The Last Gap Generation - Friday, June 28, 2013, Walters & Shutwell
If you remember back to the '60's - riots, Viet Nam, Presidential and political assassinations, hippies at Woodstock, the Beatles, Stones, the Peace Movement, and a vaguely remembered issue called the "The Generation Gap".
This Gap referred to the difference between younger generations and their elders. Back then, teenagers regarded their parents' established social norms as outdated and restrictive - many rebelled:
And they promised to never, ever end up like their parents.
At Transform 2013, I attended Terrie Campbell's presentation, "GenY's Idiosyncrasies - Can your Business Survive Them?" She has an acute understanding of the inner workings of the different generations within the business environment.
Here is your rendering of the Baby Boomer demographic:
In the beginning I did not make a living writing. I understand that most everyone has a dream to be a writer ‘someday’ – I did not share that vision, it just fell into place.
My technology roots run deep by way of the technology/accounting system/VAR arena MicroAge, Inacomp, IBM, Novell, Great Plains, Timberline, ACCPAC, etc. - I've been in since 1988.
Along the way, I’ve been fortunate enough actually get paid to write – one of the more colorful stories around this subject involves Xerox, UBM and a persona name “Paige Coverage” , that story is for the next book.
With DOTC, I've been pontificating about since the beginning of the current MpS model.
When it gets right down to it, I am nothing more than a guy who used to sell copiers, sitting in front of a computer writing really goofy stories.
"...in 1974, 25-year-old Bruce Springsteen played at the Harvard Square Theater in Cambridge.
Although popular with the college crowd in the Northeast, Springsteen was not yet a star.
That night, he and the E Street Band opened for Bonnie Raitt.
The influential music critic Jon Landau was in the audience. Overwhelmed by what he heard, Landau wrote,
"I saw my rock and roll past flash before my eyes. I saw something else: I saw rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen."
In the years since that momentous spring night in Cambridge, the Boss has had 14 albums go platinum, has won 11 Grammies and an Oscar and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame..."
Back in those days, stars were truly discovered. Crowds were organic, not Twitter-induced - the "buzz" was real.
This is way before MTV, before "57 Channels", email, the internet, Facebook, blow dryers and teeth whitening. The music was real.
To know Bruce back then was to either hate him or love him. And the Bruce fans were nuts, unique, outside of the norm - to the right of the bell curve.
His shows today are intense, but back then, the 4-hour sessions skyrocketed up and over the religious. Not because he demanded so much from his band, all of them willing accomplices, but Bruce did more - he demanded more from his audience.
From everyone within hear shot. Those of us in the very last seat, to the fans behind the stage, to the high rollers in the front row - if you didn't believe in Rock n Roll after one of his concerts, you didn't have a pulse.
One of the most interesting things I remember from those glory days - well, not back in 1974 - I consider myself a "second-gen" Bruce fan, from the Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town era - I think back to how we fans stuck together. How while standing in line to get into a show, we all had that "cat who ate the mouse" look.
The nod, the smile from fan to fan - we were in for something special, something not everybody "got" and that was fine with us. Actually, we preferred it this way. Bruce was ours. Not everyone's. And as much as we wanted to keep this a secret, we all knew that someday, Bruce would be moving out of the smaller venues into the mega-shows, the real world, mainstream.
And so it is with Managed Print Services - our Secret Garden, we lucky few who shared a wink and a nod, over a year ago in San Antonio, we are about to lose to the rest of the world, this special, undefinable "thing".
It's been a year, another turn of the globe, and MPS has just about come full circle.
The "big guys" have now gotten it right.
I rail against the titans, the over publicized global MPS takedowns less than 5% of us will ever see. The over-exposed CPC to MPS conversions straight out of MIF, touted as examples of MPS.
And yes, I protest the lack of human touch extolled by heartless MPS programs.
I challenge, I poke, I prod, I mock. Yet, deep down, I know the exercise is tragic if not futile. One step up, and two steps down.
You see, there is a part of me fighting to keep MPS bottled up, pure. Sure, me, the dark skeptic, exposed as an eternal optimist, even as the genie evaporates out for all to see.
The lack of MPS purity, I feel, has led to the detriment of so many MPS programs; Konica Minolta OPS, Samsung MPS Platform, the Lexmark thing, HP MPS redefining the size of an enterprise account down to SMB, from PagePack 1.0 to PagePack 3.0(there never was a 2.0) on and on.
