Impact Networking received the 2017 ITEX Perfect Image Award for Outstanding Managed Print Service Program.
“Each award recipient demonstrated exceptional innovation and outstanding performance,” said Mark Spring, deja-vu owner of the once monolithic gathering. “We applaud Impact Networking...”
“It is a great honor to receive the Perfect Image MPS Dealer of the Year award twice in a row", said Vice President of Managed Print Services Jeremy Fordemwalt. " Reception of this award demonstrates our MPS team and company are on the right path to continue succeeding in this space along with providing clients a top tier program helping them control and manage the entire document ecosystem.”
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Soooooo...
Impact MpS is growing in breadth and scope. The number of users supported has increased. Services layered on top of the traditional MpS idea help clients reduce the costs associated with moving data.
Impact's MpS program integrates their Strategic Services(BPO), Production, Managed IT Services, and Creative Services departments creating Print Policies that adhere to ITAM and speak ITIL.
As the universal list of MpS providers shrinks, Impact is attracting net new opportunities and converting competitively supported, disgruntled MpS customers into long-term, business relationships.
"The Impact MPS Program, led by Vide President of Managed Print Services Jeremy Fordemwalt, has grown more than 55% year-over-year for three years running. The MPS team assesses client office environments to uncover inefficiencies in the way users print, store and retrieve documents. They use that information to create solutions that improve processes, reduce documents, increase office productivity and contribute to increased profitability. The department continues to add additional solutions based on client demand..." Full release, here.
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Jeremy is an industry veteran in managed print services and has managed to build a true, customer-centric, managed print services powerhouse. Impact MPS travels together with clients formulating plans to assist in the natural move away from the printed document.
Utilizing Impact's proven, market driven specialties in Creative Services, Managed IT, Production printing and document management, Impact MPS weaves a tapestry of solutions designed specifically for each client. The MPS program has evolved beyond automatic toner fulfillment and service delivery into a cutting edge, paper-to-digital transformation force.
...work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value.
In 2007, I traversed the sun drenched thoroughfares of Southern California - from the 'Bu to the Border, Laguna Beach to Victorville.
I was part of a new movement, "Managed Print Services", working for a big VAR, part of HP's flex into the copier niche(sound familiar?) with an MPS program and a new copier-killer, Edgeline.
Like most VARs, we were built on value added services attached to hardware sales. Unlike most, our newly built NOC helped the move to services based revenue streams. In addition to classic T/M contracts, email hosting, backup/disaster/recover, remote management and remediation, and help desk were part and parcel of our value proposition.
At the time, managed print services fit well into our portfolio; the notion was to integrate all services and bill per user, per month. I didn't consider this a 'good' or 'bad' idea, it was simply the established method.
We folded our per click model into the per user or 'seat' amount and soon ran into challenges -
What if we calculated the per seat cost but users printed MORE than we anticipated?
Could we discern between "high-volume" users and provide tiered billing?
How do I get EAutomate to bill by user?
There was risk.
“...A good friend of mine(Greg Walters), talked about SBB back in the olden days, and I told him it wasn’t going to work - but when Print Audit and West started bringing in high powered guys like Luke Goldberg, I knew it was going to fly”.
"If dealers don’t jump on this, they should just call their bankruptcy attorney today. "
- Anonymous
Unfortunately, back then, SBB for MPS, found few advocates. In 2008, industry know-it-alls labeled managed print services a fad; the latest scheme by some to remake the copier industry. The successful copier dealers could barely spell 'MPS'.
Since then, I've been inside VARs, across the country learning one thing - even if an MpS program is 'out of the box' easy, or well established, most IT providers treat print like 'fly-over' states. Separate in practice, structure and billing.
Has the time come? Is per user invoicing the second coming?
Yes and No.
Boon - "Cause your's is the best in the county, isn't it 'mam?"
Billing per user is easier for the client. No meter reads, or confusing invoices. When faced with a quote of $9.00/emp/month, prospects find the decision to move forward, easier.
Imagine a business with 150 employees; 75 are knowledge workers. This account would generate $675.00 each month, no matter how much they print/copy. (Not sure if that is big or small for you.)
Indeed, as prints decrease, and head count remains constant, costs fall against steady revenue.
This fits nicely in the true goal of a solid, contemporary managed print services engagement: reducing output.
Boondoggle - "...and you sir, in the yellow shirt, come on up on stage..."
Across industries, the best sales people rarely, if ever, discuss pricing.
Converting cost per image into cost per user and presenting this idea as a 'value-add', reduces(once again) the conversation to price, moving away from business solutions, focusing on cost as a primary motivator.(I know, I know...)
Same race to the bottom, different vehicle.
So what can you do? More importantly, who do you go to for real world advice? A sinner.
"Who can lead you off that crooked road? You need real sinner, people. A sinner of such monumental proportions that all your sins wrapped up in one couldn't possible equal the sins of this King of Sins..."
Listen to A Sinner - "...I have danced with the demon satan..." How To Implement a Per User Model for MpS
Create SBB in-house
Our industry either builds or subs out services - MpS and Managed IT can be provided by aligning with outsourced programs like Collabrance, Continuum, PrintSolv, and others. Soon there will be SBB programs sponsored by toner remanufactures.
Is this right for you? I'm not sure. I once believed the only way to offer SBB was to rely on distributors. Only they can spread the perceived risk over large amounts of devices/toner.
