Project Horizon officially comes to market as EMC LEAP, next-gen cloud-native content apps sold on a SaaS model. While available free through a Loyalty Program to existing Documentum customers, the intent here is to greatly expand the customer base downmarket, with the aid of an expanded channel.
Rohit Ghai, President, Enterprise Content Division, EMC
LAS VEGAS – At EMC World, EMC announced the launch of EMC LEAP, its next-gen suite of purpose-built cloud-native content apps. Formerly known as Project Horizon, LEAP is designed to revolutionize the enterprise content management (ECM) industry and transform the way customers engage with business content. While EMC Documentum content management solutions have traditionally been sold to the high end of the market, EMC LEAP is also intended to be used more broadly, with the company expecting LEAP to show solid mid-market penetration.
“We see this as ‘a few small apps for users, a giant leap for ECM,’” said Rohit Ghai, President, Enterprise Content Division, EMC. “We definitely see this as redefining the ECM market.”
Speaking at a press and analyst panel of EMC Division Presidents, Ghai was clearly delighted to be unveiling a major new offering in his area, rather than having to issue another ‘no comment’ statement to a question about the persistent rumors the ECM division would be divested as a poor fit in the new Dell Technologies – although he was again called on to do the latter as well.
Ghai said that the challenge with LEAP was to retain – and improve on – enterprise-grade content management capabilities, while at the same time providing purpose-built apps that can address diverse business use cases with style and flair.
“Users today expect beautifully customized apps,” he stressed. Those kinds of apps are now necessary to drive engagement and deliver superior business results.
EMC LEAP is comprised of both EMC and third-party content apps, a modular platform, a marketplace, and content services. Ghai indicated that while the LEAP apps aren’t just for EMC content repositories, they are specifically engineered to work better with EMC Documentum. He also emphasized LEAP’s repository independence, which lets content be managed in place without the need to migrate content.
“This is a fundamentally different approach compared to the sync and share vendors,” he said. “It allows you to manage content in place. We don’t ask you to move it into a cloud, so it is fundamentally non-disruptive, while also providing the goodness of security and compliance.”
At launch, EMC announced five apps for different content management use cases. LEAP Courier provides a consumer-grade user experience for secure and structured document exchange, validation and tracking across organizational boundaries. LEAP Snap provides enterprise-grade document capture and organization in real time, to turn unstructured content into actionable business information. LEAP Concert is for collaborative document authoring, while allowing project owners considerable control. LEAP Express is a lightweight app designed to easily browse, access, search and approve all content. LEAP Focus significantly improves document consumption experience on mobile devices.
EMC LEAP Snap screenshot
EMC also announced a new partnership with eSignature and Digital Transaction Management provider DocuSign (DTM), which better enables digital enterprise workflows, and has joined the DocuSign Global Trust Network.
A new customer success program was also announced, which includes a Loyalty Tier that provides free access to the LEAP apps. The LEAP Together program lets all current, maintenance-paying Documentum customers immediately access relevant EMC LEAP apps free of charge in the Loyalty Tier.
Partners are going to be a big deal in LEAP. EMC launched a new SaaS Solution Provider Track within the ECD Business Partner Program. This new SaaS specialty will provide approved partners with specific benefits and requirements aligned with the SaaS sales motion. As new apps become generally available, partners will have the opportunity to resell apps and services, with additional program features to be launched later this year.
Ghai stressed that greater partner involvement was necessary to take LEAP more downmarket from where Documentum has typically played in the past.
“We have been the best for the big customer,” he said. “But our growth aspirations for this are big and bold, and the only way we get that is to expand into the mid-market. Our big heavy lift is incubating that mid-market go-to-market channel with the assistance of partners. We have started that process. We are still early in the game, but our goal here is to democratize the ECM process.”
LEAP Courier and LEAP Snap are available to a limited number of customers today and will be generally available in June. LEAP Concert, LEAP Express, and LEAP Focus are in active recruitment for beta customers this quarter, with general availability in the second half of 2016. All LEAP solutions are available on pay-per-use subscription basis and use value-based pricing, although existing Documentum customers get free access through the LEAP Together Program and Loyalty Tier.
