by Jim Lundy
Since running product teams at Xerox and helping to invent the MFP (multifunction peripheral) category for copiers and printers, I have been a student of category creation. I also helped to create categories while I was at Gartner, which included corporate learning, enterprise content management (ECM), and enterprise social networking (ESN). In the 2000s, there were a handful of categories, but that was before cloud and SaaS went big.
This blog is about the rate of growth of new digital categories.
As technology markets transform, Aragon defines new digital categories that replace legacy categories.
The Rise of DTM
Aragon was founded in 2011, and one of the first things we realized was the need for consolidation of some old categories. That is why we took web conferencing and video conferencing and consolidated them into one category in 2013.
In 2014, we identified what today is one of the fastest growing digital categories: digital transaction management (DTM).
We took a lot of heat when we introduced that category, but five years later, the market is growing at a double-digit rate and tons of new DTM providers are entering the market, one that has seen the success of providers like Adobe, AssureSign, DocuSign, eOriginal, HelloSign, Namirial, Nintex, and OneSpan.
The Rise of Nine Other Digital Categories
Since 2014, the pace of innovation has picked up. Providers have begun to study the markets more closely and they have innovated, and as a result, Aragon has identified nine other new digital categories since 2014—categories such as digital business platforms (DBPs), sales engagement, global mobility, and meeting automation platforms (MAPs).
One of the newest categories we’ve identified is digital work hubs, and you will be hearing a lot more about that from us this year.
Join the Conversation About Digital Categories
Aragon recognizes new markets faster than any other research firm—that is what our clients are saying. I’ll be holding a webinar next Friday, January 18th to review all ten of our new digital categories. Save your seat and join the conversation.