But today, the risk isn't in toner delivery. Aligning with toner suppliers for SBB my be as counter productive as partnering with transactional copier dealers when designing a print reduction program. The motivations are diametrically opposed.
So do it in-house.
Work closely with your managed IT services practice. MpS is IT.
Approach through IT, present as a managed program, not "toner and service just like your copiers"(upchuck). If you're not providing any IT services, stop reading this now and go feed your pet dinosaur.
Sell one more service(IT). MpS and Trees.
Embed MpS with backup disaster recovery or remote monitoring and management. Expand your current MpS services to include "remote output monitoring" or something similar, utilizing the full capacity of your data collection agent. If you don't know what I mean, stop reading this now, and go feed your dinosaur.
Line of business integration? Forget 'bout it.
Of course you want to integrate your even existing CPI billing structure with the new managed IT and SBB programs. But it isn't easy. All it takes is a spreadsheet and a separate P/L - your MpS practice has its own P/L, right? Tsk, tsk.
In the end, SBB is a good idea to protect your revenue from the continued reduction in 'clicks'. But per user billing is a temporary fix - nothing is going to stop the decrease in placements and clicks.
Not even the Supercharged Grenade Launcher of Love...
March 8, 2017. "All Roads Lead to MpS and MpS Leads to All" - I've been saying it for years. At first, it was a joke.
I drop phrases like, "You know, copiers were the first devices on the internet of things.(MWAi)"
Or...
"In my world, voice mail is a document..." In a room full of IT types, the response is silence. Yes, that is a third eye growing out of the top of my head.
Here we are, March of 2017 and not much has changed since 2007. Everyone 'does MpS', but few understand the expansive realm.
During the past seven years, I've attended dozens of speaking events, helped hundreds of clients, worked thousands of hours, and generated an incalculable number of words about managed print services.
When Nathan Dube approached me with a few quick questions about "then versus now", Clone Wars, and the best things sales reps can do in 2017, I tripped into the Time Tunnel. What seems like yesterday is now nostalgic.
In the beginning, few were talking about, let alone selling, MpS. In the 'good ole days, those of us in, made it up as we went along.
HP(Edgeline) and Xerox(Page Pack) had MpS programs. So did Synnex and a few other organizations.
Customers were clueless when it came to DCA's, assessments, QBR's and proactive service. Nobody heard of "Print Policies".(not print rules)
Below is our first podcast. Thirty minutes of two veterans of the industry shooting the breeze. I'd like to do more of these in a more relaxed format - with a libation.
I guess the theme for this podcast could be "The Song Remains the Same."
Gartner - "IT asset management (ITAM) provides an accurate account of technology asset lifecycle costs and risks to maximize the business value of technology strategy, architecture, funding, contractual and sourcing decisions.”
There is so much turbulence in the industry today, it's tough to figure out what to do.
Margins continue to drop
The OEMs are locked in a War for the remaining 'clicks and you're in the line of fire
Customers are demanding more than "scan once, print many'
We know you're going to survive. What can you do to thrive? How about selling asset lifecycle management?
There is a great way to remain relevant in the eyes of your customers and sell more services without the hassle of establishing third-party partnerships, investing in a NOC, or falling into a huge time-suck.
No need to retrain your sales staff.
No heavy investment in software packages that require an MBA to operate and understand.
Keep your existing toolset
There are plenty of tools out here to support an ITIL model, you just need to commit to the philosophy.
In a second and more familiar scenario, I once presented what I believed to be a solid projection of another prospect TCO. I utilized a tool, found every device in question, applied the known data points, and calculated a monthly cost. When first queried, the prospect had no idea how much he was paying for toner and service, but unbeknownst to me, he rustled up some invoices before my presentation.
I know people who know people who have created some of the best Total Cost of Operation/Ownership calculators in the business. Indeed, collecting historical cost figures for such a wide variety of output devices, then applying mathematical formulas to the data, is a daunting task - it can take years to build a good TCO tool.
I've seen the biggest and the 'best' tools available; each time I've walked away thinking,
"Am I the only person who sees how complex and burdensome these things are?"
In the past six months, I have heard folks express frustration over TCO tools -"...too complex, time-consuming and unreliable..." No, I am not the only one feeling TCO tools are losing relevance.
I see three reasons for this:
TCO Tools are Wrong
TCO Tools are designed for Us, Not Them
TCO Tools focus on cost
The Tools are Wrong -
There once was a tool designed and utilized by the largest printer manufacturer in the world. Because the company had been around forever, it had a detailed and in-depth data set of real costs. The database was huge; including figures on just about every printer or copier in the market. It was an experience scrolling through the reams of data - impressive.
The tool was an Excel workbook, which required 3 days of training to understand and prove more effective if used daily and paid for your specialist.
One day, I was putting together a TCO report for a prospective 50 devices. The fleet contained multiple printer and copier manufacturers.
The Tool was awesome.
I was able to find every device and all related cost components - this was going to be great.
I had high hopes.
Determining TCO for single-function printers was a snap and accurate. But when I was establishing cost figures for copiers, I ran into a peculiar issue; all the costs of supporting a copier were rolled into the TCO - rollers, springs, scanning units, ADFs, paper-tray elements, toner, fuser oil, and so on. The information was detailed, correct, and to the copier user, irrelevant.
