OIT's New Chief Speaks Out
On June 1, 2007 Ron Prichard assumed the role of president for Optical Image Technology (OIT) following the announced retirement of OIT founder Scott Buchart in April. Prior to being appointed president, Prichard served as OIT’s COO for 13 years and was instrumental in the company’s growth and expansion plan over the past 2 years. Integrated Solutions recently had the opportunity to speak with Prichard regarding his new role with the company, his take on the ECM (enterprise content management) industry at large, and his goals for the future of OIT.
Integrated Solutions: What are your goals for OIT as its newly appointed president?
Prichard: We have a very detailed and calculated growth and expansion plan that we are in the midst of executing. This plan is focused on building our customer base and extending our relationships with existing customers. This isn’t just a regional, but a global initiative, that will target key market sectors such as insurance, finance, healthcare, and higher education. In addition, we have significant product line goals established for long-term success. Specifically, we are working toward reducing the complexities and enhancing the ROI capabilities of our products for customers. We plan to build on our strengths in document management, content management, and workflow and move beyond our current software versions with very competitive and modern feature sets.
Integrated Solutions: How do you feel OIT and the DocFinity product line is currently perceived by the business community? How would you like to see these perceptions change?
Prichard: I think we are perceived as a smaller company, and the perception in the marketplace is that smaller companies can't deliver as much as large organizations. The fact is, although we are small we play big. We have large and significant sites that are dependent on our products and support daily. Our workflow software is the heartbeat for systems operated by the single largest processor of Medicare and Medicaid claims in the nation. The volumes are huge, and the number of system users is in the tens of thousands, with Web access from all over the country. I would like to see the negative-sided perceptions that are tied to company size change. The reality is that we can and do deliver enterprise-strength solutions, service, and support.
Integrated Solutions: What is your take on the vendor consolidation occurring in the ECM (enterprise content management) industry?
Prichard: I think some of the consolidation is companies simply buying a customer base — companies that need to find ways to grow faster because their own revenue streams will not sustain them for the long haul. Other consolidation strategies are pointed at trying to bring together multiple best-of-breed product lines to create a large one-stop shop. I think there are tremendous risks for customers that rely on delivery and performance when you look at the consolidations. Who will call the shots when two or more players consolidate? Where will the focus be … on delivery and customer satisfaction? Or, will the battles for control within the consolidated vendor organizations inhibit meeting the customer needs and requirements? There also is the technical question of seamlessly integrating products from multiple companies that are now one. These challenges are often overlooked and an afterthought for companies that are focused on getting bigger for the sake of cashing in. There are many operational risks that need to be addressed up front in the consolidation process that simply do not get identified until after the fact of consolidation, and it is usually the customer that pays that price.
Integrated Solutions: OIT is celebrating its 21st anniversary. What does OIT need to do to continue its success in the ECM space? What our your goals and objectives in terms of growth?
Prichard: What we need to do, we’re doing. I mentioned the expansion and growth plan earlier. Everything we are putting in place in relation to growth is grounded in quality and value for customers. We are growing and enhancing quality assurance & testing so that we are shipping the best quality product possible. We are growing the technical writing department to enhance the level and quality of documentation and knowledge base of our products for system users and administrators. We are growing the professional services department with business and implementation analysts to serve customers more efficiently and address their growing need for support in light of tighter budget and smaller staffs. We are enhancing our engineering capabilities within tech support operations in order to resolve customer issues faster without having to involve core product development staff. Lastly, we are researching and developing the next generation of DocFinity, which enhances the capabilities of the product through a standards-based architecture and feature set that will deliver less complex support and administration for customers with more ROI. These are very exciting times for OIT and its customers.
Integrated Solutions: What differentiates DocFinity from other content management software packages on the market? What differentiates OIT from other ECM vendors?
Prichard: DocFinity provides content management, document management, workflow, and BPM (business process management) integrated together to provide a total solution. The product is scalable — from a single user document management system up to an enterprise-wide solution. From the standpoint of customer service and support, we average 95% customer retention/renewal rates annually. Our growth has been slow compared to many because we have been very focused on building and maintaining intimate and productive value-based customer relationships.