It's the infamous, IKON iceberg. Won't this thing EVER melt?
When the MPSA struggled for months to determine the definition of MpS we stumbled and bumbled our way in the dark.
Each of us had different views and perspectives: OEM's, Independent dealers, toner reman's, parts suppliers, consultants, and end users. Oh, and ONE VAR.(Jus sayin)
I was impatient - we needed something NOW and I had a definition ready to go.
My version did not include reference to hardware, but the MPSA had to include 'devices'.
I didn't want the word 'print' but quickly acquiesced agreeing that 'print' allowed the concept to be easily identifiable.
Here is what we, the MPSA came up with:
"Managed print services is the active management and optimization of document output devices and related business processes." - MPSA, July, 2010
"...the act of managing components and processes associated with moving, saving and presenting information in the form of documents..." - DOTC, March, 2010
And here is my current definition of MOS(MpS):
"...the act of managing the optimization of resources and processes associated with information ..." - GRW, 5/9/2011
Why would I be so insistent about leaving 'hardware' out of the equation? I don't want to be pigeon-holed, I don't think real MpS has anything to do with hardware or even PRINT.
Most importantly, I didn't want those who felt like I, to find this weakness and project above the MPSA definition.
Well, I'll tell you why - you see what the movie doesn't explain is the chimps and apes were being modified to become better MpS schleps. That's right, the best way to make MpS so easy a chimp can do it, was to improve upon the chimp, not make MpS simpler.
Ergo, Caesar, leader of the MpS chimps.
Its true. After so many failed attempts to implement the 'F6 Protocol', otherwise known as the one button assessment-proposal-quarterly business review generator, the super suppliers of the day turned to something more hideous. Switching from combining databases, creating algorithms and automating selling, these companies invested R/D dollars in perfecting the MpS Sales Person.
Unlike Captain America, failed lab-chimps(Abby Normal?) became recombinant DNA test patients via augmented, third party toner infusions.
The results were devastating.
"Get your stinking paws off my printer, you damn, dirty ape!"
As I explore the MpS Galaxy, I can't help but notice the generation gaps. Like the gaps between Brady Bunch and The Hills; between Lost In Space and BSG.
Gaps in the way our clients, OEMs, and we see our position in this digital realm; IRL.
We, and by we, I mean us in MpS old enough to remember ditto machines, blackboards, automobiles with ashtrays, 73 cents/gallon gasoline, Schoolhouse Rock, and Iron Eyes Cody, are so deep into how technology affects the corporate world, we sometimes miss the point.
Too deep in the forest to see the trees.
It can't be helped, we see things through a lens ground into shape by our personal past.
Mind the Gap -
Up until 3 days ago, I had only heard the name, Thirty Seconds to Mars, not their music. This song caught my ear, while listening to the Sirius Top 45 countdown. I wasn't overly impressed, but interested enough to look them up on YouTube.
Its almost cliche:
There is a young, U2 feel. I saw one or two Billy Idol moves; the gloves are Billy all the way - or Duran Duran.
Angst? Hell yes, but didn't every single generation think their time was 'the end of the World'? Don't all kids feel Lost and circle themselves together?
Since Elvis, music has attracted like-minded. Like spirited. Counter-insurgents, Contrarians, the idealistic youth.
This generation is no different than all others before them with one exception - the full integration of technology into every corner of their world. Closer to The Edge.
Which, is, of course, our world too, Closer to The Edge.
The MpS train is well down the tracks, the ship has left the dock, Jupiter 1 is Jupiter 2.
Clicks are being captured, fleets of single-function devices automatically fed and cared for - maybe even ripped and replaced - I wonder.
The MpS ecosystem is in balance, the OEMs are playing nice, they know their place in the world, and the channel(s) all have well-established, benchmarked agnostic, and profitable MpS programs.
My network of friends and colleagues expand from RiKON to Xerox, HP to LexMark and the wave is reporting a disconnect.
A 'white space' between the yearly shows, 12-week/12-step MpS mentoring (my DOTC mentoring program will be simply 10.5 weeks and include sessions in front of a refrigerator, but I digress), corporate-sponsored MpS training programs, and You. We go to class, and forget everything three steps out the door.
More troubling, we buy into the vision, understand ourselves, and recognize a great future only to arrive back in the office face to face with the Sales Manager's funnel report, or marketing's latest telemarketing talk track.
"How many contracts are you going to write this month?"