The majority of copier customers do not recognize ANY of these costs. Clients with an “all-inclusive” service agreement, never see a charge for rollers or fuser oil - these are covered under the service agreement.
This was a major flaw. If I were to present this figure to a client as their total cost of ownership for copiers, he would have laughed me out the door.
In a second and more familiar scenario, I once presented what I believed to be a solid projection of another prospect TCO. I utilized a tool, found every device in question, applied the known data points, and calculated a monthly cost. When first queried, the prospect had no idea how much he was paying for toner and service, but unbeknownst to me, he rustled up some invoices before my presentation.
My figures were grossly exaggerated when compared to his actual cost. Has this ever happened to you?
I know, I know your TCO tool is easy to use and always accurate, so I must be referring to everyone else's TCO tool, not yours.
Designed for Us, Not Them -
As a practice manager, I've utilized TCO tools to tell me how much MY cost would be if I were to include an “off” brand device under my MpS engagement.
In this case, the TCO tool worked well.
And that’s my point, these tools are designed from the viewpoint of a provider, not the client.
When we suggest to a prospect, how much he's paying, it is us telling them. Sure, they might agree with your methodology and even your derived cost figures. But the days of clients believing any sales statement, unchallenged, are waning. Fewer prospects are comfortable being told what they do not know.
Today, a business worth its salt, can easily determine how much they've spent on toner and paper and services calls - entry-level accounting systems track and report this information with the click of a mouse.
Here's the real dirt - most of the designers, creators, and providers of TCO tools have never sat across a prospect and proposed a sale. They've never had a customer challenge the numbers and they've never depended on commissions to pay for food or diapers.
Focus on CPI-
We never leave a proposal at the front desk.
We never discuss cost, except in round numbers, over the phone.
We never make price the only factor.
Sales 101, right?
Then why, oh why, do we boil a sale down to cost per image/machine/unit lead with a TCO?
You see that, right?
When you install the DCA, run the TCO calculating cost per image, and propose a solution that reduces your client' TCO you've accelerated the commoditization of our industry.
Congratulations.
One more thing - It is Too Late
Not only are the tools inaccurate, anti-client, and sales-stunting - everybody is or has a TCO tool in their sales bag. This has been going on for decades, we say and believe one thing at the beginning of the month and by the 15th, we're all back to selling as many boxes, images, seats, users, and licenses as possible, at a "competitive" price.
It is the way of things.
The train is off the tracks, gravity has taken hold, the bottom is rushing up - margins tumble, OEMs disintegrate, clicks vanish.
Change the way you sell? It just doesn't matter.
What to do -
I've been there, I've watched this shift occur over the years, not just in printing/copying but in technology, entertainment, and the auto industry. Things change. Everything dies, baby, that's a fact.
Accept and move forward:
Solidify your existing business - use new, simple tools applicable to other niches
Pivot into new areas - you know this
Get rid of your OEM - don't be afraid, let them wear the albatross, not you
Just because something didn't last forever, doesn't mean it wasn't perfect.
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
Your managed print services sales life is crowded. Cold calls, ridealongs, training, demos, deliveries, proposal generation, customer service, assessments, DCA installations, customer questions, follow up, complaints and emergency toner delivery. How many devices do you need to understand and articulate the benefits of? Do you own your elevator pitch, value prop and sales script?
Do you have a smartphone, tablet, and laptop? What, two phones? Busy, aren’t you?
I bet you use all the software they can throw at you — email, Excel, Word, PowerPoint. Don’t forget your CRM entries, funnel and forecast reports, account diagraming and those important meetings: Monday morning sales, Wednesday lunch and learns, Friday weekly recap, and on and on and on. Today, the skillset required to sell, manage or offer managed print services combines all of the above and then some. In addition to asking the standard copier questions about lease expiration dates, monthly equipment and service payments, duplex, color or mono, and why copy in the first place, you collect equipment, usage and the costs associated with printers.
Under your MpS engagements, which OEM is most profitable? Sharp? HP? Kyocera? What model?
Which client is costing you the most to support?
For your enterprise customer, can you determine the most active floor, which devices are generating a high number of help desk calls? Can you see lease payment and expiration date for those devices?
Live?
Displayed on your phone?
Atlas - MpS can help you. Not just print, everything.
Join us for a simple discussion around this complex and cluttered issue:
Recent market data for the global hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market saw a 10.6 percent yearly decline, though MPS growth has continued across the world. HP shows an 18.6% decline in unit shipments, Y/Y. - IDC, 2016
It doesn't need to be said, does it? The office environment has been moving away from print for the past decade. I know it, the OEMs know it, and in your heart, you know it too.
Managed print services is a trailing indicator, 'growth' is a statistic anomaly - expanding in a shrinking pool - there are no new clicks.
You want to survive and thrive in the technology industry. It's easier to sell copiers and implement a managed print services practice than it is to bring a managed services practice but the IT world represents growth and opportunity.
What should you do?
"...Come With Me Now..."
Years ago, I preached the coming of managed print services as the wave of the future.
Then, I saw managed print services as an on-ramp to business process/workflow optimization, teaching simple, workflow analysis embedded in the standard assessment.
Next, evangelizing managed services as the new frontier for copier/printer providers, I recommended third-parties like Collabrance and Continuum.
Today, I've come full circle and looking at managed print services basics. The tools I've seen, and I've seen or worked with almost all of them - are impressive.
