The Death of Printers: I've Been Saying It For Over a Year - HP Will Not Be Selling Printers

In an article by Jon Fortt, at Brainstorm Tech, HP's Bruce Dahlgren illustrates a future without printers; without printer sales people.

Indeed, Jon's article, title, "The death of a (printer) salesman" is ominous.

If not a bit cosmic.

I had a conversation the other day with an MPS Visionary who is starting to think that not only is MPS changing the copier channel, it is changing the Selling Model - Wow.

As sited here on DOTC, the shift has been underway from copier sales to more Business Acumen ever since MPS got "hot".

Here is the article, enjoy.

The death of a (printer) salesman
Posted by Jon Fortt, senior writer
March 30, 2010 7:00 AM

"In the near future, most big businesses won't actually buy printers. The shocker: HP is looking forward to that.


Enterprise printers aren't going away. But soon, most big companies will pay for the output, not the box. Photo: HP.

Bruce Dahlgren's job at Hewlett-Packard is to sell printers to big customers. Well, sort of. During a recent huddle in a conference room at Hewlett-Packard headquarters in Palo Alto, he was talking about what will happen when big customers stop actually buying printers.

Sound unthinkable? It’s not. Rather than purchase equipment that gets old and breaks down, these days a growing number of companies would rather let someone else own and manage the office copiers and printers — make sure they’re up-to-date, stocked with supplies and arranged in the most efficient way — and instead just pay for the work the equipment does. The model is called managed print services, and it’s all the rage.

In fact, it’s a big part of the reason Dahlgren is at HP (HPQ) in the first place.

Soon after HP CEO Mark Hurd arrived at the company five years ago, he recognized that the vaunted imaging and printing group wasn’t doing a great job with large businesses. Part of the problem: IPG executives were used to marketing to consumers, and lacked deep experience in enterprise sales.

Vyomesh Joshi, the printing group’s executive vice president, once told me that it was humbling, but he realized he needed Hurd's help to turn things around.

In a controversial move, Hurd brought in Dahlgren, a former colleague at NCR (NCR), to lead the enterprise printing business and spearhead managed print services. (Because of a legal dustup with previous employer Lexmark (LXK) regarding a non-compete agreement, he had to take some time overseeing Europe before settling into the role.) Since then, Dahlgren has been scrapping with the likes of Xerox (XRX) for share in the market.

So far the services business has grown to the point where HP manages 19 billion pages per year. The total value of all managed print services contracts stands at about $5.5 billion. Revenues have recently gotten large enough that HP executives review it separately from the other printing operations.

A race to print money

The spoils of the managed print services war should be considerable. Photizo Group, a research firm, estimates that by 2013 it will more than double into a $60 billion global market, and more than half of all enterprise printing devices will be under a services contract. Dahlgren says that today, only about a third of HP’s enterprise customers have begun using managed print services at all, and another third are evaluating it. “So I don’t shy away from a $1 million contract,” Dahlgren says. “Because I know that once we get in there, this thing really expands.”

In this environment, the company that locks up the most market share could eventually wield decisive influence over which enterprise printer and copier brands thrive. If HP wins, it gets to eat a big piece of Xerox’s business. If Xerox wins, it gets to do the same to HP.

So it makes sense for the printing giants to jockey for market share grab now, especially since businesses don’t want to buy equipment anyway and companies like HP can promise coveted cost savings from switching to the services model. But what happens when that stage is over, and investors still want profit growth in the imaging and printing segment?

Dahlgren has an idea of how it might work. He offers a customer as an example: HP had begun managing most printers and copiers for a hospital when someone noticed that the station for printing the hospital’s ID wristbands was located right near the admissions station. That would make it possible to print each patient’s picture, in color, right on the wristband.

Not only would it make it easier for hospital staff to check them, it would add a valuable layer of security. And in the print services contract, HP can charge more for the new wristband-printing service — similar to the way the cable company charges more for premium channels. Says Dahlgren: “Wouldn’t it be cool — we’re not there yet — but wouldn’t it be cool if when a doctor printed out a patient’s information, there was actually a picture there?”

It would be cool. And apparently profitable for HP, too."
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So...What, Exactly Is A "Document"?

Somebody asked me what was meant by "document" in my definition of Managed Print Services.

Good Question.

Here's my answer:

"Any portable, presentation of information"

Wide Open.

From post cards, to Post-Its. From a handwritten letter to a three dimensional rendering.

Speaking of...

Enter the Personal Cubic Display - just another document...I know, mind blowing, isn't it...




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Friday Fun Video - This is How One Sells a Caddy!

Odd thing is, the Red Chinese did this - those crazy, newbie, capitalists!



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Commercial Paper Shrinks for Second Week

UPDATE 1-U.S. commercial paper shrinks for 2nd week - Fed
14 hours ago via Thomson Reuters

By John Parry and Walden Siew

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. commercial paper market shrank for a second straight week, hinting that companies may still be cautious about the pace of economic growth, Federal Reserve data showed on Thursday.

Firms typically use commercial paper to restock shelves in anticipation of consumer demand and to pay wages. Many have been trimming commercial paper issuance as they slow the pace they add to inventories, for fear the U.S. economic rebound might run out of steam, some analysts say.

Recent shifts in the commercial paper market "are linked to a slowdown in the inventory rebuilding cycle that we saw in the second half of 2009," said Howard Simons, strategist with Bianco Research in Chicago.

For the week up to March 24, the size of the U.S. commercial paper market fell by about $7.9 billion to $1.114 trillion outstanding from $1.122 trillion the previous week.

In addition, money market funds, which are big participants in the market, have been selling commercial paper recently, eroding the market's size, said Tony Crescenzi, market strategist and portfolio manager at Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO).

