Self assessment of our 2013 predictions

Every year, we make technology predictions about the various content technology marketplaces that we cover. And rather uniquely, we go back and see how we fared. Here are our assessments of our 2012 and 2011 predictions respectively.

And here's how we fared with our 2013 predictions:

  1. SharePoint 2013: Consultants Rejoice, Customers Yawn
    Yes. In spite of what Microsoft's nifty demos would have you believe, SharePoint is a complex platform especially when it comes to customizations beyond really simple tasks. You require consultants for that. A lot of them.
     
  2. Trans-Media Trumps Multi-Channel for Brand Marketing
    Yes. At least smart marketers are doing this. With improvements in technology, it is relatively easier to target your message based on context and channel instead of broadcasting the same message to all channels.
     
  3. Convergence of Social Media Monitoring and Social Media Marketing
    Yes, this is happening big time. Customers are increasingly using inputs based on monitoring of the social web and using that for their social marketing campaigns. Vendors are attempting to respond, mostly via acquisitions but true integration still remains a stretched goal.
     
  4. Cloud Adolescence: Business and IT Both Deal with Growing Pains
    Another yes. We continue to see Business as well as IT teams struggling even with basic Cloud issues.
     
  5. Web Content & Experience Management Vendors Litter Systems with Outbound Digital Marketing Services
    Sort of. Perhaps this was an overstatement. WCXM vendors did add many such services, but they are also responding to a marketplace that seems to prefer integration with best-of-breed digital marketing tools.
     
  6. The Autonomy Debacle Reverberates Across Several Technology Sectors
    This happened but only partially. While there were no big-time acquisitions in WCXM space, the search market really didn't open up as we had predicted.
     
  7. Document Management and Cloud File-Sharing Vendors Compete Head-to-Head
    Big Yes. We have seen a lot of short-lists with DM and CFS vendors on it. Both category of vendors are trying to spread their wings and building capabilities to provide services across both marketplaces.
     
  8. Contextual Mobile Delivery Rises to the Fore
    Certainly Yes. Context is becoming increasingly important as enterprises begin to switch from device management to multi-channel experience management. Hiding content based on screen size is becoming yesterday's news.
     
  9. Big Data Gives Way to Useful Data
    Another Yes.  Small-but-better-quality trumps Big.
     
  10. Rise of Social Media Compliance Concerns
    Did not happen in a meaningful way. Sure, Social Media compliance is indeed a concern but we didn't see any major differences from what it was last year.  Companies in heavily regulated industries may have to slog their tweets through onerous workflows, but increasingly they are engaging...
     
  11. Broadcast & Media Management Focus on Social TV Strategies
    Yes and No. Yes because Social TV certainly got more popular. The industry embraced second screen apps and companies like Samsung and Apple acquired second screen app companies. And No because MAM vendors were not at the forefront of this change.
     
  12. Several DAM Vendors Morph into Digital Media Management Suites
    No not really. Although some DAM vendors do provide other capabilities (such as document management), there's been no meaningful change in their overall positioning.

Okay, so we hit the nail on the head 8.5 out of 12 times (Yes - 7 times, No - 2 times, Partial Yes - 3 times) with .5 for predictions that were partially correct. That's not as high as it was last year but not that bad either in my opinion.

Let us know if you'd like our detailed inputs of any of these or if you'd like to talk to us about any of the marketplaces we cover.

Other Enterprise Mobile Technology posts

Axway Acquires Appcelerator

The Enterprise Mobile Technology Marketplace is evolving rapidly and a number of specialized mobile technology vendors have now been acquired by vendors with a broader set of offerings.

Self-appraisal of our 2015 predictions

Okay, so how did we do? I total it up to 7 out of 10 (Yes - 6 times, No - 2, Partial - 2). That’s not as good as last year but not bad either