Managed Print Services to Double: Dude, Let's go to Asia.

Managed print services to double in Asia Pacific

In an article released by CIO Asia, the Asian market for MPS is predicted to be $825 million in 2011.

This according to a recent study conducted by Springboard - the study titled, "Dude, Where's My Printer - Asia Pacific Managed Print Services Market and Forecast".

Who says MPS researchers don't have a sense of humor.

The article is here.

Some excerpts:


"...In the MPS competitive landscape, HP is the clear leader with a dominant market presence in the region, followed by Fuji-Xerox, which has "leveraged its robust set of MPS offerings and a strong partner ecosystem to strengthen its regional presence," says Springboard's report.

Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) will remain as the largest MPS market in the region, cornering over 25 per cent of the market and expanding at a CAGR of 19.3 per cent to 2012. Springboard says that, while India is behind China and ASEAN in overall market size, India is forecast to be the fastest growing market a compound annual growth rate of 22.6 per cent.

"These robust growth figures indicate not just a vibrant MPS marketplace, but they also reflect the emergence of MPS as the best growth bet for the print hardware vendors in the region, who have seen a decline of hardware sales amidst the economic slowdown," said Sanchit Vir Gogia, senior research analyst for services at Springboard Research.

"Enterprises in the region are eager to test and adopt the 'next level' of printing environment, presenting the MPS vendors with a growth opportunity in a difficult economic situation," said Mr. Gogia...

"The MPS model is still in its infancy in Asia Pacific and enterprises in the region need to be educated that this is much more than an alternative print hardware purchase model," said Phil Hassey, vice president for services at Springboard Research. "The challenge for providers is to ensure they manage MPS offerings prices and offer solutions as a long-term strategy, providing immediate and successful results for enterprises."
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OKI Data Americas Showcases BTA-Exclusive Color MFPs and Managed Print Service Product Line/Program Offerings at ITEX 2009

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OKI Data Americas, which markets its products under the OKI® Printing Solutions brand, will unveil new BTA-exclusive color MFPs and a complete portfolio of Managed Print Service (MPS) Ready products and services to BTA dealers at 2009 Information Technology, Education and Exposition (ITEX) in Las Vegas (March 18-19).

Press Release follows. Large.

As an eight-year partner-level sponsor and charter member of the show, OKI Printing Solutions will showcase its expanded line of BTA-exclusive color MFP products, headlined by the award-winning CX3641 MFP, and educate dealers on the newly-announced MPS Ready products and services. These solutions provide an entry point for dealers considering a managed print program, or help take those already engaged to the next level, to increase profitability and develop recurring revenue streams.

In addition, OKI Printing Solutions will incorporate the company’s philanthropic program, Color Me OKI, at ITEX booth #609. This year, the booth will feature the 1950s Automotive Classic, 1959 Pink Cadillac Series 62 Convertible as part of Color Me OKI’s drive to survive breast cancer.

OKI Printing Solutions Highlights at ITEX 2009:

* View demonstrations of the newest BTA-exclusive color MFP products, including the CX2640, CX1145, CX2033 and CX2633 MFPs

* Learn how OKI Printing Solutions’ full-line of Managed Print Service Ready color and monochrome single function printers will help partners expand their MPS program offerings and increase overall hardware and consumables sales

* Attend “Capture and Workflow Solutions – Moving from Print to Scan, Owning the Electronic Document,” a presentation on Wednesday, March 18 at 11:00am with OKI Data Americas’ Steve Feldstein, Senior Product Planning Manager for color MFPs and Matthew Lonergan, Collaboration Specialist - Business Productivity, State and Local Government for Microsoft®

* View an exclusive presentation featuring rare Elvis footage few have ever seen, and meet Joe Esposito, long time friend and road manager to Elvis Presley

* Have your photo taken with 1950s Automotive Classic, 1959 Pink Cadillac Series 62 Convertible and join the Color Me OKI program’s drive to survive breast cancer

* Win the opportunity to have $1,000 donated on your behalf to the charity of your choice

“ITEX is an opportunity for OKI Printing Solutions to interact directly with our BTA dealer partners and demonstrate industry-leading solutions that will further strengthen their profit opportunities, particularly in today’s economy,” said Jackie Paralis, Senior Marketing Manager, Channel Development at OKI Data Americas.

“Further solidifying our commitment to the BTA channel and responding to what we are hearing from our dealers, we have expanded our portfolio of products and solutions to include significant new MPS offerings, giving BTA dealers even more unique ways to differentiate themselves and ensure continued business growth.”

New color MFPs being unveiled at the show include the CX2640, CX1145 and CX2033 MFPs, innovative new A3 and A4 workgroup products that further build on OKI Printing Solutions’ full line of color MFPs offered exclusively through the BTA channel. Featured alongside the CX3641 and CX2633 MFPs, these new products expand the portfolio of color MFPs for OKI Printing Solutions to offer new opportunities and applications for dealers and end users.

