and the company s outstanding customer support are clearly reflected in the good results for this category. In the long run, a software house can only stand out and maintain its ground with excellent customer relations. This is why CONTENTSERV s strategy in this area is paying off, namely to implement a limited number of selected reference customer projects itself while allowing competent partners to implement many of the standard projects. 9/13

10 Partnerships The topic partnerships values the cooperation with technology partners, associations, and research institutes worldwide, and especially the DACH network of integration partners and their realized sales volume with the relevant software. The results are also resonating qualitative information from the integrators obtained by the analyst interviews. CONTENTSERV also came in first among all competitors in the category partnerships in the MAM Wheel and only narrowly missed first place in the PIM Wheel. The focus of this category is not only the network of competent integration partners in the DACH area and worldwide, but also the numerous collaborations with leading technology partners as these factors create excellent synergies for the complete end-to-end product. The interviews with existing customers show that not only CONTENTSERV as a product, but also the company s close relations with its customers are highly valued. Existing customers truly benefit from the well-established partner network comprising more than 200 CONTENTSERV experts who provide customers with the rights contacts for questions on many industry-specific requirements. Furthermore, the widely distributed CONTENTSERV know-how and expertise is an important aspect of investment security. Installed base and license revenue base The number of installed systems worldwide and in the DACH market represents the installed base, which allows a quantitative assessment of the distribution of the software solution. In comparison, the license revenue base demonstrates a qualitative assessment of the extent of the installations. This implies that a high cumulative result reflects large enterprise installations with corresponding distribution. However, a high installed base with low valuation in license revenue base does not have to be bad, but is possibly an indicator of SMEfocused software solution. A low installed base can indicate a new software product, which has not yet reached its full market penetration. Just the right size - bigger than the small companies and smaller than the international software giants - CONTENTSERV offers the best cost-benefit ratio to SMEs of all providers, coupled with outstanding customer proximity. With a very high installation base (top result of 20 points in the PIM Wheel and even 21 points in the MAM Wheel) compared to a moderate license turnover (10 points for PIM and 11 points for MAM), this combination reflects CONTENTSERV s focus on SMEs, as explained earlier by LNC: In the past few years a large number of medium-sized PIM and MAM projects and mainly projects that use a combination of both systems have been implemented with CONTENTSERV customers and partners based on a fair price strategy, thus clearly distinguishing CONTENTSERV as the top provider for SMEs. 10/13

11 DETAILS ON THE POTENTIAL ANALYSIS FUTURE PROOF Evaluation: Future proof PIM Evaluation: Future proof MAM Ø Future Proof average value CONTENTSERV also got top marks in the subcategories completeness of vision and management team. The average value of 20 points in the potential analysis future proof is the result of a very clear strategy over the past 15 years, namely to position CONTENTSERV without external investors and to grow from the company s own cash flow consistently and autonomously. CONTENTSERV refuses risky outside capital or the sale of the company on the stock market. This leads to an average rating in the subcategory ability to grow. The readiness and ability to invest using the means of solid shareholders are not included in this analysis. Completeness of Vision For the future proof of a solution it is critical, among other things, how clear the solution is aligned to the target audience and their needs. This is reflected in the area completeness of vision. On the one hand, it is of importance how the management team has already anticipated the topic ISCM and the core areas PIM and MAM. On the other hand, it reflects their knowledge of competing PIM and MAM software solutions and how this is reflected in the product roadmap in order to fill any gaps. CONTENTSERV gets excellent results in the category completeness of vision, achieving once again an outstanding score of 20 points in the PIM Wheel and 21 points in the MAM Wheel. This is due to the clear focus of the company s corporate and product vision on focus industries and their needs, as well as the commitment of management and staff to the established product strategy. On the other hand, in the frame of its end-to-end solution approach, CONTENTSERV embraces a marketing strategy that focuses on the product, thus making the PIM and MAM system not only key products, but also a core competence within the CONTENTSERV solution. And more solution modules/blocks can be added, for example a Marketing Resource Management, Multichannel Management and Micro Targeting. This makes CONTENTSERV one of a kind on the market, an end-to-end Enterprise Marketing Management system that has yet to be matched. End-to-end marketing processes are of particular importance for the future focus of the company. The excellent rating in this discipline thus confirms CON- TENTSERV s integrated and innovative approach. 11/13

