Interview with the chief executive of ELMA Alexey Trefilov

Alexey Trefilov: I think that the market already adapted to new rules of the game. Since the end of 2014 to the middle of 2015 market situation could be designated as "waiting" - it was absolutely unclear how the economy will behave tomorrow. However today we do not observe any crisis manifestations any more – most the companies got used to new unstable realities.

Somewhere in the middle of 2015 against the background of a financial situation we had couple of frozen projects and also transactions broken at late stages, but to characterize it as the essential phenomenon I cannot – stable demand for the SED\VRM systems remained. In general, now the market was rebuilt, and the companies learn to live in new conditions. We observe special activity in a segment of larger companies where automation systems, such, in particular, as electronic document management systems, are perceived as the mechanism of economy and cost control. So as the strategic instrument of optimization of activity, but not just expensive line in the budget. In general, approach to automation in crisis changes the character a little, is of particular importance.

If to speak about our clients in the field of implementation of electronic document management, then for the last year we can emphasize the continuing growth of the size of the average client. I think that it is proved not so much and only economic circumstances, how many technology aspects. In the field of small business a large number of inexpensive lightweight solutions is presented now. These are various cloud solutions and also small shrink-wrapped software products. Having the simple interface and a minimum of functions, they close requirements of the small companies therefore their interest in more difficult and powerful electronic document management systems in this segment dies away. We worked generally with the large companies also earlier, but for the last few years we notice sharper market segmentation and activity among the large companies for which the complexity and power of a system is just of value.

Alexey Trefilov: I will sum up the answer to the previous question: I see EDMS market situation as stable. And despite frankly severe status of the modern Russian economy, in 2015 we not only do not state decrease in demand for BPMS and EDMS – our company received serious growth in comparison with previous year. The companies are ready to invest in the efficiency.

Analyzing stable increase in demand for our developments, I would not begin to select aspiration to import substitution as something key in this question. In recent years at different conferences and forums I heard enough about transition to domestic technologies and about failure from the western solutions. However real practice is small here.

However, some movements nevertheless are. For the last one and a half years there was a number of addresses from large and especially large companies concerning import substitution. Generally it is the companies of a public sector. I even happened to communicate with representatives of departments of import substitution – unique in own way structural unit!

What really pulls together today the domestic consumer with the domestic developer - it is the affordable ruble prices. The acquisition value and supports of the western products flew up after dollar and euro. This question is particularly acute in small and medium-sized companies where the financial aspect when choosing the software plays a large role, and small volumes do not allow to speak about corporate discounts.

Alexey Trefilov: Essentially from the point of view of the organization of our work and behavior in the Russian market for us nothing exchanged. We consider the strategy selected earlier relevant and correct. And the last results of our activity only confirm it.

If to speak globally about a company performance, then we began to work more outside the Russian Federation. In 2015 we had many projects in the CIS countries, including very large. Of course work in these regions has the specifics and requires special approach.

Perhaps, the most essential – we released the international version of a product. Case was not limited to the simple translation of a product and website into English (by the way, the English version of a product at us just already existed several years – along with Ukrainian and Kazakh). We went further and considerably worked a subsystem of interfaces. Now a system is completely multilingual. There is an opportunity in a user-friendly interface to add modern languages – case is not limited only the most popular English, German, Spanish, French languages – if desired we can add any new dictionary.

The system interface supports simultaneous operation in several languages, i.e. each user of a system can select information representation in language convenient and clear to it. Thus in uniform process we can organize work of employees who very possibly would even not understand each other, so, could not perform work jointly.

By the way, this task for the first time demanded the solution on our Russian project. When it was required to organize joint work of Russian-speaking employees and their management among which there were many foreigners, especially among top management. The electronic document management system in this case carries out a strategic task.

