AIIM 2001 Defines Content Management; 29,266 Attendees Converge on AIIM 2001 Conference and Exposition.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

SILVER SPRING, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 9, 2001

AIIM International, the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) industry association, today announced the attendance highlights and totals from AIIM 2001, its 50th annual conference and exposition held last week in New York City.

"With many North American show audiences down this year, we were thrilled to see our numbers remain steady and attendee quality improve," said John Mancini, AIIM International President. "At a time when users are more closely scrutinizing their technology and capital budgets than ever before, the ECM market is proving to have great strength and resiliency."

Specific event numbers are as follows:

      --  Overall Attendance:      29,266

      --  Conference Attendance:    2,316

      --  Press:                      288

      --  Total Square Footage:   198,300

      --  Exhibiting Companies:       298

"Through over 50 years of changes in technology, AIIM at its heart has always been about one major idea: How can users apply technology to improve their ability to handle large volumes of unstructured information? As user needs and requirements have changed, so too have the technologies covered at the annual AIIM Show and Conference. Our focus on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) - the technologies used to create, capture, customize, deliver, and manage content to support business processes - is a direct response to the challenges and opportunities facing users in the marketplace," Mancini further stated.

Martin Brauns, President and CEO, Interwoven, delivered the opening keynote address to a standing-room-only crowd of 2,200. His presentation captured the challenges facing Fortune 1000 organizations and mapped the expanding opportunities afforded by content management technologies.

"The centralized Web development team model is dead," said Brauns. "We need to give people the tools, systems, and processes to put content on the Web themselves...we need to democratize and decentralize the job of content contribution. Companies have to put in place the infrastructure for all of its documents, photos, databases, video assets, images, and other content objects."

"This year's AIIM Industry Study noted that while 79 percent of the organizations surveyed had implemented some form of e-business infrastructure, the overwhelming majority have not yet integrated key enterprise applications into these e-business systems," added Cliff Sink of IKON, AIIM International Board Chair. "As a result, many organizations are equipped with hollow processes that look great on the outside, but still rely on a patchwork quilt of makeshift manual systems to handle unstructured content. The attendance at this year's AIIM Show, in the face of declining attendance at other technology events, demonstrates the mission-critical requirement for ECM technologies across the economy."

Among the 2,316 conference attendees were senior executives, records managers, and Web developers from a wide range of end-users including Prudential, Goldman Sachs, Disney, HBO, American Express, and Seiko. International attendee numbers jumped 40 percent over last year's New York expo.

Through the expanded Global Partners Program, AIIM's worldwide reach stretches far beyond its offices in the United States and United Kingdom. Companies from Europe, Asia, and South America exhibited at AIIM 2001 to gain a stronger presence in the North American market and establish a channel network. Some 1,500 participating VARs (Value Added Resellers) attended the AIIM 2001 Channel Connection program.

"At the heart of the success of this year's AIIM event is a growing appreciation among users for the importance of Enterprise Content Management," concluded Mancini. "Organizations that fail to develop a clear strategy to address the growing volume and complexity of unstructured information, jeopardize their corporate efficiency. A cohesive ECM strategy and implementation approach is clearly fundamental to the success of all e-business initiatives."

About AIIM International

AIIM International is the global Enterprise Content Management Association connecting the users and suppliers of e-business technologies and services. AIIM International represents the specific area of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) within e-business - the technologies used to create, capture, customize, deliver, and manage enterprise content to support business processes.

These technologies are key enablers of e-business and include: content/document management, business process management, enterprise portals, knowledge management, image management, data warehousing, and data mining.

A neutral and unbiased source of information, AIIM International produces educational, solution-oriented events and conferences, provides up-to-the-minute industry information through publications and its industry web portal, and is an ANSI/ISO-accredited standards developer. Additional information about AIIM is available on the Web at: www.aiim.org.