And all those failed BTA/MPS programs, doomed from the very beginning, taking with them, bright-eyed and hopeful copier salespeople or service managers christened as MPS experts. Such a waste.
To be sure there are many, many bright spots - Great America offering leasing and MPS training, not to mention advice on how to hire MPS people.
Synnex, delivering just in time, HP OEM, and utilizing Stephen Power - the only old skool mentor who gets it.
And the Photizo Group, how frustrating it must be to see your work, copied and regurgitated as new; complete trade shows themed on your descriptive: The Hybrid Dealer. I mean, flattery can only go so far.
So, after a year, where are we now? Indeed, after three, where do you stand now?
For me, it's a realization that this has finally gotten bigger than us.
MPS is hitting the mainstream, the time for defining is passed, those of us who may have felt at one time in control of destiny, need to simply hang on, and make the best of it.
Those intimate Springsteen shows were special, a point in time that can never be duplicated, except in memory.
But the sheer, awesome, spectacle that is a Springsteen arena show, even if mainstream, is glorious.
As I consider the past 12 months, "I saw my printer and copier past flash before my eyes. I saw something else: I saw MPS's future and its name is (fill in the blank)."
All is not lost - there are more windmills for us to charge on this MPS landscape - all it takes is a Leap of Faith, I think we should keep taking those tickets from the fat man, living the runaway American Dream.
Because, ultimately, I still haven't found, what I'm looking for...
In an episode of Seinfeld, Jerry's gorgeous new girlfriend's lovely breasts become the subject of conjecture; are they real or implants. Elaine thinks they're fake so Jerry decides not to see her again. Elaine changes her mind after tripping and falling into the ample bosom.
Again, the "paperless office will never exist" debate is grabbing headlines and copy. Good stuff, if not factually spun.
I've been face-to-face with organizations that significantly reduced the number of copiers, printers, and reams of paper utilized.
A major retail company went from 100 or so devices to 10
Health network(s) go from huge file rooms to no filing cabinets at all
Manufactures shifted away from paper-based job jackets to digital files
These companies didn't feel compelled to save the trees or Chewbaccas. Prospects tell me they squeeze paper out of the process because "paper slows everything."
AI is transforming workplace ethics, with people more likely to instruct AI to use deception in negotiations, underscoring the need for research into AI's ethical implications.
AI has the potential to augment the intelligence of older workers, enabling them to leverage their extensive experience and knowledge more effectively.
Generative AI can significantly boost productivity, particularly for low-skilled workers, potentially narrowing the productivity gap between different skill levels.
Greg's Words
I've been talking about The Great Convergence for over a decade. It's meant many different things: the convergence of TV, Cable, and the Internet. The convergence of the internet and business software(the Cloud). Finally, the convergence of generations.
Artificial Intelligence gives every generation access to knowledge simultaneously. Time will no longer dictate the accumulation of knowledge. Indeed, artificial intelligence may disconnect wisdom from experiences.
Did you know that back in 2009, the term 'managed print services' was met with outright disdain? Dealers and OEMs would exclaim, 'Shrink the fleet to reduce costs? That's heresy in a world built on selling copiers!' Fast forward to today, and we're on the cusp of another paradigm and the most significant shift—this time, powered by Artificial Intelligence.
As Andrew Ng, co-founder of Google Brain and a leading voice in AI, puts it, 'AI is the new electricity.' Just as electricity transformed numerous industries over a century ago, AI is poised to do the same today.
So, is AI merely the new MpS, or is it something far more transformative?
Mckinsey: $4.4T of value added world-wide annually
80% of all jobs are subject to being enhanced by Generative AI
In just the last year, a staggering 400 AI start-ups have emerged, gobbling up an eye-watering $24.6 billion in investment. Source: Visual Capitalist
__________
For the last six months,I've been using Artificial Intelligence (AI)in the form of a Large Language Model (LLM) every single day - cutting edge. More like bleeding edge.
Back in 2007, MpS was new, on the edge, and a bit contrarian. The year was 2007, copiers were flying off
the shelf, and everybody signed a 60-month lease with an accompanying service agreement. A4 was a dirty word.
MpS didn’t flourish it sputtered and more often failed. Stories
of fallen MPS practices outnumbered the successful.
I, myself, declared
MpS dead in 2011 because the discipline became adulterated into the lowest
price possible. The race to the bottom was inevitable.
