2. Introduction
Michael Cairns is a publishing and media executive with over 25 years experience in
business strategy, operations and technology implementation. As a business
executive, Mr. Cairns has successfully managed several troubled and under-
performing businesses, creating new business opportunities, developing new funding
sources and enhancing shareholder value for investors. His years spent as an
operating executive have largely been with brand-name publishing companies such
as Macmillan, Inc., Berlitz International, Wolters Kluwer Health, Reed Elsevier and
R.R. Bowker. As a consultant, Mr. Cairns has worked with clients as diverse as
AARP, Hewlett Packard, InterPublic Companies and Reed Elsevier with an emphasis
on business strategy, market development and corporate development.
His skills and experience include:
Business and corporate strategy development and implementation
Operations management and business transformation
Traditional and digital publishing and operations
Print-to-digital transformation and adoption of new business models
Software development and software services
Mr. Cairns holds an MBA (Finance) from Georgetown University and a BA from
Boston University. He has served on several boards and advisory groups including
the Association of American Publishers, Book Industry Study Group and the
International ISBN organization. Additionally, he has public and private company
board experience.
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Michael Cairns
Information Media Partners
Strategy Consulting
New York, London, Melbourne
Tel: 908 938 4889
Michael.cairns@infomediapartners.com
Find me:
LinkedIn Twitter Blog Flickr InstaGram
3. Information Media Partners
Michael Cairns established Information Media Partners in 2006 as a boutique strategy
consulting firm focused on the information and education publishing segment. The work
conducted by the firm includes product development, corporate development, sales
management and corporate reorganizations. We work with established businesses, private
equity owners and potential acquirers.
Examples of our work include:
Reorganized and re-focused a $25 million software publishing company by aligning
business operations with client priorities; implementing internal collaboration tools and
project management standards; re-building executive team to focus on effective and
efficient management
Defined a new business strategy for a large non-profit association and advocacy group,
expanding their business model into global markets to exploit their core knowledge and
expertise across a broader market
Led an information technology capabilities review at a large international advertising
holding company. Completed over 200 interviews in 15 international offices and multiple
group focus sessions to define the operational ‘gaps’ between existing agency capabilities
and those necessary and important for client delivery by region
Completed a sales management effectiveness review for a global software company and
defined six key project initiatives to improve sales effectiveness, market development and
account management
We approach our client engagements in a standardized, logical manner which creates the best
environment to identify key business drivers, administrative and logistical road blocks and/or
product or market definition issues. Our investigative approach leads to better insights into
your businesses and supports the development of workable solutions and recommendations
for success.
Visit the Information Media Partners website for more information.
Sample Client List
4. What is “EdTech”?
The intersection of technology tools and
education content
Data analytics platforms
Content and other marketplaces
User generated tools and applications
To provide access to information and learning to
obtain skills and knowledge
In other words – the application of technology to
support learning
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5. Big Picture Trends – 2017 Horizon Report
One Year or Less
Bring your own
device
Learning analytics
Adaptive learning
Two – Three Years
Augmented and
virtual reality
Makerspaces
Four to Five
Years
• Affective computing
• Robotics
Investment money has accelerated in the past five years
chasing start-up opportunities but may have reached
saturation.
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8. Product Segments in EdTech
Learning management
systems
Early childhood education
Broad online learning
programs
Enterprise learning
Next gen schools
Tech schools
Online to offline
Testing & remediation
Digital course materials
and courseware
Test prep
Curriculum production
Search
School administration
Next gen study tools
Language learning
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10. Edtech/Education Business Drivers
The internet “network effect:” enables accessibility to
vast collections of education materials
Technology has facilitated ‘new learning models’ which
had redefined how students integrate learning into work
and personal development
Expanding life-time earning ‘gap’ of those educated at
higher levels supports the value of education
Broader workflow automation is eliminating old-line
employment paths causing acceleration in worker ‘re-
education’ needs and requirements
Rapid growth of non-English markets for education
content ‘technology leap’ embedding technology
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11. Thoughts on Trends Impacting EdTech
Traditional content
Access models
Platforms
Accreditation
New technology
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12. End of Traditional Content?