"What accounts are up for renewal? "
"Do you have your elevator speech memorized?" Poof!
It is the old wound.
Do you still demo copiers or devices?
How many of us sat in on training sessions that were nothing but rolling product commercials?
Or is the solution selling training around a piece of hardware? You remember, "add value...show an ROI by reducing the monthly payment..." etc., etc. Circa 1999, 1984, 1975...just like back then, retention is difficult and post-training support non-existent.
It's worse - there isn't any real motivation to maintain. Your management, your ownership, is in survival not visionary mode.
Do not let them fool you - they are.
I have seen just about every, single Managed print Services program out there; been given the up-skirt view, as it were...from Encompass to PagePack, MDS(Ricoh) to...well, MDS(Canon).
They're all good. Well thought out. White boarded to detail and not reaching potential.
Here's the opportunity:
I hear from OPS, Canon, Oce, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Ikon, and Indy dealers from all over North America. New York, Texas, Florida, New Jersey, Iowa, Oregon, and Canada.
Even though MpS is established and 'mainstream for smart people, all the great slide shows and nifty programs aren't getting to the field. The message is garbled, complicated, and ignored.
It comes back to the same old mantra, "MpS is different" - so how can we expect the same training and support models of yesteryear to provide an ROI in today's increasingly sophisticated and accelerating business environment?
We can't.
I was NOT a big fan of all those long-term MpS 'mentoring' programs just a year ago. It wasn't that I was resistant to the framework or mechanics of those program types, I was repulsed by the content.
The Content sucked then, but change has come to MpS. Real TRANSFORMATION is out here.
I point to the recently announced chaMPS program, the ever oscillating program that is PagePack, and the mythical, over-the-horizon, OPS/Printillegent HP MPS Channel.
PagePack has a 12-week mentor program.
chaMPS has a long-term program to assist in dealer transformation.
HP WILL have a Printillegent-Like hybrid program.
Neither is perfect, each progressing, but the bulk of responsibility for success rests squarely in the hands of the participants in each program.
It doesn't matter if co-op or MDF pays for the program, the commitment kicks in after the class and once your organization fully commits. Sound familiar?
"Change or Die." - again. For the dealer channels as well as the individual, MpS Selling professional - Power is coming down to you, to us the individuals. The world and market are moving from "Push" marketing to "Pull" leverage. More on that later
I suggest now is the time to really commit to one of these programs - whichever one fits your world, now is the time.
Points to consider-
For the Dealer:
Rethink everything
Consider cutting overhead. Get lean(er)
Commit, commit, commit
Pay all your reps the same way
For you, real-live, customer-facing folks:
Rethink everything
Consider cutting overhead. Get Smarter.
Commit, commit, commit
Acknowledge that EVERYBODY in your organization works FOR YOU.
Your boss, the owner, your OEM and their rep., and your distributors all have an agenda and plan. As a matter of fact, EVERYBODY has a plan. Even Robinson's Lost In Space had a plan - you should too - It's Your Ship.
goofy sales guy starts blog...
he writes about what he sees, as a hobby...
somehow, people of like mind and people not so like minded find, read and follow...
Although sales guy never asked friends, family and general well to do-ers, push goofy guy to 'monotize' his hobby...
He does not...
He never 'blogs' what he had for breakfast or what stunt the neighbor's cat just performed...
He sticks to a simple plan, "Write What You Would Read...put in some music you would listen to, and sprinkle in some hotties."
He attracts good friends, colleagues, more readers and haters but really no rivals...
Three years slip by...
One day, notoriety shines in his direction; people take notice and offer to pay for his words.
It's like we share a brain, except DOTC doesn't have a staff and was on this page 12 months ago...Yeah, I know, I have self-esteem issues.
An article posted on The Imaging Channel caught my eye, "Managed Print Services: OEM Strategies". The headline piqued but the source engaged - Lyra.
Of all the research groups I know, only two command my attention. One is Lyra. I trust their opinion, to be honest. Sometimes, I may not agree with their observations but that is okay.
If you are an MpS'r from way back, say 24 months(!), what the Big 3 say is of no surprise; if you are a steady reader of DOTC, again, no surprise.
Lyra spoke with Xerox, HP, and Ricoh during the first half of 2011. The article is a reflection of all three.
The caveat is these discussions orbit around enterprise-level MPS engagements - not that there is no value - it's just that when interviewing at this level, the information is more proactive than responsive - the OEMs projecting their view of MPS, not necessarily reflecting the real MpS.