Today, I look upon the contemporary MpS ecosystem and see customers
calling dealers looking to sign MpS contracts, more MpS press coverage,
INCREASED membership in your MPSA,
ridicule, and criticism from industry "pundits" and “shills” it’s
beginning to feel like the ‘good old days.
Sorta. My optimism is cautionary.
For decades, we in the copier industry have been telling prospects our hardware "increases productivity and reduces costs". We lied. Well, we defined the narrative to fit our mission of selling 10 copiers a month. (or whatever)
The world is increasing productivity and reducing costs through more efficient workflows - and if you are simply selling copiers, printers, or MpS, they are doing it without you and viewing your relationship as a target for cost reduction.
AI eats workflows 24/7 and will decimate everything from middle management to the C-Suite.
More than how the internet shook things up, bigger than that gift from Prometheus, and vastly more liberating than the invention of the Wheel, Generative AI is shifting our world, changing how we work, chit-chat, learn, and more.
Hold onto your linen, because the speed of this tech revolution is faster than light. These jaw-dropping tools we're ogling at today? They'll be old news by year's end since they're leveling up like crazy and getting mixed into other gizmos and services at breakneck speed.
Buckle up, buttercups, 'cause we're in for a wild one...
Key highlights:
Companies like AT&T and Meta Platforms are focusing on efficiency and productivity improvements in response to economic challenges.
AT&T's Project Raindrops initiative aims to simplify and eliminate unnecessary business processes, saving employees nearly 3 million hours a year.
While the impact of small improvements on the bottom line is difficult to quantify, research suggests that saved time is often reinvested in the company as additional work.
ConnectWise has integrated OpenAI's ChatGPT with its remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools, ConnectWise Automate and ConnectWise RMM. This integration makes ConnectWise the first to release an OpenAI integration in the managed services industry. MSPs will be able to automate customer ticketing and issue-tracking processes to provide faster response times and improve customer service and engagement.
"Things that I know or are rumored to be:
Business last year increased by 34% in some areas and 57% overall
The number of endpoints increased over the past 24 months..."
Oh boy, I am in the middle of the Anthony Robbins "Ultimate Edge...blah blah blah..." - it's good, really, I mean it and someday I want a place on Fiji right next door. So what better way than to study the dude.
He's humongous, you know.
Perhaps you don't know Anthony Robbins or what he does - in a nutshell, he helps point out the obvious to the oblivious. He sounds sincere, is the consummate selling professional - always closing - and makes an impression. He attracts - I guess that is one reason he has 'handlers' - huh. Well, the material I am visiting is dated and timeless pointing out how so unaware we walk through Life.
The waning days of Summer 2011 entice a review of my journey these last 90, a Quarterly Review of sorts - who says our clients should be the only ones to get QBRs?
This summer has been about breaking through Stage 1 and Stage 2 - wait, that's not 100% - before I could breakthrough, I needed to 'remember' Stage 1 and Stage 2...so yes, now I see S1/S2 completely. Table stakes. Temporary.
I was scrolling through some year-old posts and stumbled upon this one, from Art over at print4pay Hotel's, "MFP Solutions Blog".
A year later, almost to the day.
Has anyone heard anything, at all, about Edgeline?
Huh.
See my, historical journey through the odyssey that is Edeline, here.
###
Wednesday, February 18, 2009, HP Edgeline "What Went Wrong"
Art Post
I had an email the other day from an analyst from a major printer vendor. In the email, I was asked "what went wrong with this program?" I thought, geez you're asking me??
When filming a scene in a movie, once the director has what he needs on set, and the filming is complete, somebody will announce, "That's a wrap!" indicating the end of the scene, show, or movie.
Then they celebrate the completion and bash-out at the "Wrap Party".
While sitting in the first day of presentations at an industry symposium, Lyra 2012 - I had an epiphany.
The days of IT departments, IT VARs and CIOs are numbered. The ending scene is being played out before us.
Off camera, an anxious Director is about to announce, "That'a a Wrap, people..."
Ricoh to the Channel - "...I can't guarantee it has no impact [on channel partners], but IBM is obviously in a lot of places already,"
According to a press release today, January 5th, IBM and Ricoh will first launch a new Ricoh offering, Document Security and Management Services (DSMS) in the US.
This solution builds upon Ricoh's expertise in helping customers improve their document workflow, security and compliance, while reducing the total cost of ownership of office equipment investment and advancing environmental sustainability practices.
