I was talking to Bruce Malyon, president of MaxxVault, the provider of document management software, last week who told me that he thought about 70 percent of his business would be on premise these days, but it’s not. Today, it’s 50 percent on premise and 50 percent cloud. What does that tell you about the emergence of the cloud?
MaxxVault saw a big push in the cloud during the last 90 days of 2013 with over a million dollars in new signed cloud contracts.
Another positive development for MaxxVault was the reception to Version 6 of its software. “We designed it to go after bigger enterprise clients but I didn’t think we’d be able to go out and win some very big accounts against major players in the industry like the IBMs and EMCs of the world,” reports Malyon. “At the end of year we took down a contract with one of our partners in the Carolinas for a cloud deal with the low end number worth $600,000 and the high number around $825,000 over the next two years.”
Beyond the cloud, last year MaxxVault developed a mobile app using PhoneGap, which they beta tested with a number of clients. It did what Malyon described as an ‘okay job.’ Since then MaxxVault has rewritten the app natively and will introduce a new more flexible and reliable version of it this month for the i07 and Android platforms. “Mobile is key and you have to have mobile front and center on anything you’re planning,” says Malyon. “If you’re planning a new feature in the cloud you have to justify why it can’t be on a mobile device.
Any feature you design you have to think, can it work in a mobile environment,” says Malyon. “Before you had to design for two platforms—Windows and Web. Mobile adds a new flavor and if you’re programming natively you’re designing three additional code bases. Anybody in our space, and a number of competitors are doing good things in our space, needs to take advantage of the cloud, the hybrid cloud, and mobile solutions.”
Looking ahead to this year expect to see MaxxVault enhance the way it delivers training on its products to the marketplace. “We’re going to create training videos that aren’t these long-winded 40-minute videos.”
MaxxVault is creating feature by feature 30-second and 20-minute videos that explain a particular benefit or workflow. “That’s definitely going to help the MFP channel,” says Malyon.
Also look for a downloadable MaxxVault app for iPhone and Android devices. “It’s a condensed version of our Website that can be downloaded so people have ready access to it,” says Malyon.
Dealers who download the app will be able to receive tips directly from MaxxVault and can use it to get quick answers to their questions from MaxxVault. “We’re also going to run sales contests through it,” adds Malyon.
Meanwhile, MaxxVault has added support for another 6-7 languages to its software. Other developments include more big dealers signing on with MaxxVault as well as the addition of new European distributors, a mobile division, and an agreement with another company for MaxxVault to pick up all its developers.
“You’re going to see some interesting news some coming from MaxxVault on that front,” concludes Malyon.