As risk aversion subsides, some investors in money market funds have been switching into riskier, higher-yielding assets such as corporate bonds and stocks, analysts said.

A surge of corporate debt issuance over the past year has replaced some of the short-dated commercial paper debt companies and banks might otherwise have sold, limiting the size of the commercial paper market, strategists add.

"Companies have been terming out their debt and (are) not interested in issuing," Crescenzi said. "Companies can issue debt at longer maturities at decent yields" to borrow fairly cheaply, he added.

The overall U.S. commercial paper market is now about half its peak size of $2.2 trillion outstanding in August 2007 when the credit crisis began.

U.S. asset-backed commercial paper rose to $414.4 billion outstanding in the latest week from $410.3 billion outstanding the previous week.

Unsecured financial issuance fell by $11.6 billion after falling by $24.2 billion the previous week. (Reporting by John Parry and Walden Siew; Editing by James Dalgleish and Padraic Cassidy)
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Secular, not cyclical - Print Is Dead.


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Managed Print Services and Beyond - I Know One Name? (IKON)

There is a very, very big shoe about to drop in the MPS universe - the "Alan Parson's Project", also known as the Preparation "H", RiKON's - Managed Document Services. 

I have mentioned in various discussions, observing many "want ads" appearing across the country for Managed Document Services Specialist / Managed Print Services posted by IKON. 

Small, interesting point here, the ads are posted by IKON, not Ricoh. At one point, my Google Alerts were bringing 3 to 5 returns from IKON a day. 

I noticed this morning, only one, out here in Irvine. To me, this says they have hired up and are about to roll out the MDS program. It's no secret that IKON, on paper, should have the best MPS talk track in the world. They have an FM - where the standard "assessment" is paramount and software called "TRAC".

Ikon has an EDM division - they know how to craft and sell an SOW. The sales force is huge - feet on the street. A fairly large service footprint - access to multiple manufacturing service parts(debatable, I know) And they should be able to go after business at the Enterprise and SMB level. 

 Indeed, it is my opinion, and I think this is shared by some, that IKON MDS solution has the potential of providing a pallet of services, supported by a very good Professional Services consulting staff, an above-average fulfillment system, and a vendor-agnostic toolset helping clients manage their environment. Of course, every, single, MPS program out there looks fantastic on paper, doesn't it? 

Been there, done that, got the pink slip to prove it. (Well, not me personally, but you get the point...)

IKON MDS is built on Three Phases: 

Total Fleet Managementt – a range of baseline support for deploying and managing diverse fleets of output devices, including supplies, service and maintenance (preventive and restorative), and management reporting. 

Intelligent Device Rationalization – a strategic assessment of current assets, business processes and workflows to help organizations achieve a balanced deployment utilizing the right device at the right time. 

Optimized Business Processes – a consultative approach to design, plan and implement improved business processes. 

 If the above seems vaguely familiar, see the chart below: 

It's the same - Another interesting point, the job description for an MDS Specialist at RiKON includes:

"...Performs complex business analyses of customer’s business communication requirements and develops benchmark demonstrations, proposals and value propositions that exceed customers’ requirements resulting in the development of new customers and retention of existing Managed Print Services account by applying a consultative approach...

" Wow - ok...does this sound like a "copier sales guy"? I know the MDS project, ahem I mean the "Alan Parsons Project" was initiated a while back; back when MPS was hot. Before all the other copier dealers tried and failed. 

So it will be with great interest we watch the press releases as RiKON/RBS/Ricoh start to announce all the "big MDS" wins that will undoubtedly occur between now and the end of the summer. 

One thing - I wonder if there will be a hardware gate inside the MDS commission structure. 

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The Final Definition of Managed Print Services...for now.

Ok. This is not a tease.

We here at Death Of The Copier are making a stand.

Staking our claim, drawing a line in the sand.

Here is my definition of Managed Print Services, as of today, March 23, 2010,

"...the act of managing components and processes associated with moving, saving and presenting information in the form of documents..."

...and the crowd goes crazy...well, at least the crowd smiles, brightly...on a beach...somewhere in SoCali.

Here is my take on the definition.

The Managed Print Services Universe is large enough to include all of the parts in the MPS Ecosystem - hardware to software; single function devices to third party toner; from paper supplier to lease company; from remote monitoring to invoicing workflow. It is all here in MPS, and so much more.

More importantly, as we on the inside of the industry struggle to define what it is we can make money with, some of us may be forgetting the prospect, the customer.

After all, isn't MPS suppose to be all about the Client, not about us?

Some say, MPS is simply about "print". I know, I know, its right there in the moniker.

But if we hang our future on the 'P' we are doomed.

Just ask the current pool of unsatisfied copier/printer/output dealers failing with MPS.

And yes ~ it does have a tinge of oldskool and includes EDM.

This definition works; it doesn't tie you to the print, but includes the print.

When using this, your clients and prospects will respond favorably and won't hear "copier" or "printer" so you are not pigeon holed into an equipment and CPI competitive battle.

Your assessments will naturally expand beyond volumes and supplies cost.

This definition can be used by toner folks, copier guys, wide format, FM, software, printer resellers, leasing companies, paper suppliers AND IT VARs.

But the most important aspect: I have been asking PROSPECTS and CLIENTS what they think of it. Market testing, as it were.

I tell them, and then I ask them, what does it mean to them.

Most shrug and say, "... you manage all my processes and units around my information..." - perfect.

One more time - Managed Print Services is,

"...the act of managing components and processes associated with moving, saving and presenting information in the form of documents..."

Inclusive...not exclusive. Brief. Succinct, and Tweetable.

Definition settled.

There. Now we can be friends.

Let us hold hands and frolic amongst the waves, shall we?







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