Bright as Day, Black as Night, No Evil...

MPS InsightPro - I'm a Pro, You Should be Too...

There was a time when the only MPS information one could find, was is supplied by direct marketing firms with content referring to advertising print jobs.

Then, slowly, the trainers got involved, starting to pitch MPS as nothing more than CPC in different garb.  Releasing loosely disguised marketing pieces as white papers.

InfoTrends wasn't there.

Gartner, didn't care.

CompTIA was years away from getting in.

There was no PagePack, Twitter or FaceBook

Back then, if you 'googled' Managed Print Services, nothing came back.

But one day, a few returns started to populate the Google alert you set up for "Managed Print Services"(ok, I know I was the first one ever to do this, back in the day)

And somehow, a complete Managed Print Services article appeared.  The brainchild of some firm whose name you didn't know how to pronounce.

You 'googled' φωτίζω and saw the light.

"Managed Print Services" is dying. Let's Kill it Together...

5/9/2011

The 2011 Global MPS Conference is part of history.

I have a unique view of both the evolution of the show and our industry.

It goes a bit like this:

-Year One, 2009: What the hell is this thing called MPS?
-Year Two, 2010: I've made so many mistakes. How in the heck do we make the change?
-Year Three, 2011: Now what? There has got to be more.

So, as a proponent of MPS, as one of the first evangelists.  As a fully engaged, MPS Practice Manager.

As a  "thought leader", somebody who has spoken at each MPS Conference, sat on panels of experts, queried the titans, investigated every single MPS package, program, and type; as a dangerous, True Believer -

How can I possibly, in good faith, call for the destruction of Managed Print Services?

How?

Well, welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, step inside...

"Managed Print Services" is dying.

Let's Kill it Together...

The juice is in the white spaces.

MPS can stitch together the Columns as the Green Box.

Once this is done, the Columns have no further need for MPS.

The only path to rebirth, renewing, is through Death.

Ed is going to flip.

Fire. Walk With Me.

Through the darkness of future past,

the magician longs to see,

one chants out between two worlds,

fire walk with me.

- Lynch

5/6/2011

Transformers 3 Dark of the Moon

Click to email me.

What the Hell?

It's just for fun...

OMG, HUSH! Jennifer Love is Singing! By All The Gods of Music, How did I Miss This One?

This is good enough to listen to...muted...

Managed Print Services Stuck in Stage 1&2 - And I Know Why...

5/2/2011

I bet the folks at AIIM know why too, if they even care.

Stage 1 - Control

As you know, S1 includes establishing a baseline cost, fulfilling service and supplies on the fleet(usually everything but the copiers) and billing on a cost per image basis.

Stage 2 - Optimize

Again, simple. Optimize the existing fleet in terms of age, function, work load, document flow, on and on.

Both stage 1 & 2 are supported by a continuous revenue streams - as long as the fleet keeps printing, even when volume decreases, meter reads are traded for invoices.

With this in mind, it is no surprise how easy it is to stay right there.  

Much like a deer in the headlights...


I know.  MPS is difficult.

Getting the right toner to the correct end user at the right time, requires a great deal of infrastructure with lots of moving parts.

Guaranteeing your tech will show up under SLA but not the influence is taxing.

Ordering parts from HP, Lexmark, Dell, Xerox, et. el. has its challenges.

Coordinating all this and maintaining 49% gross profit a gargantuan task.

And still you do.

Nobody would blame you for staying right there in S2.

You know Stage 3, "Enhance the Business Process" has something to do with EDM software and document flow and that new 'cloud' thing. Still, like the early morning fog, your vision is not quite clear.

I have the answer. I know why you can't get your head around all this S3.

S3 requires software, and expertise beyond speeds, feeds and deal crafting. Different, but not that different.

Here's the big reason - S1 and S2 create revenue streams, the relationship although shallow, is ongoing.

S3 is PROJECT based; projects that need to be designed, implemented and managed.

S1-2 is Continuous, S3 is Job Shop.

To illustrate, consider the difference between how your Ford 250 was produced versus how the Maybach  is hand crafted.

The Ford moves through a continuous process, down a production line.  As the chassis moves   everything is attached and assembled. At the end of the line, a complete pickup truck is driven off the line, out to a lot. Hundreds leaving the plant each day.

Compared to the Maybach - the automobile is built completely(mostly) in one spot as a project.  Technically, each Maybach could be unique.

Indeed, the volume of Maybachs compared to Fords is very low.  But quality, price and margin should lean toward the project.

There you have it.  Getting into S3 requires a shift from continuous revenue to project based thinking.

A challenge for some.

Click to email me.

Tonight...

The MPS Con starts in the morning...tonight is not for show prep...

Managed Print Services - I Swear, You Learn More from a 3 Minute Record...

If DOTC has an anthem, there are two:

Running With the Devil, Van Halen

and

No Retreat, No Surrender...Bruce

"...I'm ready to grow young...again..."

DOTC - Dirty Little Phreaks

"...Raise your glass...if you are wrong, in all the right ways..."



"...we will never be anything but loud and nitty-grity...Dirty Little Phreaks..."

Finally, We're All In Managed Print Services - Now What? "The MPS Immortals", that's What.

First things first.

I am tough on OEMs, I come down on copier reps.

I point out the glaringly stupid MPS training guffaws.

The cold-calling newbs and their trainers are easy victims - idiot sales managers worthy of the Wrath.

Short sighted sales schleps and their equally plebeian masters; drill and fill toner pirates lost in hubris, all get what they deserve. As much as I dislike the current belief that MPS is simply S1/S2, at least it's in the flow, part of the plan.

But - and there is always a "but" - no matter what the motives, however they got here, all of us are part of the MPS Ecosystem.

For better or for worse, we are all in.

Now what? Now that we're all in, what can we do?  What should we do?

Build MPS Systems like the Immortals would, that's what.

I'm talking inspiration from three immortals: Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.  Not the Ninja Turtles, the other ones.