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:

Click to email me.

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)