Attendees can take part in the many product- and solution-focused demonstrations from OKI Printing Solutions executives featured at ITEX booth #609. Further, the show’s Power Hour, entitled “Capture and Workflow Solutions – Moving from Print to Scan, Owning the Electronic Document,” will take place on Wednesday, March 18 in room N257 from 11:00am-12:15pm. Steve Feldstein, Senior Product Planning Manager for color MFPs at OKI Data Americas and Matthew Lonergan, Collaboration Specialist - Business Productivity, State and Local Government for Microsoft® will provide valuable insight to dealers regarding SMB capture solutions, with an open forum for Q&A following the session.

At ITEX booth #609, OKI Printing Solutions will also feature live music and entertainment from the Corvelles, and an exclusive presentation from Joe Esposito, long time friend and road manager to Elvis Presley. “Memories of Elvis” will feature rare footage from Elvis’ personal and professional life.

After the presentation, attendees are invited to pose with Joe Esposito in front of the 1950’s Automotive Classic, 1959 Pink Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, which is part of a fleet of vintage vehicles provided by the Color Me OKI philanthropic program, and receive a complimentary photo printed on OKI Printing Solutions’ HD color printers. For every photo taken at ITEX, OKI Data Americas will make a five dollar donation to the American Cancer Society. The vintage vehicle, owned by Stewart and Bonnie Krentzman, represents the rebuilding process women must go through when restoring their mind, body and souls after battling breast cancer.

All OKI Printing Solutions products are built on parent company OKI Data Corporation’s history of leadership and innovation in color printing. It is based on printing technologies advanced by OKI Data Corporation, such as digital LED technology and Single Pass Color™. This technology allows OKI Data Americas to manufacture products that require fewer moving parts for increased reliability.

OKI Printing Solutions products are backed by comprehensive support from authorized OKI Printing Solutions dealers. In addition, the company provides live, toll-free1 technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, with agents based in North America.

OKI Data Americas is dedicated to being environmentally-conscious and supporting our customers' increasing focus on the environment. In support of those efforts, we offer customized printing solutions and multifunctional products that help our customers reduce their impact on the environment and increase operational efficiency.

Editor’s Note: For more information, please visit OKI Data Americas’ pressroom.

About Joe Esposito

Joe Esposito is universally recognized as the most credible source on Elvis Presley’s life and career. Esposito met Presley while serving in the Army in 1959. The two became fast friends and soon after Esposito became Presley’s road manager. As the publisher of the bestselling book, “Remember Elvis,” along with five other published works that chronicle Presley’s career, Esposito is an inextricable link to the memory of Elvis.

Whether recognized as an incredible public speaker, author, road manager or loyal friend, Joe Esposito is still in high demand for his talents and one-of-a-kind accounts of a man the nation has always referred to as “The King.” Esposito also managed shows for legendary greats such as Michael Jackson, The Bee Gees, The Carpenters and John Denver. Currently he resides in Las Vegas with his wife Martha and son Anthony.

OKI, Reg. OKI Electric Industry Co., Ltd. ENERGY STAR Reg. T.M. U.S. EPA, Single Pass Color T.M. and design Reg. T.M. OKI Data Corp., Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Channels to Managed Print Services Success

3/2009

For the past few months, I like a few of you, have been reading MPS articles over at the IT-director.com site authored by Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca.

She has a great article written today that pretty much summarizes the current state and challenges of MPS.

It is a great read and I have, with permission, re-printed it here.

Enjoy -



Louella Fernandes By: Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca
Published: 16th March 2009
Copyright Quocirca © 2009

Current economic pressures have put renewed focus on technology consolidation within businesses. Although often overlooked, the print environment can be a source of huge cost which can be easily be brought under control through using a managed print service (MPS).
The printer and multifunction (MFP) market is characterised by falling prices and shrinking margins. In this increasingly commoditised market, selling services is the key to capturing new revenue for both manufacturers and resellers. For customers, an MPS is a way of reducing capital investment and lowering the ongoing costs associated with inefficient printing practices, such as the cost of purchasing and storing consumables, costs related to high paper usage, as well as reduced productivity as a result of printer downtime.

Managed print services range in depth and scale and may be offered either through the reseller channel or direct by the manufacturer. An entry level MPS offers a way to purchase printers combined with supplies, maintenance and support through an all-inclusive contract. This type of service is typically offered through the channel and, dependent on their capabilities, resellers may also offer print environment assessments and device consolidation consultancy.

At the other end of the scale direct programmes from vendors like Xerox and HP offer a range of services to assess, optimise and manage the print environment. Whilst large enterprises are the focus of manufacturers' direct MPS programmes, it is the lucrative mid-market served predominantly by the channel where resellers have most to gain.

The channel opportunityDownward pressure on printer hardware prices means that resellers need to differentiate their offerings by selling more software and services. This allows resellers to add value through initiatives like offering print assessments or document workflow solutions. Entry level MPS contracts are often cost-per-page contracts where customers sign up to a contract that includes consumables, service and support. So, rather than the traditional purchasing model where a customer may purchase consumables from different suppliers, an MPS approach allows the reseller to benefit from an ongoing supplies revenue stream.