Alexey Trefilov: Certainly, the competition in the market of electronic document management systems is also it is huge. Today to the consumer at choice a large number of mature solutions therefore the choice this serious and difficult is presented. Of course, the competition in the market of CRM systems more fierce, but in case of EDMSs many competitors occupy one niche. Here only some accurate positioning and difference from a number of numerous competitors allows to feel surely. In our case everything is simple – architecturally we – a BPM system therefore the ELMA system is useful in case it is required not just to implement Office, and it is necessary to build up business processes (and respectively and the document flow accompanying these processes). Therefore if the customer looks for classical office without excesses – most likely it is not our client, at his order there are excellent products of competitors. If the serious difficult project is supposed - it is our elements.

Answering a question of the competition to the foreign systems, I will tell that in the market of electronic document management systems it is absent completely – foreign solutions are far from our Russian practice, do not consider our experience at all and it is understood by both the consumer, and vendors. Therefore it did not happen to face on projects of workflow automation with foreign competitors.

Quite another matter, when the customer implements not 'classical document flow', for example, and business processes or the CRM system. Here sometimes it is necessary to compete with the western solutions which list in our Russian market is rather limited. In most cases it is customers of the Enterprise level whose IT departments are initially loyally configured to use of the untwisted western corporate technologies.

Alexey Trefilov: Welcome the most important change in the EDMS/ECM systems market – achievement of a certain level of a maturity. Recently meets less the companies in which ELMA is the first system by means of which workflow automation is performed. Usually our system is put to the place of old (or not really) electronic document management systems.

So now meets less the companies which did not approach an issue of workflow automation yet. It implicates a row when choosing a new system – the consumer became more experienced. The experience got earlier already creates some real selection terms of new software (the first choice could be made based on biased factors). Now in the company there is an understanding that it is really necessary for them that approaches and that does not approach.

In general, for us as for vendor – it is simpler on the one hand (with such consumer it is almost possible to speak one language at once, passing a long stage of education and explanations), on the other hand satisfy such consumer can be more difficult as now it had habits created by the previous product and experience. Rather often it is necessary to face customers who consider that a new system in addition to own features should be able to do everything that old is able to do. Sometimes these preferences are absurd or insignificant in essence, and sometimes really make deep meaning and define company performance model, create competitive advantage. Therefore often on projects it is necessary to adapt to the business model constructed under others unusual technology. For this purpose, of course, the product should be flexible. That a system could adapt to a company performance, and not vice versa – and at the same time nobody suffered and there were no excess far-fetched difficulties which will turn back afterwards excess difficulties at maintenances and updates. Moreover, changes and adaptation of a system it has to be performed quickly (that is a synonym "cheap"). Flexibility I see as one of the main competitive advantages of our ELMA system – in our portfolio at the moment a huge number of projects in which our product replaced an old electronic document management system, obsolete which restrictions did not allow to adapt a system for needs of the organization. Often maintenance and development of such solutions are simply much more difficult and more expensive.

If to speak about technology trends in the SED\ESM market, then from our experience I can note three main trends.

First, this increase in requirements to simplicity and adaptivity of interfaces. The modern user got used to convenient and modern services of the house, it is not clear to it why he should suffer and suffer from inconvenient solutions at work. And it is impossible to call it spoiled is real and clear needs for user-friendly interfaces for effective work. From the companies of large and average segments where there is a bulk of our clients, we rather often hear wishes on adaptation of interfaces and strong customization of our solution. Besides, to provide optimum minimalist interfaces of end users, but to save at the same time serious functionality, a system should have appropriate level of flexibility. This trend was shown smoothly for the last several years, and under the influence of a voice of the market and we substantially finished our system, doing it to more flexible for fast modifications.

Secondly, along with the simple and clear interface, the automation system of electronic document management should have serious functionality. Frankly simple decisions without thousands of functions are competitive unless in a segment of absolutely small companies now. Huge cheklist from IT departments of the organizations where the functionality of systems is compared line by line – a usual thing, the lack of this or that opportunity is perceived as an obvious lack of a product. Moreover, It should be noted that even more often these functions are considered not just for show or the report – they are really used, projects became more difficult. The serious companies have an understanding that automation is a competitive advantage which needs to use. However everything the growing functional complexity of solutions can conflict to earlier designated trend on simplification of interfaces. In a case we solved a problem by means of role interfaces with ELMA: each user works with the representation of a system in which there is no excess control. The necessary and sufficient minimum of functionality of a system on the current user is a condition which allows to provide concentration of the employee at work, but not at the unclear games with IT solution.