12 Ability to grow The category ability to grow assesses the financial opportunities that the company has to evolve and grow successfully. In this analysis, a plausibility check is performed to verify whether the planned growth rates are actually implemented. In the category ability to grow, it is clearly evident that CONTENTSERV positions itself without borrowed capital. Nevertheless, CONTENTSERV achieves a great result of 19 points in both wheels. All company shares are in the hands of management 100%. The corporate development is based on the company s own cash flow. Profits are solely used for the innovative further development of the product and the company and not for the distribution of dividends to shareholders that are only interested in short-term profit maximization instead of long-term corporate development. This reflects CONTENTSERV s role as a medium-sized company with its focus on solid long-term growth instead of growth at any cost. Management Team The area management team represents how broad and how secure the management of the enterprise is or if it is, for example, still heavily dependent on the company s founder. Thus, a high fluctuation of executives affects the analysis result negatively. In addition to meaningful individual results, the overall competence of the leadership team consisting of expertise regarding technology and product vision, but also for consulting, finance and partner management is rated. In this category, CONTENTSERV has once again received top marks in both surveys. Considering the company s size, the CONTENTSERV management team is highly professional with overlapping competencies on all hierarchy levels and in core areas such as technology and product management, consulting and project implementation, business development and partner management. CONTENTSERV has invested greatly in this area over the past few years and is very proud to see that this investment is already yielding fruit from the perspective of analysts, customers and partners alike. International Focus The topic international focus shows how strongly the company is positioning itself as a provider internationally. An analysis in this area assesses the planned expansion projects in terms of the necessary required framework, such as individual and total investment or headcount. The evaluation of CONTENTSERV in this category mainly focuses on the company s current sales-related focus on the European region. Nevertheless, even in this area CONTENTSERV achieves high scores since the company is well-positioned internationally with integration partners throughout the world and a continually growing number of integration partners. A professional wholly-owned CONTENTSERV development unit in India guarantees the necessary scalability for most demanding project requirements in the international environment. In addition, the strategic expansion of international activities is a crucial part of the corporate vision, for which CONTENTSERV has already allocated high investments in the years to come. Thus, the marks in this category are sure to go up in the future. 12/13

13 CONCLUSION Highly integrated PIM and MAM beat specialized solution providers The award as technology leader in both the PIM and the MAM Wheel affirms the uniqueness of our combined end-to-end approach and shows that we can keep up with the best of breed providers at any time. No other providers with a combined approach could assert themselves so strongly against the pure players in the PIM and MAM area. CONTENTSERV is the top provider in both Market Performance Wheels From a process point of view, the PIM and MAM solutions belong together in our integrated Marketing Information Management, similarly to financial accounting and cost accounting in the ERP sector. Our customers receive a completely integrated system that is not lacking any functionality and does not require any compromise. Instead of banking on two separate systems that have to be integrated via expensive interfaces, CONTENTSERV provides a complete solution with system-wide workflows that seamlessly connect all content and processes from all topics such as Product Information Management, Media Data Management, Translation Management and Multichannel Output. This enables a previously unknown efficiency in Multichannel Management. All parties involved, such as employees, branch offices and external parties can work together centrally via a web-based platform and easy-to-use interfaces. Product and media data can thus be maintained centrally while all output channels are created from one single location. Additional modules can be added for target-group specific campaign planning and micro targeting, thus adding an optimal basis for an intelligent Multichannel Marketing for the future - in a national as well as global setting. Investment security and customer satisfaction 120 CONTENTSERV employees and more than 250 CONTENTSERV experts at our partner companies offer timely and highquality project implementation and outstanding full service to well-known customers such as Miele, Vaillant, Karlie, Dörken, Avery Zweckform, Hainbuch, BMW, Bauknecht, Weltbild, ADAC, Texas Instruments, Merck, LG Electronics, Leifheit, Pflanzen Kölle, Bakker, C.&E. Fein. Furthermore, the study results suggest that CONTENTSERV offers a state-of-the-art solution with fair price structure and high investment security for our customers. Together with our partners we provide our customers with high security with regards to attractive prices, follow-up projects, scalability and the best possible selection of experts, thus creating excellent synergies for our customers. Approximately 400 customers with more than 300,000 users in 89 countries use CONTENTSERV on a daily basis. 13/13