The printer market is served by a mix of traditional copier and IT-driven printer resellers. The transition to selling MPS is different for each of these. Copier resellers typically have the infrastructure in place due to the traditional financing models for copiers, often sold on "click" contracts. Whilst copier resellers have often sold via the facilities or procurement departments within organisations, an MPS offers them the opportunity to connect with the IT department. IT departments may be more familiar with certain brands such as HP, Lexmark or Samsung and also expect strong networking integration expertise.

Meanwhile printer resellers are characterised by extensive product ranges and IT expertise, but may not have the service capability or infrastructure to sell cost-per-page contracts. It is attracting these resellers to the MPS fold which is probably the most challenging for manufacturers.

Vendor channel programmesThe channel convergence taking place is a market driver for printer manufacturers, and many are actively developing their channel programmes to help their resellers navigate these often unchartered MPS waters. Unsurprisingly, vendor programmes are usually focused on managing their own devices, with inherent limitations for multi-brand resellers, but it can provide resellers with a simple and straightforward packaged service which enables them to make the switch to MPS reasonably quickly.

Many printer manufacturers are packaging their managed print service tools for the small and medium (SMB) market. Some programmes require remote monitoring for automated meter reading, which has traditionally been a manual task carried out by the customer. As well as enabling regular billing, automatic meter reading also enables supplies replenishment to be proactively managed meaning that customers can receive consumables before they notice the have run low, and before productivity is impacted. Remote monitoring also enables proactive maintenance. Ultimately MPS should make sense for any reseller that wants to enhance its customer relationships, whilst building annuity revenue streams and bringing in higher margin business.

Two of the most advanced vendor programmes are those from HP and Xerox. HP Smart Printing Services (SPS) uses the resources and skills of its HP partners to supplement its own. The SPS offering consists of two different blocks of services: break/fix support and supplies are delivered by HP under a proprietary agreement. Hardware, financing and other service elements required are delivered by the partner under a linked, but separate, contractual agreement. In the EMEA region HP is aiming for 60% growth, illustrating the importance of MPS to its channel efforts.

PagePack is Xerox's principal channel service offering in Europe, based on cost-per-page model. The contract covers hardware support, maintenance and supplies (excluding paper), 24/7 access to consumable ordering tools, Smart eSolutions (automatic meter reading) and hardware support and maintenance. It also offers Office Productivity Advisor tools which calculate document costs and it's SAVE (Self-Assessment Value Estimator) which enables resellers to promote the benefits of PagePack contracts over traditional non-contract purchasing.

Other vendors are also increasing their emphasis on managed print services for their channel partners. The Lexmark Value Print programme provides certified resellers with a range of tools, support and training to help them sell an MPS. Meanwhile Kyocera UK has launched KYOprint Pack which is an all-inclusive service that enables customers to purchase a device with all hardware, consumables, and service included. KYOprint Packs are valid for a specific number of pages, and expire when that number of pages has been printed. This is unlike some other MPS contracts where the customer is charged for a certain number of pages per month regardless of whether they are printed.
Ricoh UK launched its @Remote partner programme in Autumn 2008, and since then over 30 dealers have signed up for the programme which offers automated meter reading along with supplies management capabilities.

Multivendor managementWith many companies operating a heterogeneous printer fleet, those resellers hoping to truly exploit the opportunity of managing a customer's complete print environment must use generic print management tools which offer consistent functionality across printer brands. PrintFleet, for instance, offers a hosted and reseller-hosted remote print monitoring solution. The benefit of using this type of tool is that resellers do not need to invest time in learning and installing a range of different vendor proprietary tools.

Meanwhile, the need for resellers to be able to connect with IT decision makers as well as offer service capability has led to the emergence of the "hybrid reseller" which combines the service skills of copier resellers with the technology expertise of IT resellers.

XMA Solutions is a good example. XMA is a specialist supplier of IT hardware, supplies and services, and has been focusing on managed print services for five years with customers predominantly in the public sector and education markets. XMA offers print management consultancy such as document assessments and hardware and software deployment for a range of printer brands. XMA is also an HP Smart Printing Services partner and is actively embracing the managed print services opportunity.

When it comes to the IT infrastructure, managed services have already been accepted as the way to reduce the cost and time of managing IT in-house. Printing is as much an integral part of the IT infrastructure as other networked devices, and using a third party to manage any element of the printing environment is a start to making efficiency gains and reducing costs.

Nevertheless, there is still a significant learning curve for resellers who are yet to make the shift to a service-based approach. The MPS transition requires new skills and resources, and printer manufacturers need to nurture existing channel partnerships as well as develop new ones to compete effectively in a market where MPS is the key to reviving their fortunes.

Whilst vendor proprietary tools are certainly a good way for resellers to get started with managed print services, generic tools should also be considered by those resellers who have the resources to manage multivendor environments.


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A Guide to US Papers

I Culled this out of some twits from Twitter earlier today...

Guide to US newspapers


1. The Wall Street Journal is read by the people who run the country.

2. The New York Times is read by people who think they run the country.

3. The Washington Post is read by people who think they should run the country.

4. USA Today is read by people who think they ought to run the country but don’t really understand the Washington Post. They do, however like the smog statistics shown in pie charts.