Thirdly, I will note a trend which in state-of-the-art reviews and articles was designated several last years, however its real manifestation in Russia I observe just now - it is use of mobile technologies.

Alexey Trefilov: Yes. And if earlier similar solutions were perceived unless as an interesting toy, today mobile work became a reality and absolutely daily phenomenon.

Consumers of mobile functionality of EDMS can be separated into two categories conditionally: heads and exit specialists. Of course the majority of systems presented at the market first of all are focused on the first category. Among heads the absence from work with all that it implies on quality of course of processes is widespread – on them tasks, unchecked and uncoordinated documents, accounts, etc. accumulate.

I often am in traveling and actively I use our mobile application. We left from the concept "provide all functionality of EDMS in phone", having decided to be limited to the list of specific cases which are useful in the mode "in way": nobody builds difficult summary analytical reports at the airport from the mobile phone, however the need for fast viewing documents, setting and accomplishment of tasks is critical. Interfeysno differences between mobile application and the full-function version turned out rather big, however it provided convenience of accomplishment of tasks on each specific device. In general, most often our clients use mobile applications for very limited number of tasks – generally it is viewing, approval and acquaintance with documents and also the organization of communications.

At many already became a habit to carry out similar tasks, for example, in lunch time therefore on a question of demand of mobile functionality of EDMS I have a definite answer.

Concerning the second user group of mobile applications – exit specialists then everything is slightly more difficult. Each organization has a need for the organization of a convenient workplace of extra office employee not, except that requirement here each company will have the. However, the companies which need to ensure functioning of managers in the mode "in the field" when it is required to organize on site acceptance and filling of requests, often in the absence of connection to the Internet handle similar tasks to us from time to time. We implemented a possibility of start of business processes in which the user on site can fill out the request, and on the system server information will be loaded in the presence of connection to network. It can be rather convenient, for example, for insurance agents which need to execute shooting and filling of information on an insured event in sections, remote from office.

For other customer groups the mobile functionality is not so critical. Among the bulk of office employees it is not used rather, than used.

Alexey Trefilov: Of course, if to speak about strong players of the market, each of them has the specific advantage. Perhaps, among market leaders of electronic document management systems there is no couple of really similar systems – everyone implements some concept and approach.

The feature of the ELMA system is that we are not an electronic document management system in usual understanding. We – a BPM system. So essentially other tool on the architecture. And respectively and a system implementation project – it is not simple "implementation of office", and implementation of processes of document flow. Similar to we implement implementation projects of client processes and processes of management of sales (CRM function), processes of project office (function of project management systems), well and actually any other business processes.

This fundamental difference as completely changes approach to implementation of a task and its result. We can solve the same problems, as classical electronic document management systems, however with ELMA approach will be other.

Alexey Trefilov: We consider document flow, not just as activity, and as chains and a complex of processes. Here understanding that any process has an input and an exit is important (i.e. some result). Any process and consequently creation of documents, their movement in the company, work on documents, is performed within this process for the sake of that result. Why it is simple to automate a routine (document flow) when it is possible to automate the process pursuing some real aims of the company? In this case it is possible to speak about some real increase in efficiency of the company.

Generation of documents in itself is not result and does not bring the company of any benefits - it is only fixing of the facts, the activity performed within process. The agreement forms according to process logic, at the right time, when it is really necessary; in the same process the account, the license agreement and other documents can also form. So work with these documents is carried out not separately, and according to some real process logic of the company.

If to speak about technology advantages, our main advantage is the flexibility provided by opportunities of a BPM system on which our document flow is based. With ELMA it is easy to implement difficult routes of the movement of documents is and gives our main competitive advantage. We have in a portfolio many projects which have high complexity, their implementation in classical electronic document management systems in some cases is simply impossible, in others – is economically inexpedient or takes too much time.

Our one more advantage is ease of integration into information space of the company. This advantage also follows from our architectural features – for a BPM system it is one of key requirements.