Here are some of my observations:
Heavy - cumbersome to use, demand time from MpS practitioner
Print-data, intense - print only, some end-user, but no outside asset data
Sales static - the 'map' and client data remain in the sales silo, or not easily transportable into contracts or service
The Tool 'does the thinking for you' - plug the data in and out comes a current and recommended state in a 300 page Word doc
I see lots of TCO tools, column reports, graphs, and dashboards and I think we can do better. I'm looking at how I conduct assessments and the tools I would use in the field. Additionally, I'm taking a holistic view - I'd like to know how the fleet is performing in terms of service calls and profitability.
Finally, I'd like to be in a position to offer my clients an engagement that includes ANY asset type.
With this in mind, we've designed a tool that:
Collects data from multiple databases: DCA, service desk, dispatch, accounting system
Helps you easily conduct assessments and present mapped proposals
Enables you to create, and doesn't do the thinking for you
Point #1 Real management software displays ANY asset; printers, copiers, desktops, laptops, phones, projectors, oxygen bottles. But more impactful, is our ability to draw together related, yet disconnected data. For instance, we show the number of service calls placed on an asset, the install date, the number of toners delivered, revenue and profit generated; for the universal MIF, client fleet, or individual asset.
The solution must work within your managed print services ecosystem - the 'map' not only supports new sales, but integrates through sales to service to management to ownership; salespeople engage and asses, service utilizes mapping, and management looks into real-time financial information with the tap of a screen.
Point #2
With or without a DCA/Thumb drive, a practitioner conducts interviews and records findings. Manual entry of device data(manufacturer, model, volumes, etc.) is achieved through the use of the onboard survey tool. Machine data files may be uploaded or directly integrated, but is not necessary.
Point #3
Some existing systems deliver everything from a prospect's total cost of operation to a final proposal in Word leaving the "specialist" with nothing more to do than email the proposal or deliver pie.
I cannot tell you how often I’m asked for an ‘assessment’ or ‘mps contract’ sample. I’ve conducted assessments on paper, laptops, and in my head but I still use a basic outline of questions.
“We interviewed 25 employees and 62% of them responded that service calls are not being completed within 72 hours. 87% felt ordering toner required three to four hours to complete.”
Atlas - MpS. Assessment Logic*
We’ve incorporated a survey function that can be administered for each asset. In the case of a non-integrated - no DCA software - simple machine data collected on one screen. This isn't a data dump, the questions included collect relevant information you need to create a compelling proposal. I’ve also included basic workflow questions and sales related queries.
Once the survey is completed, the data is attached to that specific asset - the answers can be used as analysis. For instance, “We interviewed 25 employees and 62% of them responded that service calls are not being completed within 72 hours. 87% felt ordering toner required three to four hours to complete.” could be one of your compelling arguments for change.
Atlas - MpS. Contract Completion*
The sales and service teams rarely communicate but an integral part of a great customer experience is the effortless transition from proposing to implementing. One important issue is to correctly communicate data proposed, like existing device serial numbers, location, point of contact, beginning meter reads, CPI, etc. The information is captured during the assessment and proposal stage - why not simply populate a .PDF of your engagement?
Why not have the digital version of your contract available for signature immediately after the presentation? Atlas - Mps has this capability to complete your contract. Print it if you like, or have your client digitally sign right then and there. Email the completed form to your contracts department and have the account set up before you get back to the office. Ring that bell.
Atlas - MpS. Print Policy Framework*
Ultimately, a fully engaged, high level managed print services engagement results in a Print Policy.
Atlas - MpS, will create the blank Print Policy template and present data to support the generation of content.
Once the print policy is in place, Atlas - MpS helps you managed the engagement against the goals set forth in the policy. The information is real time, specific data points are monitored and statused as either “in or out of policy”.
No more quarterly reviews - review the fleet and goals of the program at any time.
One More thing…
Atlas is adept at integrating disparate databases and managing IT assets. Once you begin to utilize Atlas - MpS, the door opens into the IT realm. We’re not suggesting you invest in a data center, or engage with a third party to provide help desk, end-point monitoring services. We suggest talking with your IT contacts about “Asset Lifecycle Management”. You help track their IT assets, manage technology upgrades and equipment refresh with Atlas all for a monthly subscription. We can help you.
Atlas - MpS is different, simple and dynamic, helping managed print practitioners solidify their position in imaging, while opening opportunities outside of print.
Not such an odd question, considering the low barriers to entry provided by today's social networks. Indeed, relative to a decade past, the platforms available for connecting - Tinder, Plentyof Fish, Match, the scandalous Ashley Madison, and even LinkedIn - are ever-expanding.
Barcode scanners made checkout faster, and today's 'dating' apps get more people hooked up, quicker.
These tools suck the 'art' out of the introduction, pairings are built on the assessment of a witty sentence and attractive photo. We've commoditized the foundational stages of relationship building. I can't help but wonder if this results in hollow, unfulfilling, short-term espousals.
Similar to personal relationships, print services engagements begin with an introduction and assessment. The success of every managed print service agreement depends on correctly assessing the current state.
From Los Angeles over to Davidson, North Carolina up to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin; from IT to corporate identity programs to copiers, back to IT, then managed print services, managed services, and back to Managed print Services.
What a checkered, varied and wonderful path. The journey continues.