5. The Los Angeles Times is read by people who wouldn’t mind running the country, if they could spare the time, and if they didn’t have to leave L.A. to do it.

6. The Boston Globe is read by people whose parents used to run the country.

7. The New York Daily News is read by people who aren’t too sure who’s running the country, and don’t really care as long as they can get a seat on the train.

8. The New York Post is read by people who don’t care who’s running the country either, as long as they do something really scandalous, preferably while intoxicated.

9. The San Francisco Chronicle is read by people who aren’t sure there is a country, or that anyone is running it; but whoever it is, they oppose all that they stand for. There are occasional exceptions if the leaders are handicapped minority, feministic atheist dwarfs, who also happen to be illegal aliens from ANY country or galaxy as long as they are democrats.

10. The Miami Herald is read by people who are running another country, but need the baseball scores.

by Anamitra Chakladar at Sun Mar 01 05:56:43 UTC 2009 New Delhi, India

HP Smartcard Solution for US Government Recognized

Government Computer News has recognized HP and 13 other technology companies with GCN Best of FOSE Awards for 2009.

HP took home the FOSE’ Award for the Security Hardware Category.

From HP’s Enterprise Printing Blog, Mike Feldman reports,

"The HP Control Smartcard Solution for U.S. Government helps alleviate this problem and tighten security by allowing imaging and printing network authentication for government employees --- enabling them to connect, communicate and collaborate within a protected imaging and printing infrastructure."

The HP Control Smartcard Solution utilizes employee identification cards and sophisticated encryption software to authenticate and control access to print/imaging systems.

Mike goes on, "...As government agencies continue to adopt more rigorous standards, we feel this award winning solution is indicative of HP’s mission to continuously provide our government customers with innovative technologies to help manage agency document and information workflows more effectively and securely. As one of the most prestigious awards in the public sector space, we were thrilled to represent HP and be the recipient of a very competitive category within the contest.."


GCN honors public-sector IT innovations with Best of FOSE awards
HP Wins GCN Best of FOSE Award for Security Hardware

Conan is Moving out Here - Great Memories with Triumph and Star Wars

New contract for copiers saves Lackawanna County $83,000

BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, March 12, 2009
Updated: Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:48 AM EDT

Lackawanna County will save $83,000 a year on copier machines, eliminating 15 of 78 copiers in county offices with a new contract approved by commissioners Wednesday.

Among the 64 departments of county government that takes up 27 buildings, there are 438 copiers, printers and fax machines, said county deputy director of purchasing Jim McLaine. But through efficiency checks and competitive bidding, he said the county is finding some savings.

The county asked for bids to replace 78 of the approximately 100 copiers the county owns or leases. Scranton-based Topp Business Solutions won the contract, which will eliminate all county-owned copiers and give county offices new, leased copiers.

Mr. McLaine said when the county bids out the remainder of the copiers, printers and fax machines, he expects there to be even more savings for the county.

“I think we’re on sound track here for the future,” he said.

The county also bid out printing of the 2009 county newsletter — but only two companies bid, and one was disqualified. Printing 70,000 copies for each edition of the quarterly county newsletter will cost the county $37,100 this year. The newsletter is funded by the hotel tax.

The bid was won by Dunmore-based Universal Printing Co.

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com

Ricoh cuts 2010/11 operating profit target by 32 pct

TOKYO, March 13 (Reuters) - Japan's Ricoh Co Ltd (7752.T), the world's largest copier maker, said on Friday it had cut its operating profit target for the year starting April 2010 by a third due to a firmer yen.

It now expects profit of 170 billion yen ($1.7 billion), compared with its previous goal of 250 billion yen announced a year ago.

Ricoh also said it aims for 2.3 trillion yen in revenues for the 2010/11 business year, compared with its previous target of 2.5 trillion yen.

The new targets are based on foreign exchange assumptions of 90 yen to the dollar and 120 yen per euro. Its earlier assumptions were 105 yen to the dollar and 155 yen per euro.

WA state agency pays 10 times more per photocopy

They're starting to catch on up there in Washington.

One department is paying for 950,000 images per month, "...the Department of Ecology pays four cents per copy and must pay for 950,000 copies a month, whether it prints that many or not.

Last December, this department was billed $15,493 for copies it never made.

In an article here the good people of Washington state have lawmakers who are really looking out for their taxpayers.

Where one department is paying 4 cents, another is paying 0.004/image.

The Department of Printing billed agencies $50,000 for assessments done by OkiData and Lexmark -- but some departments have taken advantage of "free" assessments.

Pam Derkacht, Assistant Director of Customer Services for the Department of Printing says, "It's really easy for any agency or any large organization to want to take the free assessment but it always results in "You need more equipment or you need newer, upgraded equipment."

Text of the TV article is here.

Canon cuts 2010 profit outlook by 75%

Canon Inc. (CAJ: News ) lowered its profit outlook for 2010 by 75% to figures more in line with the economic downturn as the company grapples with the impact of a stronger yen and weak demand on its operations, according to media reports Thursday.