And still – the received solution turns out flexible. According to architecture of BPM systems we provide quadriphase lifecycle of process: creation, execution, monitoring and improvement. The majority of IT solutions are focused on the first two-three stages, ignoring an improvement stage. It leads to the fact that the solution is received "for ages", it is difficult to make changes to it and already shortly it becomes outdated and requires considerable resources on modification.

Processes of document flow in the ELMA system turn out flexible, it is possible to make changes every day: after modification process perepublikovyvatsya and the company since the same moment is ready to work in a new way. We have many clients who have even such processes as processing of incoming correspondence and in particular processes of a contracted work have hundreds of versions – i.e. contain a huge number of changes and completions.

And speaking about inflexibility of other solutions, I do not mean utter impossibility of making changes. In most cases it not so, the speech is rather about labor costs. Often after start in work process periodically requires little changes. And if on each such change the separate project is required - it is this trouble. A system should adapt to the changing environment conditions easily.

The way of start to work of small changes can be short and if the business customer has to face constantly obstacles of labor input of these changes, then it of course will affect a company performance negatively when IT infrastructure simply is not in time behind a management structure and the market.

Alexey Trefilov: Actually rather often. And in all segments – case here not in the amount of the company and economy of means. We have big customers into whom ELMA was implemented independently. Employees of IT departments of these companies implemented a product independently. In the majority they are trained previously by our specialists, however sometimes case does also without training when the customer has enough our self-instruction manuals, methodologies and own experience.

Why the customer decides to implement? The question of money takes place to be, but in case of big and medium-sized companies the main reason here – bigger control over a system and the project. When the intermediary in the form of the third-party consultant or integrator disappears the distance is reduced to result. The consultant has experience, can know the best practices, but eventually nobody knows your business also well as you are.

The main difficulties, I would even call them risks – perhaps wrong approach to the project, not knowledge of features of a product. Each IT product is unique. It is necessary to understand in what cases it should be used and as in what its use is inappropriate. Relying on experience of implementation of other products, not knowing a new electronic document management system, it is possible to implement architecturally incorrect solution.

Well, and certainly there can be incorrect a technology of project organization of implementation. In the presence of the worthy personnel in the company all this is easily purchased. We rather often practice the concept of a pilot project when we implement only a part of the big project, i.e. we show approach to implementation of ELMA in practice, we train the customer's employees (we create Competence Center) and further the project already goes.

What is remarkable if everything was initially made correctly, in the long term are the most effective projects. There where the idea sprouts in the heads of heads where there are initiative hands on places – there the project lives and develops in the necessary directions. So the maximum effect of automation system implementation is reached.

Alexey Trefilov: For years of our practice we implemented a huge number of projects by own forces and by forces of our partners. Experience of automation of the most different groups of processes of a set of the industries was accumulated. It is quite obvious that on a number of projects the same problems are solved. Actually, the idea of some bank of solutions which would be available for all comers, and would allow to reduce labor costs at system implementation, soared for a long time.

Of course, each company has the approach and business processes which are successfully implemented at the next enterprise, can not work for you at all. I do not trust in sample best practice which without changes begin to work in any company, providing the maximum effect. However use of such solutions – already good start. Others experience can quite suit you at once, or you will understand over time what needs to be changed that the solution in the best way approached under features of your company.

ELMA, being a BPM system – a universal product by means of which very broad spectrum of tasks is solved. Rather often we were initially purchased as an electronic document management system for establishing order in office, but then the solution began to extend at the expense of new circuits: the company began to automate processes of HR department, service processes, etc.

In many respects for such a case we started shop of the ELMA Store components, i.e. reduced a way of clients from problem definition to its first implementation. In shop a large number of the ready-made solutions simulated by us and our partners is presented. It should be noted that we placed the majority of solutions on a free basis.

Now service actively develops, many clients set solutions and finish them under themselves. Several months ago at us the first partner solutions began to appear. These solutions undergo a test procedure our specialists without fail. Therefore presence at ELMA Store is some guarantor of quality of the solution.

In 2016 we together with partners will present several tens of new solutions of varying complexity, different industry expertizes. We are going to release the first batch of solutions in the nearest future.