I met Dave Westlake years ago when he was pitching his print security package - back then, nobody cared about security and printers. So he pivoted into asset management. His mapping tool created interest, and received traction in the IT realm, not the print world.
One day, Dave called me up asking for my advice. He was working with a client who wanted to build an MpS practice and was wondering about the hiring criteria for a MpS Practice Manager, inside a $300M VAR. After a 20 minute outline/oration, I simply stopped and said, “Dave, there is nobody out there with this level of experience in BOTH imaging and IT - except me."
One thing led to another, interviews conducted, offers made and accepted. Five months after our initial conversation, I was on my way from Ft. Meyers, Florida(87 degrees, sunny) to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin(12 degrees, cloudy) with a mission to first see if MpS made sense for the organization and then build a practice.
My consultations revealed this VAR, just like many others, did not hold print as a very high priority - for the organization or their clients. The sales people were accustomed to quoting million dollar hardware deals, not $4,500.00/month service contracts. The money was too little, the effort too involved.
So nine months into an engagement, I got the call into HR. “Print is not a strategic initiative of the company. Your position has been eliminated.” All righty then - nice to have met you all, it was a thrill helping you discover you didn’t need me or my expertise. Have a nice day.
Life.
While employed, I pitched Dave’s software to the VAR as a great way to help IT customers integrate different software systems onto a single screen, and was roundly rebuffed. “Oh, it’s just an asset management package…” The interpretation was incorrect, but for some reason, I didn’t waste time or breath on the argument.
They missed the point. I had customers begging me for a solution like Atlas. IT Directors from large financial institutions and one of the largest healthcare providers in the world were asking me for a way to integrate data from dozens of disparate databases.
Red flags fluttered in my toner-fused mind. I kept my mouth shut.
Days after being let go, I called Dave. Remember, if it weren’t for his phone call 14 months back, I wouldn’t be freezing in Oconomowoc, a gajillion miles from the Pacific. We decided to work together and double our efforts in the already proven niche, IT Lifecycle management. He may have felt pity or guilt - not sure.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the IT Department - we started to see Atlas as a natural choice for copier and print providers looking to pivot from MpS into IT. It’s easier to talk about tracking hardware than outsourcing the help desk or configuring hybrid BDR solutions.
Looking at the different mapping, assessment, ROI, proposal generating, and TCO tools left me exhausted and mystified - I would never purchase or inflict any of those tools on a sales team. We can’t get reps to type information into SalesForce or Oracle, how the heck are to expect them to operate and drive these behemoths?
I’ve managed and built MpS practices. I’ve created and helped institute managed services practices inside copier dealerships. In my own practice and in every other MpS organization I’ve been involved, the tools to sell, service and run the business is a large, complicated, hodgepodge of strung together software packages.
If by chance, an organization had moved forward with an integrated platform, a system that generates everything from TCO to before and after maps, the system is cluttered, complicated and heavy. Lot’s of dealers and most customers do not need or want to review a plethora of charts, graphs and spreadsheets crunching print related data.
I’ve heard them tell me so.
Atlas isn’t any of these things. I can conduct a simple walk through and interview, plot devices, capture machine data, document workflow involved, etc. right on my tablet or phone. MpS Practitioners can conduct assessments, utilize their wisdom and close more deals. It doesn’t matter if a DCA or thumb drive is utilized. Move forward with end user interviews, collect the data, plot devices, present your solution and close.
As a Practice Manager, I was always downloading invoice and toner costs out of EAutomate, collecting dispatch data from ConnectWise, merging Crystal reports and .CSV files in an Excel spreadsheet. After a few hours, I had a pretty good profit and loss presentation ready. Back then, I wondered if I would ever be able to boil all that data into a single screen, reflecting live data.
One can dream.
This is good stuff. Atlas helps MpS sales people, Practice Managers, Owner/Principles and customers managed and visualize the entire environment. What’s more, the system is designed to work inside existing workflows, organically optimizing processes and steps - not replacing existing tools in a ‘rip and replace’ manner.
For print specific providers, Atlas offers more than just toner/ink device management - out of the box, Atlas can track ALL assets, not just SNMP/MIB based. Manage the printers and copiers for 12 months, then move the conversation to IT Lifecycle management of PC’s, monitors, and phones. That’s just one
I’ve evaluated all the tools even working with some few know exist. I like simplicity. I like low overhead. I like tools that are implements, not replacements for creativity and thought.
That’s why I liked Printelligent. That’s why I picked Preo/Printelligence back in 2011 and promoted PrinterLogic in 2014 - simple, effective, relevant. I’m looking forward to evangelizing Atlas as an easy to use, scalable tool. A tool to be used in the field and in the board room.
Back in the day, about four years ago, every OEM, large dealership, consultant, and training house had a managed print services program. Indeed, the big concerns tossed millions of marketing dollars at prospective MPS practices — remember the great Oki motorcycle giveaways and those Ricoh MPS roadshows? How about the Photizo conferences?
Times changed. More importantly, misaligned expectations, shortsighted hiring practices, and lack of ownership commitment killed many practices. The final blow came as OEM after OEM applied shell-game tactics, pitching themselves as services-led, but hamstringing dealers in the form of equipment quotas. How can ANY manufacturer promote a philosophy which endeavors to reduce the number of machines in the field?