Accordingly, for 2010, Canon now forecasts net income of 150 billion yen, down sharply from its prior outlook for net income of 600 billion yen set in 2007. The company also lowered its outlook for revenues for the year to 3.7 trillion yen from the prior forecast of 6 trillion yen.

Canon had recorded profits for eight consecutive years through fiscal 2007 on stronger demand for copiers, digital cameras and other products. However, the company has since witnessed a sharp fall in demand for its cameras and copiers as the global economic crisis hit its major export markets.

Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Undergo Double-Digit Decline in the Fourth Quarter of 2008, According to IDC

IDC - Press Release
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., March 11, 2009 –

Worldwide hardcopy peripherals shipments declined 17.0% year over year to 32.6 million units while revenue from these shipments fell 13% to $15.0 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 (4Q08), according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. This is the second consecutive quarter that the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market has experienced a decline in shipments.

"IDC expects the market to bottom out in 2009, in response to the international economic crisis, and then start a recovery in 2010," said Alyson Frasco, director, U.S. Hardcopy Peripheral Trackers & Forecasts.

According to Phuong Hang, program manager, Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, "Over the next year, vendors will employ several strategies to weather the downturn. The battle will continue in the channel as vendors seek to gain go-to-market strength and capacity. Vendors will also focus on offering cost-cutting and productivity enhancements to customer’s existing document infrastructure as well as driving managed print services."

The inkjet market remained the dominant segment in 4Q08, with 22.8 million units shipped, but it was also hit the hardest with –18% year-over-year growth.

Monochrome laser was the second largest technology segment with 7.2 million units shipped and year-over-year shipment growth of –17.3%.

Color laser shipments, the third largest segment, was essentially flat year over year and was the only segment not to experience a decline in the quarter.

The MFP market remains the dominant product type in the overall hardcopy peripherals market with 63.3% of the 20.7 million unit shipments in 4Q08, and was the least impacted of the product types with a –12% year-over-year decline.

The printer market was hard hit with a –24% growth rate resulting in shipments of 11.8 million units as the market continues to move to MFP devices.

Vendor Highlights

* HP – HP remains the leading vendor in the total hardcopy peripherals market with 41% share, down from 43% in 4Q07. The brightest spot for HP was the color laser MFP segment, where HP grew unit shipments 82% year over year and gained nearly eight points in market share.

* Canon – Canon did quite well compared to its competitors in 4Q08 and remained the number two vendor in the hardcopy peripherals market. Canon's unit shipments declined only 8% year over year, resulting in an increased market share of 19%, up 2 points from 4Q07.

* Epson – Epson rounds out the top three with 15.4% market share in 4Q08, an increase from 14.8% in 4Q07. While its overall year-over-year growth fell 14% worldwide, Epson's inkjet MFPs experienced 43% sequential growth in 4Q08 – the best percentage expansion among the top 5 and across regions.

* Brother – Brother took a distant fourth place in the hardcopy peripherals space, with 6.2% market share. However, Brother is the only vendor in the top 5 showing a positive trend year over year. While growth is stalled in the Americas, Brother's units shipments grew, sequentially and year over year, across Asia/Pacific and EMEA in both single-function printers and MFPs.

* Lexmark – Lexmark rounds out the top five worldwide market players, losing nearly two points in total market share this quarter (4.7%). The strongest growth for Lexmark was the global Laser MFP segment where its shipments grew 20% year over year.

Managed Print Services - Here Comes Dell

Over at the MSPMentor site, Joe is taking a very educated guess based on some reliable sources - Dell is poised and ready to move into the MPS space.

Go check out the post and the "where the heck is HP" responses.

In seemingly unrelated news, today Dell confirmed rumors that it will trim hundreds of workers from its payroll this week.

A Dell spokesperson, David Frink, told The Austin American-Statesman that the cuts began Wednesday at Dell's factories in Central Texas and North Carolina.

"We've been streamlining the company where it makes sense for more than a year," Dell spokesman David Frink told the paper. "Any actions this week are part of that effort. The layoffs are not about individual performance but about properly sizing Dell's business for the economy and business environment."




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DocuAudit and FMAudit Partner to Offer Integrated Managed Print Solution:It is Heating Up, Isn't It?

“We are excited about the software developmentopportunities in this agreement with FMAudit and the expansion of our global partnership,” states Jim Salzer, President of DocuAudit International. “The combined offering will provide the industry with a simple, cost effective, and manufacturer independent solution for automating managed print tasks.”

Off the site:

The combined offering will incorporate DocuAudit’s 2009 proposal generation and assessment reporting software with FMAudit’s WebAudit assessment tools and FMAudit Central remote monitoring software. As part of this agreement, the software integration between DocuAudit and FMAudit will be expanded to include such features as automatic capture and calculation of TCO based on the device’s actual toner fill rates.

With the integration, print management resellers will not have to go back and forth between assessment software and meter collection applications. This will streamline the sales process, allowing resellers to focus on creating profitable transactions.

DocuAudit and FMAudit have also integrated their device databases with 12,000 models and growing by the day. The combined databases will give the dealer access to hundreds of fields of data that includes device attributes that range from product images, consumable yields and costs, to duty cycles.