The DSMS offering includes Assessment & Deployment, End User Services, Managed Services, Security, Green Office and Enterprise Content Management services, which will be delivered by Ricoh Document Solutions and Services Division and IBM's Global Technology Services.
In addition, Ricoh has an agreement to resell IBM's Managed Server offering and collaborate on the sale and delivery of IBM software, hardware and services, such as End User Services, Internet Security Systems (ISS) Services, Business Continuity & Resiliency Services, and Storage & Data Services.
In an interview with ChannelWeb, Mark Minshull, recently promoted, Ricoh Vice President and Chief Technologist said, "Ricoh and IBM have been working together for a long time, so I see this as kind of a deepening of that relationship," adding, "We're teaming up at a sales level to go after major global accounts and do what we each do best. Ricoh and IBM pair up very nicely. The promise ... is to lower the cost of implementation -- incorporate an service oriented architecture (SOA) into MFPs so they can more easily integrate into IBM's selling process. Over time, printers are becoming very smart and sophisticated, and it makes sense to use enterprise network monitoring tools like Tivoli."
Minshull said he did not anticipate conflict with Ricoh's channel as a result of the alliance, the focus of which, he said, is primarily on the largest, enterprise-level accounts.
"...I can't guarantee it has no impact [on channel partners], but IBM is obviously in a lot of places already," he said. "In both the U.S. and Europe, the focus tends to be larger companies with enterprise-wide initiatives."
"IBM and Ricoh are both trying to solve the same problems," Minshull added. "Take the IBM Tivoli story and meld it with the Ricoh one. There's a lot of strategic symmetry in where they're going and where we're going. Looking at [Hewlett-Packard] and what they're doing with EDS, this is a natural fit for us to offer a high-end services capability."
"Ricoh and IBM's partnership will help clients to incorporate MFP capabilities into their business in the same way a new building block could be added to an existing structure." , said Sandy Carter, vice president IBM SOA and WebSphere. A SOA-enabled Ricoh MFP facilitates the integration of other new technologies including autonomic computing that proactively alerts customers when a problem arises so they can resolve it before failure of the device occurs. Also, by integrating supply chain management systems with diagnostic data generated within the MFP, the ability to automatically order MFP supplies can be performed.
Trump, gun control, politics, multi-level marketing, and bikinis - oh, how the mighty have fallen.
...and concerns about censorship on LI were just starting to boil...
LinkedIn and Microsoft are well on their way to creating the second biggest "Brother" - ever.
"Pulse" concerns, missing or deleted posts, Robo-suspended accounts and warnings about content are on the rise or at least being exposed.
This merger bodes darkly for the future.
From the email to LinkedIn employees, today:
"Massively scaling the reach and engagement of LinkedIn by using the network to power the social and identity layers of Microsoft's ecosystem of over one billion customers. Think about things like LinkedIn's graph interwoven throughout Outlook, Calendar, Active Directory, Office, Windows, Skype, Dynamics, Cortana, Bing, and more. "
I know...it sounds great, right? I can have all my LI contacts connected to my Skype and whenever I search on Bing, my 'network' will be searched for relevant connections(and their connections and so on). My email will be searched for relevant discussions. My account listing in the accounting system will be searched, bubbling up customers who may have a parallel or direct influence on the subject in question. The web of connectivity runs deep.
Everything connected to everything, machine-like. One platform to support, one company to rule.
But as the past few months have shown, LI users are beginning to flex their creative and humanistic muscles.
Content is shifting from all business to all but business. People are becoming more 'human', online. Matches are being made, and love connections are paired. Political discourse, a seasonal turn, is on the rise. "Chat" room intercourse often sink into insults and name-calling.
People being people, deviant. A centralized machine does not condone deviance.
I am a fan of technology and I believe the Universal Internet of Everyone is inevitable if not upon us now. Great things are possible when the minds of the world focus on a vision.
But who molds that vision? In a centralized, monolithic realm, the masters of the account/comment/newsfeed, rule.
"They" control the picture.
LinkedIN, AoL, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the other 'free' platforms are not without cost.
We, the users, carry the world of LinkedIn(and every other social media) on our shoulders. Occasionally, we shrug.
In the end, congratulations are in order for Jeff. He built a great product and sold it(out) to a huge concern. Formula.
*** THE DOMAIN NAME IN QUESTION, HAS BEEN PARKED...first noticed, January 12, 2011. ***
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There has been something on my mind, bugging me for a few months - well not bugging me.