So they didn’t. Instead, MPS corporate programs grew like weeds, defining optimized fleets as “machines carrying the same logo” and promising 30 percent savings
Relegated to “supplies and service” management, MPS slid to the background. Especially when the new “shiny object,” Managed Services, took center stage. But a funny thing happened on the way to the NOC — turns out, managing PCs and end-users and selling to IT folks isn’t as easy as it was expected to be. Indeed, quoting, presenting, and closing IT deals is downright difficult — more so than MPS. The selling is different, prospects act differently, and the infrastructure to support service agreements can be daunting. Once again, a great idea gets bogged down in the real world.
So we tried managed services, didn’t like the results, and now are looking at MPS from a different perspective.
Is managed print services the future of managed services or the other way around?
Your MpS practice incorporates many tools to satisfy your MpS contractual obligations.
For example, you may be utilizing PrintAudit for data collection, an assessment tool and supplies reporting mechanism. Some of your customers might be reporting through WebJet Admin. Once meter reads are completed through the same or additional tool, your billing system takes over, generating invoices, and collecting revenue.
Maybe you see the advantages of outsourcing the toner supply side of your practice with Great American, LMI, Supplies Network, Axess - you may engage multiple solutions.
When your MpS customer calls for service, technicians are dispatched, service parts installed or ordered and tickets closed. The same for help desk tickets and somewhere, warranties are verified to insure proper credit is received for parts exchange. Lease expiration dates, typically the responsibility of sales, are managed in a separate tool, perhaps E*Automate or SalesForce.
On top of all this, you might be able to run a separate P/L.
Consider how many functions and tools mentioned above: The DCA, help desk, service dispatch, accounting, billing, remote management, toner/supplies reporting and fulfillment - at least six separate data bases which do not talk to each other.
We complain each time we're tasked with presenting a review of the practice to the executive board.
ASCII dumps, Crystal Reports, and pivot tables digesting data from silo's of data then cut and pasted into a nice tidy report. This is both a proven process and staggering hindrance.
What’s the new, sexy Managed print Services? Full-line integration and one-touch information from Atlas.
We integrate disparate databases, present relevant data on single sheet of glass and utilize your existing tool set; no ‘rip and replace’, no expensive and time consuming monolith of programing.
With Atlas, it is possible to manage your business with existing tools and without the pain of creating spreadsheets and pivot tables.
One More Thing -
Your practice is full of silos, but imagine your customers'. Do you think they would like to see IT assets, maybe even printers, with relevant data from databases like WebJet Admin, SCCM, LanDesk, or MobileIron, on one screen?
I know they do, go ahead and ask them.
Once you’ve implemented and seen the positive impact in your business, help your customers by offering to manage their assets. Embed asset management into you managed print services agreements.
Curious? We’re hosting a web session reviewing Atlas in the managed print services niche.
There once was a clever advertisement floating around stressing the futility of going totally paperless. The example was a world without toilet paper. When the pro-paperless character requests toilet paper, his partner slides a tablet under the door showing a picture of a toilet paper roll.
Cute.
My response to the metaphor is a bidet; no paper is required.
The fight for paper has been raging since 2007 - around the same time, managed print services started going mainstream. Over the last few months, amid the news of Lexmark selling, Xerox diverging, HP splitting, paper plant closures, and the massive consolidation of the dealer channel, it's odd to see more blogs and articles with titles like:
Article based on information from as far back as 2009, the year before the iPad. Oddly enough, manufacturers of devices that scratch marks on paper, fund these studies. That's right, the people yelling "paper matters" and "the death of print has been greatly exaggerated" are the same folks profiting off the sale of copiers and printers. Huh.
Surveys sponsored by print OEMs are receiving press coverage like:
Everything from green printing, security, and print big data, to mobile print, is getting a spike of media attention - artificial buzz created by well-funded marketing departments.
My response to all this "paper is still relevant" talk is Bravo Sierra. Poppycock. Horsefeathers. Bollocks.
Bullshit.
I'm saying this to the copier sales folks, the managed print services practice managers and salespeople, the toner crews, and everyone in the trenches - listen deeply to the noise, do not ignore the propaganda, and analyze the content with a dubious eye.
Remember, your prospects DO NOT READ THESE ARTICLES. Unfortunately, ownership and sales management are consuming this tripe like it's 1999.
Nod your head when these reports are regurgitated during your Friday evening sales meeting and smile whenever one of your colleagues exclaims with glee, "Print isn't dead."
Clients don't want to be tethered to a copier, chained to a printer, or slave to toner cartridges.
"And in your heart, you know I'm right."
The dirty little secret?
Our OEMs knew this back in 2007 and have been concocting it ever since. Progressive manufacturers are reducing sales acquisition costs with a virtual channel; take a look at HP Instant Ink.
Considering most of the buying process is completed without a sales relationship, and today's machines rarely require service, how relevant is a local dealership?
Now is the time to side with your prospects - sure, sell the shortsighted ones a copier or two - but keep your eye on the horizon. Dive into all the training you can and develop your personal brand.
"Please State the Nature of The Medical Emergency"
About a year ago, the owner of an office equipment dealership rang me up asking for advice.
His largest "managed print services" (toner) account was being threatened by an IT company offering a full range of IT services including supplies and service delivery on 'his' printers.
He was in a panic.
Like dozens before him, he wanted somebody to say it was going to be okay; that what he was doing today, "building long and deep relationships with his customers", providing "the best service at the lowest price", was enough to save the patient - his 20-year-old, $5 Million, family-owned business.