Kevin Tetu, President of FMAudit is excited about the integration.

“Most comprehensive MPS offerings today are very expensive and in the industry's excitement, we rushed forward and built solutions that were too complex with too many pieces. FMAudit and DocuAudit took a step back and focused on the key successful elements. As a result, our offering makes it much simpler and cheaper to get started with profitable managed print contracts.”
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With all this focus on the collection and assessment "tools" rolled in with the automatic proposal generation, is it any wonder we are looking at the commodization of MPS?

Soon, there won't be any need for Professionals.

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The IT Guys Are Stealing Managed Print Services- MPS Gets Redefined, Again

"Gartner estimates that printer problems account for between 30 percent and 40 percent of helpdesk calls—a significant cost to any company." 

In a great article by Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca wrote all the way back in January 2009, here, she goes on: 

"...Meanwhile the downtime of any printer device generally leads to reduced user productivity—and the problem can be exacerbated by users who may be slow to report printer faults such as paper jams or toner running low. Robust print management tools that claim to mitigate these issues are available. For example, HP's WebJet Admin offers features such as services and supplies alerts to enable proactive device management.

However, many organizations often find their IT staff simply do not have the time or experience necessary to utilize advanced tool capabilities to their greatest advantage..."

-------- I find the statement above pretty illuminating, and slightly dated. As with most issues in MPS, everything is in flux; including the tools available. If all this "change" is affecting us inside the industry, how is it affecting our clients and prospects? 

One big change I am seeing is IT departments trying to "get a hold" of all these "new" costs. New as in, "the costs that have been growing for the last two decades right under you nose" kind of new? Yes, that kind of "new". Back in the olden days, the days of Novell Networks, Micro Channel Architecture, and Expanded Memory,

IT departments grew in power because they understood computers and regular people did not. They were the Wizards; socially unapproachable. Their decisions were absolute, like the Oracle at Delphi. Fast forward a couple decades, mix in some economic uncertainty, and spice this up with a "new", unchecked yet extremely manageable mountain of cost - and today we have the best opportunity for IT departments around the country to justify their existence or at least one or two IT staff by tackling this new menace - Un-Managed Print Services. 

Think I am off base? 

Just this month, in some of the larger organizations I work with, I am beginning to hear more and more about internal "Density Studies" being performed by the IT staff. "Density Studies" means calculating the number of printers relative to the number of users - a good start, but how will this all end? Well, first off, instead of the IT department supporting network and technology issues with end-users, they are performing internal Density Studies. 

 As open help desk tickets grow in number, IT staff is combing through hundreds of toner, supplies, and overage invoices. Worst, IT departments are notorious for "overcomplicating" and reporting to end-users in an Orwellian manner. This is one of the reasons end-users don't like IT people; the IT folks talk down to the end-users. I do not think most IT departments really want to wrestle away all those "expensive desktops" - I wish them luck. 

Here is my primary concern, as IT attempts to understand MPS internally and interpret MPS for the organization, will they re-shape the true issues associated with real MPS? Will the definition of MPS be changed once again, this time by the "propeller-heads"? And will this new definition neutralize any "value add" that the MPS players can provide? 

We are witnessing MPS gain acceptance and increase in popularity, this new rush to boil down and commoditize our expertise will begin - it already has. As with all complex ideas and issues, the best way to understand and explain is to break the idea down into component parts. As we are talking about IT, "breaking down" means extracting all the "hard" costs and allowing those to be the comparative criteria. 

When this happens, unfortunately, the focus is shifted away from "the big" picture and the project may drown in the minutia of invoices, meter reads assessments, and lease payment reductions. We can't and shouldn't fight this. 

So what do we do? We present a single dimension, cost savings, and R.O.I. based on agreed numbers. This is simpler. This is easier for people to understand and easier to sell. A great man once said, 

"Sell them first, educate them second..." 

 The good news is if we approach the partnership with high intent, initially selling on hard cost ROI is not that bad and establishes a good foundation for a long-term business relationship. This can only be negative if the analysis and implementation begin and ends with hard cost savings.

"PC LOAD LETTER! What the *@#!% does that Mean?"

So now I "Tweet" - and now I get to experience "Spam" at a whole other level - Tweet Spam.

But I guess it isn't spam if it comes from someone I choose to follow - arg.

This was just sent to me - we all know the "Green" spin associated with the Phaser's from Xerox - you remember, the Crayola-Printers. (J/K, lighten up).

The Phaser's Green argument involves less packaging, low waste for toner like empty cartridges, ease of use, etc. But nobody ever talks about the energy consumption at start up, the waste of wax at start up, etc.

I have seen the output, it is very, very nice - enjoy this little marketing presentation:

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New Group on LinkedIn

TheDeathOfTheCopier

A small group of like minded folks from the copier, printing, technology industries.

Including, Selling Professionals, Technical Guru's, Shuttle Pilots, C-Levels, Pundits, Brain Surgeons and Rocket Scientists.

Come on over and join - everybody's doing it.