More like lurking.
You see, my livelihood is tied directly to Managed Print Services as an MPS Practice Manager.
Interesting little tidbit, 12 months ago I was selling MPS - today I am responsible for the full P/L.
Everything from hiring technicians, hiring MPS Selling Professionals, forging and maintaining MPS partnerships, and building an MPS team. Continuously, every single day, selling MPS internally to other practice managers, Business Development Managers, Executive Management, and Ownership.
And as I continue on this particular odyssey, it is my responsibility to evaluate all things MPS; new and interesting Data Collection software, EAutomate Add-ons, supplies fulfillment programs, devices, OEM MPS Programs, etc.
I attend as many MPS Webinars and read/consume every article I can find - from MPS to Change Management to EDM to ECM to BPO.
I try to get as much exposure to every MPS Selling webinar, class, or program I can find.
The results of this analysis can fill a dozen manuals - perhaps someday I will put my findings into "print".
All this accumulated information, I apply was relevant to my little MPS practice.
My point here is simple - although I know a good deal about MPS and the internal MPS programs, I do not make a living pontificating or selling training classes.
I do not compete with the likes of Water or Print Management Solutions Group. And even though I feel I have an above-average understanding of the global MPS market, my research does not go toe to toe with the likes of InfoTrends, IDC, or Photizo.
Am I opinionated? Yes.
Is this blog followed by many people of like opinions? Yes.
Do I see bad training, stunted vision, and archaic selling techniques? Yes.
Will I continue to point out blaring inadequacies in our industry? Yes.
With this in mind, do me a favor...open a browser and type in www.deathofthecopier.com - just promise to come back...and read on...
##### THIS POST WAS FIRST PUBLISHED ON 12/29/2010. ON 1/21/2011, THE DEATH OF THE COPIER FIRST NOTICE, DEATHOFTHECOPIER.COM HAS BEEN PARKED AND NO LONGER POINTS TO STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT'S SITE #####
#ArcDrive has been alive for a month, launching June 6, 2019.
We planned on measuring interest after the first 30 days to gauge moving forward or if nobody responded, scraping the idea completely.
We did not expect to sell any units in the first 30 days for two reasons:
We didn't know if the concept of #ArcDrive would resonate
We did not have logo-plates designed or manufactured(no, really. We didn't want any #ArcDrives to go out without proper logo's)
The good news is, interest is going through the roof. But as you all know, 'interest' doesn't pay the internet bill, does it?
Some interesting process innovations, realizations, and milestones in the first 30 days of existence:
We've sold units.
Team ArcDrive is solidified and growing.
Thirty days ago, our innovation path included adding to the #ArcDrive payload in Q1, 2020. Instead, we're adding to the solution stack in Q4, 2019.
Interested dealers are nudging us into "up-scoping" #ArcDrive - so we've added an entire EDM module while maintaining affordability.
We've come to realize that our offering is a new category in the internet of things realm in both the 'fog' and 'edge' computing layer. (Google it)
Validation of #ArcDrive's supporting belief that "the big are getting bigger, pricing the independent dealers out of SMB advance capture/EDM solutions.' (Ricoh/DocuWare)
Validation that dealers and their sales team are comfortable talking about business solutions that reside on the physical plane, not the ethereal.
The Executive Summit has been in existence for three years, this is my first one. For context, I've attended and spoken at every domestic Photizo MPS conference, I attended and spoken at a few ITEX get-togethers and a BTA meeting - I 've attended more shows than I can remember.
I've known of MWAi and the group for years, meeting Mike Stramaglio at a Lyra back in ....2009 or 08, I forget. Mike and I have broken bread and on occasion, we've even solved many of the world's problems over whiskey, Cabernet, or some other variation of libation.
I've been traveling cyber-land since the days of 1200 baud, BBS, and the MiRC was the only IM in the world. One thing I've seen again and again is how something is popular one moment then thirty seconds later, drab and mundane. The connected world builds loves obsolescence especially with advertising/marketing.
Because of the internet, gone are the days when a Yellow Page ad or 12 year old billboard out front attracted customers. Today, for now, its all about 'social media', 'keywords' and 'SEO Experts'.
I know, I know - you've listened to all the pundits (moi aussi) tell you to take those copier pics off and stop pitching logo's. Great. Your clients don't care about logo's or brand names.