I told him to change.
I told him hope resided in a future with fewer technicians and reduced overhead. I repeated the "change your business model" mantra, begged him to exit toner delivery and get into the IT side of the world. I offered contact information at Collabrance; urged him to reach out to a little know company called PrinterLogic and talk to his customer about reducing costs by eliminating print servers.
He fought me.
Of course, I proposed taking a quick look at his operation, giving some basic recommendations, and making the necessary connections for him to explore - all for $2,500.00. No warranty or money-back guarantee, but for the price of a trip to ITEX, he could have gained a fresh perspective and possibly made some profitable connections.
He didn't.
I have no idea if his business still feeds families or drifts on the waters of denial.
Here we are on the edge of 2016. The copier industry insists on fooling itself into relevancy as small dealers are gobbled up and bigger ones sell out to investment groups. The OEMs? Splitsville.
Today, if you were to ask, "Greg...what the hell can I do now? I've social media'd up my company, I'm first in google search, but MpS flopped, managed IT services are not working and the only people buying copiers are schools, churches, and the government!"
You've tried digital signage
You've looked at water service
You're not sure about managed services
Your managed print services program is not delivering 42% GP
3D Printing looks cute, but you can't seem to get your head around a profit model
Now what?
One word, kid - "TeleHealth"
I'll let you do the googlitizing. The fastest-growing area for technology and monthly recurring revenue is the healthcare arena and has nothing to do with printers or copiers. I'd think about assembling and supporting connected, healthcare devices.
Not heart monitors - think bigger. Think about this:
It's connected, contains technology components, requires assembly, and clients might pay for 24/7 monitoring and service. Relevant. Expanding. Service-based.
11/2015 Mergers, acquisitions, sell-outs and less paper. 2016 will see the beginning of the End.
More signs. The tipping point is in your rearview mirror, if this is news to you, it's too late.
Today, Xerox may be running out of ink with quarter after quarter of declining technology business. They've also decided to scrap the wax.
Lexmark, after years of building a portfolio of MPS contracts is finally ready to sell out.
HP, the thickest of the thick, is splitting into two. HPG, (HP Inc.) can now move quicker and turn their profits into R/D for print. Will this five billion dollar start-up be the last print vendor standing? Can the old Printelligent model work? Mother Blue has been adding vans almost as fast as she's laid off employees. She has an impressive array of services, and a behemoth of a team ready to take the argument to the streets - direct.
Samsung may gobble up Nuance, enhancing a practically non-existent MpS program.
The independent channel continues to shrink and evolve. Just this week, Loffler joined the Xerox dealer channel and Marco cashes in, selling to an equity firm.
On top of all this, the American Forest & Paper Association released their yearly report stating, "...total printing-writing paper shipments were down 4% in September as compared to September 2014." The same report a year earlier sited a 7% drop from 2013 to 2014.
Taken individually, the list has one dimension.
But observed from a distance, and just to the side, these points reveal a multi-dimensional reality: The deluge is here.
Knee deep in a receding surf for the last 18 months the final Wave is coming. If you haven't sold or gotten out the only choice you have is to hunker down and hope for the best.
So what does it mean?
The End is just the beginning...ask yourself this one question,
"If office print disappeared tomorrow, what would I be doing the day after?"
Whatever answer you come to, you are absolutely correct.
These thoughts are my personal critique of an industry, not an individual.
Weeks ago, over one hundred leading MpS providers congealed in Park City, Utah to discuss the future of MpS. It was a great educational and entertaining event - recommended.
This event was one of the best I've attended in years - only the MWAi show from last year, stands above. West put together a great agenda and was able to recruit a diverse set of industry luminaries.
Here's a quick list of observations from The Top 100 - "MpS is Changing" conference:
The venue: Superb.
Event organization: Stellar.
Promotion: Unparalleled.
Presenters: Both gargantuan and irrelevant.
Content: Both significant and forgettable.
Off-line conversations: The best in over a decade.
For a detailed tracking of the event, talks, and feedback, see Ken's, Art's, West's, and Andy's most accurate reports.
The video, recorded, edited, and presented on-site, nearly live, is one of the best promotional pieces in the niche. It was organic and fun. See it here.
Enough of us patting each other on the back, like we’re all buds. Here's a two word summary of the show: "Points Missed."
It has been said our niche moves at the speed of an HP Series II - I don't agree with that 100% of the time, but after this conference, I'm having second thoughts.
I've stewed on this for what seems years - why do so many still believe in the old models? Why don't they see what others see?
In a juxtaposition with the best content I've witnessed, the audience comments were befuddling. I sat there, shaking my head, not at the presenters(mostly) but frustrated over the 1970 mentality of the audience. Still!
Here it is. A list of call-outs from my perspective:
"Automatic Toner Fulfillment": 2007 called...
"If you sell hammers, everything looks like a nail" so, if you sell re-man toner, all the world is an empty printer, right?
ARRRG.
Getting toner to the right desk at the right time is something we've cut our teeth on, back in 2007. Staples delivers more toner to more desks, on time, "automatically" than anybody else and they use people. Automation for automation's sake is not visionary.
The fact that we are looking at ATF as a new advantage, in 2015, is trite - Clients expect every MpS program can 'get toner to the user' as a mundane function.
There is no such thing as "MNS": Really.