Seven Elements of a Managed Print Services Engagement. Oh, really?

The wonderful universe that is the internet.

Where anyone can write a blog, discover new recipes, secure airline tickets or purchase luxury submarines.

One common use for the internet appears to be a place where all the "experts" have a forum to pontificate.

And everybody can be an anonymous critic.

So it is with the following. An anonymous expert/critic puts forth Seven Elements of his MPS engagement process as a challenge for and a claim of legitimacy.

I have edited out most of the personal taunts and obvious sarcasm - but this is a really good study into the mind of a current MPS strategy.

The author is challenging the intended reader's knowledge of MPS by putting forth his own wisdom in the form illuminating questions:

"Please provide us one (1) example of an enterprise or any size company for that matter where you did the following (please provide details of how you executed each step and your factors for success).

1) Delivered a presentation on managed print and built a business case for doing an assessment.

2) Completed an actual assessment by gathering data on devices by type, copiers (workgroup, production and color), faxes, mono-printers, color printers, wide format printers, and scanners. Gathered data on all the consumables by device type and quantified the total $ value. Gathered all the volume data so as to analyze usage. Please provide an example of the amount of time between volume reads and why you recommend that timeframe.

3) Analyzed the data to do a strategy session with the customer/prospect and identified hardware redeployment opportunities to avoid having high volume printers in low volume areas and vice-versa.

4) Held a strategy session with a customer/prospect to layout the redeployment schedule.

Oh, one thing before I forget. When doing the assessment you find all these gem opportunities to replace hardware. And the temptation/mistake most equipment reps make is during the strategy session they try to go and replace a bunch of the old beat up hardware with new hardware. This usually results in wreaking havoc on the opportunity because you are telling the IT Director they need 50 new MPS pioneer Lexmark printers to replace 50 marketshare leader HP’s. So to avoid this mistake, we don’t go after that hardware opportunity immediately, we wait. We put together a refresh program in the future that addresses future hardware needs but it revolves around device consolidation not hardware proliferation. But more on this when I get to quarterly reviews.

5) Did a financial MPS proposal where you captured all the volume off of the customer/prospects printer fleet.

6) Implemented a contract.

7) Executed quarterly reviews to capture more share of wallet within the account i.e. hardware examples like I listed earlier. This is where you go after the hardware opportunities. Through ongoing monitoring of their usage you will build credibilty and gain trust. The quarterly is the vehicle to showing the client the value you bring and solidifying the relationship. Hardware opportunities follow. "
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At first glance, this all looks reasonable.

But, for me, there is a tinge of familiarity. Something tugging at me from the past. Something just isn't 100%.

For starters, this process seems a little too hardware centric.

Although the author clearly states "...we don’t go after that hardware opportunity immediately, we wait..." and "...Executed quarterly reviews to capture more share of wallet within the account..." one can not help but be suspicious. I mean, why tell me something you aren't going to do, just don't do it.

And then it hit me - these seven steps can be applied to any COPIER deal out there. Even more, this started to smell like an IKON process.

The process is geared around selling more hardware - period.

The assessment is strictly a collection of situational data - no authentic analysis.

There is no real business case, no workflow analysis or even a hope of actually helping the client. Well, he would be helping the client shift costs from many vendors to one. His.

This approach is simplistic. The benefits to the client are hollow. And the practitioner a self serving rube - that is, in my humble opinion.

Another epiphany - imagine this mentality multiplied by 100 or 100,000 sales reps.

No wonder dealers are struggling with MPS.

Want to know more?

Go Here.

Click to email me.

Canon, IKON, Ricoh, Konica Minolta and All Selling Professionals: Leaving Your current Employer? Read This:

From the article by Morgan Bettex, of Law360:

Canon USA Inc. has sued William D. Crow, a former employee, as well as 10 other "John Does" for allegedly revealing trade secrets and other proprietary information to Ikon Office Solutions Inc. in violation of a confidentiality agreement.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, Canon sued Crow, for allegedly disclosing Canon's confidential information to Ikon, as part of a scheme to switch Canon's customers from Canon to Ricoh.

In the complaint, it is explained that, Crow resigned Canon Jan. 5 to join Ikon's government marketing division. In his new position with IKON, according to the complaint, Crow is working Canon's customers in violation his contractual obligations to Canon.

As a condition of his employment, Crow signed a confidentiality agreement the complaint said.

"CUSA has been and will continue to be irreparably harmed by Crow's misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair misuse of CUSA's confidential information, and usurpation of CUSA customer opportunities and goodwill," the complaint said.

It is alleged that between approximately Nov. 17, 2008, and Jan. 6, Crow downloaded information such as pricing reports, customer contact information and monthly machine population reports, for use in his new position, the complaint said.

It is also alleged that Crow deleted quotes, proposals and pricing from his computer.

The case is Canon U.S.A. Inc. v. William D. Crow et aI., case number: 09-cv-OOllO, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
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DOTC Analysis, thoughts -

The copier industry is a "revolving door" for sales people in "normal" times, with all the changes going on today, more good people are out of a job or looking for a better position with a more stable company.

