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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Sometimes...You Wear Stretchy Pants in Your Room...is for fun..


Sometimes, I Google myself, it's for fun... Today, when I Googled me, I found two other me's.

One "Greg Walters" is from Missouri and has been a member on the Raytown city council for 24 years. His recent post is "News and Views" and includes an article regarding a "
New Formula for Sewer Rates". (Don't laugh, he has hundreds of responses to his posts.)

Yes, yes, I know - this post has already gone "out of scope" - hang with me...

Disparately trying to find some thread, some morsel of commonality between this Greg and that Greg, I searched his blog for "printers", "copiers", "green", "HP", "Canon" - the results? Zilch, nada, zero - not a thing, a crumb or inkling towards MPS.

When all hope was lost and I was about to dial up Obama for some change - I found it! The common thread! - Humor!!

This off of his Blog:

"The following are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts, and are things people actually said in court, word for word , taken down and now published by court reporters who had the torment of staying calm while these exchanges were actually taking place.

ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.

ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he's twenty.

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shittin' me?

ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh.... I was gettin' laid!

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you shittin' me? Your Honour, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?

ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?

ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like to rephrase that?

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!

ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Huh....are you qualified to ask that question?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law. "


LOL!

Buh, Bye... DANKA. KONICA MINOLTA Completes Aquisition

"As expected, Konica Minolta reported that moving forward, Danka will sell only Konica Minolta products but will continue to sell third-party solutions as they have in the past. Effective July 1, Danka will no longer be an authorized Canon dealer..." - Cary Sherburne And from the Tampa Bay Business Journal -"Effective immediately, Konica Minolta Danka Imaging will market Konica Minolta's lines of office systems, production print systems, network printers and application solutions, a release said..."

Friday, July 4, 2008

The Fourth Of July and the American Way - Wal*Mart

July 4, 2008 -

Celebrate the 4th - go buy something, go sell something, anything...just like Wal*Mart...

I was disparately seeking a timely and interesting subject for a Fourth of July post - and two of the sites I visit most, provided me with WAL*MART.

Cory Smith's "I love Walmart but I hate them too." post resonated with me as well as Ken Stewart's Global-nomics At Work In Your Backyard. Excellent work, gentlemen!

But I think this all started over here. A great site mixing Technology with Politics(YIKES!) I love the mix, I love the argument - Tsudohnimh is the author, go check it out.

-----------
You may ask, "What in the world does Wal*Mart have to do with Managed Print Services, Edgeline, or printing?"

Good question. On this blog, we talk specifically about printing - but in a "galactic" sense, I am really talking about the application of technology in the business world and the impact/results of that application.

So how did Wal*Mart get so big? The answer, my friend, is through the application of technology - something we Americans do quite well and should be more proud of.(U!S!A!)

History Lesson - Back to the Future

Do you remember Mr. Kresge? No?

Ok, to be fair, I know of the Kresge name because I grew up in his "back yard" and the library at my University had his name on it. But Sam owes Sebastian everything - and Sam knows it.

"Sebastian Spering Kresge opened a modest five-and-dime store in downtown Detroit...and changed the entire landscape of retailing. The store that Kresge built has evolved into an empire of more than 1,500 stores and an Internet presence that reaches millions of customers...



"When Kresge opened his first store in 1899, he sold everything for 5 and 10 cents. The low prices appealed to shoppers and allowed him to expand to 85 stores in 1912, with annual sales of more than $10 million..."

sound familiar?

Happy Fourth!

We hold these truths to be self-evident... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.





Thursday, July 3, 2008

Konica Minolta - The Next IKON

Know thy self-

Today, Konica sells boxes, and they do it very well... yet their portfolio of EDM is growing and the phrase, "Konica Managed Print Services" is starting to hit the streets.

Konica/Synnex/PrintSolve -

One company, a copier company, can offer clients total print management. Konica reps can first place copiers, gaining credibility and determining their client's internal decision processes. Once this is done, in addition to gaining more "share of wallet" by adding new machines, the Managed Print Services angle can increase profits, account control and establish Konica as a partner intent on helping the client reduce costs.

From the Konica Minolta website, "
Konica Minolta, together with SYNNEX Corporation, offers your business a way to enjoy precise control of printing costs, the latest in printing technology, better workplace efficiences, and improved total cost of ownership."

The Managed Print Services selling process may go like this:

1. Establish relationship with Purchasing/Facilities by selling Konica copiers.
2. Build upon the initial relationship by offering up a "free" print analysis.
3. Run PrintSolve's USB audit tool to obtain monthly average volumes.
4. Send inventory report to Synnex
5. Synnex determines which devices to support, the number of toner cartridges, maintenance kits, etc. required for the total volume of the MPS agreement, generating a total cost.
6. Synnex gives Konica the cost per copy, who in turn adds a margin and proposes to client.

The client signs agreement with Konica Minolta. The program is a cost per copy which includes all supplies and service for the life of the agreement. The customer calls Konica- or may even call Synnex directly for service and supplies - dependent on how Konica works with Synnex.

Now the above scenario may not result in a Managed Print Services Agreement as I define it, but in a Managed Print Supplies Services Agreement - I am not sure who would provide the actual service or maintenance work.

But wait - there's more.

If we look at Konica's EDM portfolio you will see companies like Captaris, E-Copy, Planet Press, and Digital Storefront. Now look at IKON's portfolio and you will find, Captaris, E-Copy, EFI, Westbrook, EMC, etc. IKON's portfolio is more robust. But Konica Minolta is growing and adding staff - IKON is not.

The bottom line here is K/M is growing into the services space at a controlled and managed rate - with what appears to be a plan. True, "full blown" Managed Print Services should include Electronic Document Management Solutions as well and the company that can articulate the value and support a multi-faceted, longterm, combined MPS/EDM strategy will elevate beyond the box and truly help clients save money.

If we apply the Photizo Group's "Three Stages of MPS Adaption" EDM is within the 3rd stage of the three stage process and if correctly marketed and implemented, Konica Minolta could position itself as the "Go To" MPS/Copier provider.

Watch Konica Minolta.

SideBar:

Synnex and Kyocera, Konica Minolta, Edgeline: Konica is not the first to position Managed Print Services through distribution -

Kyocera - October, 2007

"The Fairfield, N.J.-based vendor said it was teaming up with Synnex, Fremont, Calif., to combine its EcoPro lineup of printers with Synnex' Printsolv managed services offering -- an offering that provides assessment, tracking and management functions that solution providers can deploy in print MSP deployments.

In jumping into the space, Kyocera Mita executives are hoping the company can broadly expand its channel footprint beyond its direct sales, office products channel and retail, as well as change its business model to cost-per-page from hardware and supply sales."







Contact Me

Greg Walters, Incorporated
greg@grwalters.com
262.370.4193