Open educational course materials
Textbook form factor eroding
Battle for attention
“entrepreneur culture” forcing a rethinking of the
entire educational experience
Online vs offline – generational shift
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13. Access Models
Flattening of supply chain – enabling direct relationships
But, complicated with more platforms, distributors,
outlets, etc.
Business model transition from “one off” sale to varieties
of subscription models is difficult
Publishers need to rely on direct relationships wherever
they can
Subscriptions/memberships assume higher engagement
with customer
“On the verge of learning about your consumers
intimately. Need to wake up to this and learn from this”
Institutional sales (B2B and B2B2C) more predictable
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14. Platform Wars
xml first workflows
Mobile: Apple vs Android
Bring your own device
Functionality
International markets
Acquisitions and roll-ups: beach heads are
valuable
Dependence on hardware and/or good
connectivity is likely to fail – lowest common
denominator may be very low
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15. Changing Accreditation and Degrees
Work experience
Badges and certifications
Changing test and assessment requirements
On demand, in situ learning needs for career
advance
Life long learning
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16. New Technology
Virtual reality
Interesting for distance and/or remote users
In class headset is potentially a distraction
Augmented reality
Significant opportunity in education and career
development
Turning 2D drawings into 3D models which can be
played with
Non-headset on the way?
Makerspaces
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Talk about Edtech where we see the most direct intersection of content and technology occurring today
Prime example of David W’s comments regarding the new meaning of what it is to be a ‘publisher’
Many of these edtech businesses represent service type businesses more than they do ‘publishers’
Many if not most are ‘new’ companies.
EdTech, or educational technology, is the practice of improving the quality of learning through the application of technology
To this point that ‘pubishing’ is only a part of the ‘edtech’ picture
To gain a good understanding of the current intersection of technology and education in the US Higher ed market I recommend reading the annual Horizon reports.
These are some of the important trends they are seeing in the years to come.
One important indicator of the excitement in this market is the level of financial investment
As the chart shows there’s been a big run up in monies invested in edtech companies mainly from private equity companies
We’ve reached some level of saturation however and there will be a levelling in the coming years as we are seeing in 2016-17
Each of these bullets describes market segments in Edtech
Won’t explain them all as there are too many but they describe the breadth of offerings in this space
If you heard the TES presentation yesterday you may recognize how a publisher can
‘rethink’ their business and launch new offerings in several of these segments
There are many companies in each of these market segments and as noted earlier most of these are ‘new startup’ companies. It is a vibrant exciting marketplace.
What are the big picture business drivers that are advancing edtech?
Very similar to the themes discussed in David W’s presentation and TES
Network effect enable accessibility
Technology facilitates new applications and models
Education is less time boxed
And work of becoming a series of ‘small life careers’ rather than one long career
Expansion globally – where some markets skip the hurdles traditional markets had to overcome. (Big challenge for providers is mobile access in developing markets.)
Some thoughts on trends
Traditional definition of content is changing generally in education.
Immense structural changes for traditional publishers.
OER – in US a big threat posed by some of the largest ‘customers’ of publisher content.
Rapid growth of subscription models and direct selling.
Fundamental shift in relationship of the publisher and the users.
Enables virtuous feedback for publishers to rake advantage of.
Development of larger recurring revenue streams and for institution level purchases.
Content owners can focus on 1-2 important things like renewal rates and engagement.
Xml – if content isn’t flexible you are going to have a very hard time competing in the future
Need to think harder about design for example if your product doesn't’ perform well in low/poor wifi locations it will fail. Schools vary widely in technology capability.
Responsive web design important for BYOB environments.
More and more acceptance of ‘’degrees’ beyond the traditional education model.
Education less time boxed
Presents significant opportunities for life long learning offerings – often with repurposed content.
Advantages of the multiple ’mini career’ model mentioned earlier and the changes which workforces in all industries are facing.
These new technology areas will be advanced appreciable in the next few years. It is likely that your content will need to be able to benefit and participate in how these new technologies are rolled out into markets. If they can this may place you at an advantage as we see even more new companies and new business models evolve.