The situation displayed above happens daily, but it is rare to have a company sue an ex-employee - but times are different and the battle is being waged on all fronts - something we should be aware of when attempting to better our position in the world.

In California, it is difficult to prosecute a "non-compete" so the angle used could be the confidentiality agreement.

You signed it.

Get a copy, keep it with you, review before jetting...

Reuters: Ikon clients switching from rival gear to Ricoh's smoothly...accounted for 90 percent of sales at Ikon in January

TOKYO, March 5 - Ricoh Co Ltd said its products accounted for 90 percent of sales at Ikon in January, up from 30 percent before the office equipment distributor was acquired by the Japanese copier maker last year, underlining a smooth consolidation of the key U.S. unit.

Ricoh, the world's largest copier maker, said it aimed to raise its profits in the year from April despite a tough business environment, thanks to bigger contributions from Ikon and its high-end printer business.

Ricoh bought Ikon Office Solutions for $1.6 billion in October, delivering a heavy blow to rival Canon Inc, whose machines had represented 60 percent of the products Ikon handled before the October acquisition.

Investors have been keeping a close eye on Ikon's performance during the transition from an independent distributor to a Ricoh unit due to concerns that some of its existing clients may leave Ikon to keep using rival products.

"We ourselves have been worried about that, too. But all of its clients said they have no problem with Ricoh machines except for one company, which did not give us a clear answer," Ricoh Chief Executive Shiro Kondo told Reuters in an interview.

Ricoh competes with Canon, Xerox Corp, Konica Minolta Holdings Inc in printers and copiers.

The Tokyo-based company held a 19.7 percent share in the global copier market in value terms in 2008, according to research firm Gartner, ahead of Xerox's 19.2 percent and Canon's 18.9 percent.

PROFIT REAPING

Kondo said he aims for sales and profit growth in the year starting April 1 as it benefits from a full-year profit contribution from Ikon, and its commercial printing business will likely take off in the new business year.

Ricoh in 2007 bought International Business Machines Corp's digital commercial printer business for $725 million.

Digital commercial printers are used to print such documents as product manuals and direct mail quickly and in large volume, and are a fast-growing segment of the printer market.

"We have conducted various acquisitions such as the Ikon purchase and joined new business areas," Kondo said on Thursday.

"And we are now entering a period of reaping profits, although it is not very fortunate for us that the timing of profit-reaping coincides with this tough business environment."

Ricoh forecast a 45 percent fall in operating profit to 100 billion yen ($1 billion) in the year ending this month due to slumping demand and a firmer yen.

For the new year starting April, analysts on average expect Ricoh to post an operating profit of 62 billion yen, according to Reuters Estimates, making Kondo's target look challenging.

He also said Ricoh planned to stick to its mid-term target to boost operating profit to 250 billion yen in the year ending March 2011 despite a widening recession.

Prior to Kondo's comments, shares in Ricoh closed up 0.9 percent at 1,085 yen, underperforming the benchmark Nikkei average, which gained 2 percent. ($1=99.17 Yen)

It's Friday - James Tiberus Kirk, from the cornfields of Iowa to Veridian III

Friday is Fun Day -

Corvette!~

From an IT Director: "How to Shut down vendor cold calls"...this is good stuff.

I found this post "How to cut to the chase on the vendor cold call", by Jay Rollins, over at Tech Republic.

The blog is titled, "CIO for Hire".

I found the article very interesting for those of us hammering out MPS deals - or at least trying.

I found the article very illuminating regarding the current selling to IT model and why it is sometime difficult to get IT providers to succeed with Managed Print Services.

In it, Jay reveals how he "handles" a cold sales call from a vendor; imagine you are setting down with your list of prospects (the yellow pages) and you are dialing up Jay's number.

If he answers, he clearly states to you, "...You have five minutes to tell me what your product is and how it will help me. At the end of that five minutes I will tell you if we’re interested, if it’s something we want to look at in the future or if I want more information.”

It's like Detroit all over again.


Now I disagree with the premise, but let's continue down this road.

You have five minutes to "wow" this guy - the neophyte will stumble into some sort of rote "value statement" ending with "we have the lowest prices around..." click.

The advanced selling professional will realize that five minutes is plenty of time to close for an appointment. Because this professional knows a great deal about this IT guy and his set-up and probable pain points.

The Consummate Selling Professional will never be in this position because he has been introduced into the C-levels and is talking to the person who tells the IT guy what to do.

Which is why I do not like the premise - cold calling. When you read the post, and the comments, a clear view of how the Sales Person is viewed by many prospects. It isn't pretty.

Cold calling is fine if you are "churning and burning" or looking for that one or two machine sale, down the street.

But as a first step in the dance of relationship building?

I am unsure.

Click to email me.

The Pen That Remembers all Your Client Notes

It records everything you write and it records the sounds around you as you write, syncing the recorded sound with the recorded writing...

Pretty coolio...

I take notes.

All sales people take notes - I hope.

This device will save all your notes, upload them to a PC, and record your interview questions.

This would be a great tool when conducting assessments over adult beverages.

Check it out, here and here.

Click to email me.