This irks me on a personal basis. Nobody in real IT refers to anything as managed network services; it is simply managed services. Whenever we say "MNS", we look like wanna-be, IT knuckleheads. If you're IT contacts don't flinch or roll their eyes every time you say "MNS" they are being polite.
When the Epson dude referred to his ink bags as "disruptive", I think most in the room assumed it was we doing the disrupting.
Immediately, calls of, "how can I make money the old fashion way, when I sell the machine and lifetime ink all upfront?"
The answer is, "you can't make money the old-fashioned way..."
But here's the miss: we won't be using ink-bags to disrupt, this disrupts Managed print Services.
It's the other way around: bags-o-ink AND "Instant Ink"(DOTC, 2011) will move the channel closer to irrelevancy. Not because wet-toner is better than dry-toner - the iceberg here is "Lifetime Supply". Buy a printer and never purchase toner or ink again. All the costs, revenue, and profit are upfront. An offering, so simple a monkey could sell it.
The 'lifetime' model will remove MpS from the lexicon because there is no need for a relationship.
Those MPS consultants and OEM programs that stress toner as "the most important component" of MpS have led us down the primrose path.
This one issue, redefined as "MpS" is slipping from the dealer channel into the hands of surviving mother-ships.
"Toner" is not a relationship and the biggest reason OEMs say they need an independent dealer channel is to maintain the relationship. Well. The relationship is getting thinner every month.
Think about it, the 'lifetime ink' business model eliminates:
Meter reads - no billing
Monthly billings - see above
Deliveries - UPS
Phone orders - machines phone home
Service calls - these things don't break
Quarterly reviews - why?
Contracts
Independent Dealers
Etc.
If I were getting into managed print services today, I would become an Epson reseller and push those guys to start releasing model after model, ASAP, before HP kicks their super-duper, closed loop MpS machine into gear.
I mentioned this during the Q&A, and nobody understood what I was saying.
...chunks...blown...
points...missed...
Watch Epson. Watch HP MPS.
In The End: It's Not Me, It's You
I've seen great things in our niche. I've seen companies make the leap, shun the old ways, and thrive.
I've also seen organizations espouse the future, make cosmetic changes and fail - the road back to 1991 is littered with used-up MPS Directors. Settling into the old ways of selling copiers, hiring sales managers from yesterday's enterprise, 'trapping customers', paying salespeople a pittance yet expecting them to be professionals, and forcing equipment quotas on their customers - is the easy thing to do.
I've been ringing the bell for years - "MPS is the gateway to something bigger than toner and copiers...". I evangelized the new ways only to see big equipment manufacturers hijack and kill innovation, searching for more shelf space and stickier schemes.
It is the way of things.
But it doesn't need to be your way. Many have made the shift, pivoting off the copier and into fertile markets. It isn't easy to break free the ordinary ways, but it's got to be done.
Conferences that break the mold, separate the future from the past are few and far between - this Top 100 is one of the less ordinary get-togethers. If you were there, you are one of the less ordinary people and nowadays, the Life Less Ordinary is the life evolutionary...
"Chew, if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes!..."
From coast to coast, I've seen the promise of MpS scattered to the four winds as companies reject the outsource model, bring MpS in house only to realize they don't want anything to do with supporting print. Ironic, but what do they do?
Go back to doing nothing.
The days before MpS...
It was different back then - copiers sold for $15,000.00. Color images were as much as 18 cents each and users generated 2,500 copies a week. (or was it 5,000?)
Copiers inhabited every floor and printers popped up everywhere overnight.
"Purchasing" or "Facilities" generated RFPs, negotiated for the cheapest CPI, signed leases, and dropped the entire project over to IT and the receiving department.
IT would complain to themselves, struggle with a copier technician connecting this huge, unknown machine - possibly integrating LDAP or creating user folders on a shared server or the unit's hard drive - all the while lamenting the difference between these clunkers and all the printers and scanner that easily hung off the network.
This entire process was unmanaged and costly - very costly.
Today, as old-fashioned copiers die off, relegated to government or educational accounts, A4 prices fall while generating fewer images, the real cost of print is approaching, but never reaching, zero. (See Limits)
Soon, instead of running internal assessments, generating an RFI, then an RFP, evaluating suitors, negotiating price, running lease and contracts through legal, signing a five-year lease/service agreement, scheduling delivery/removal, connecting to the network, installing ATF software, conducting end-user training and experiencing a 90-day spike in copier related help desk traffic, customers simply order a printer online, for under $2,500.00 including lifetime ink supply.
Done.
No copier demonstration.
No comparing OEM to drill and fill toner.
No back-end points on a 60-month lease.
No stair climbers.
The days of $25,000.00 Edgelines and 5250i's are gone. Gone like a freight train and terminus is right back where we started - a sku, a price, and a delivery date.
Now, more than ever, fewer employees require a printer and if they do, devices are so cheap, there's no need to invest time into developing an RFP. The decision process takes no more effort than a few mouse clicks. As the cost of print shrinks and blends into operational overhead, the primary reason for MpS, cost reduction, vanishes.
So what do we do?
Continue and keep going. Leave MpS, copiers, and ATF in the rearview mirror - someone will always want a copier or a printer. Consider plumbing as a service, HVAC as a service, heck, think about interior design as a service - the Universe is calling.
Like the copier before it, MpS revenue will approach but never reach, zero...Remember, right this very second, somebody on the planet is making and selling buggy whips.
