If you are a business with 50 users or more, you should be looking at utilizing Managed Print Services.
The hard cost savings can be significant - some of my clients experienced between 20% and 45% cost reduction in the first 30 days.
Yet, sometimes, initiating an MpS program DID NOT MAKE SENSE, so we didn't move forward.
How should you evaluate a Managed Print Services provider?
What, exactly is Managed Print Services?
What are some sound expectations?
What should YOU do to get the most out of an MpS engagement?
Is the Cheapest the Best?
I've reviewed every single MpS program on the planet - well maybe not every single program.
I've sold copiers, printers, technology, networks, accounting systems and I created a successful MpS practice built on a client-centric focus.
Managed Print Services looks easy from the outside, but there are areas for improvement that are often overlooked.
Join me for a frank, open discussion outlining ideas and suggestions to help you get the most out of managed print services.
This is not a 'how-to negotiate for the cheapest price' session.
We won't endorse one program over another, although if asked, I do have opinions.
The session is intended for decision-makers, folks who will "sign on the line which is dotted" to engage in a Managed Print Services agreement.
This is NOT intended for MpS providers, copier dealers, printer manufacturers, office supplies, toner companies, or anybody providing these services.
This is for end users - financial, healthcare, manufacturing, business services, construction, hospitality, food service, etc. -
The core group comes out of the imaging sector, but each and every member has eyes on the horizon and collaboration as a mission.
There is more to imaging than marks on paper.
The MpS Ecosystem continues to grow, expanding beyond toner on paper, up to the clouds and back down to screens.
How can we in the niche, utilize this powerful new group to maximize our customers' experience, become a valued partner, and sustain this new business model?
Tune it to learn more about Technology United.
More than a group of buddies leveraging their marketing position, TU is a collection of forward thinking, early adopters who believe improving the industry, improves us all.
A rising tide lifts all vessels.
We will simplify the complex and illustrate the significance of this first of its kind association.
August 7, 2012 - 2:00PM EST
Sixty minutes, open discussion, with 15 mins for Q/A - a maximum of 25 attendees.
Hype, fact or a little of both – it doesn’t matter; Big Data is here and it’s growing.
Beyond describing Big Data as everything that has ever been digitized, printed, viewed, tweeted, posted, scanned and/or blogged, how can we maximize our position within the realm.
To begin with, let’s define BD by saying it’s a “great big hard drive in the sky,” like a cloud – go figure. If you’re interested in more, I wrote about it a million years ago...
Technology United is a group of cutting edge, early adopter companies.
This is not old skool; NOT the same old, MLM, Jaycee-type, loosely run, networking and poker club.(not that there is anything wrong with the Jaycees, old your emails) Technology United members are all best of breed in their industries and standouts in the technology realm.
I like Mike. I like the idea of TU and I like the players.
Please read Mike Stramaglio's introduction, review and update:
I sold the "Hawk": HP/Konica Minolta and Ikon's nexus of the absurd. HP's first toe-dip into the copier industry.
I sold Edgeline. HP's second and "this time, we'll get it right" attempt to play in the copier industry.
I own a TouchPad. I wanted to own one. I was an HP head, as much as could be, without being employed by Mother Blue.
So when the TouchPad was rumored, I maneuvered into a position to get one.
When the rumors came down the channel that HP was going to market their E*Print along with the new tablet, as an MpS Practice manager, under the HP OPS banner, I was doubly excited.
I was not alone.
Across the country, honorable, trusting, HP believers, and employees, fanned out to the channel exalting the next big thing in print; mobile print through HP tablets and phones. WebOS was to be installed on every printer, MFP, laptop, phone, and tablet.
Ubiquity.
We were encouraged to invest and build mobility practices. Indeed, HP VARs all over, hired, shifted, and built business plans around the "Blues Clues' handy-dandy notebook" and print.
At the time, we saw Apple as pulling tablet use up for everyone - like the rising tide lifts all ships.
Of course, it ended up not being the tide, but a tidal wave, dashing the hopes and dreams of mobility practice managers everywhere into the rocks of BYOD.
Looking back like this feels as though I'm 'piling on' as Meg tries to right the lumbering behemoth - jettisoning tens of thousands and returning to HP's hardware roots.
HP will survive. It's too big to fail.
What is to be learned from this Shakespearean tragedy? What can we as individuals take from the meteoric arc?
1. Everything dies, baby that's a fact...
2. What is strong today, can be gone tomorrow
3. Logic sometimes, doesn't prevail
4. The obvious isn't
5. When you forget who you are, you're just aching for a smack-down
Currently, HP, Canon, and Samsung have announced, each in their own way, that they are now, always have been, and always will be, hardware manufacturers. Defining who you are and promoting yourself as true, is the only way to survive these days - we can debate over the sustainability of a pure hardware play, my money is on Samsung.
Period.
The truth is finally revealed. No more talk of 'solution-based selling', or 'on-ramps to EDM', or such nonsense. For these guys, the value is, 'best product', 'reliable performance', "affordable price', 'simple to use', printers and copiers.
For them, MpS will always hold a capital "P" and a small 'm'. Oh, they will protest, flaunting symbolic MpS programs, designed by marketing departments and tasked with landing more equipment.
Period.
So it is with great nostalgia that I combed through this article from The Verge, regaling the rise and fall of Pre, WebOS, and TouchPad.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen - $1.6 billion write-off? - ain't nothing but a thang, just ignore that.
Add cubicles, office furniture, water coolers, uniform rental programs, IT departments, factory floors, inventory shelving, hi-lows, truck docks, and pallets to that list.
Then take away the roads, parking lots, air conditioning units, and tons of paper.
And all those useless meetings. Gone like a freight train. Gone.
How so?
The answer is in the palm of your eleven-year-olds hand...right here.
"The managed print services industry grew more than 15 percent last year and will continue at this clip at least through 2012.
If you're a print VAR, an IT VAR, or an MSP you can still profit from this hot market—but the opportunity won't last forever. Join this interactive discussion with Greg Walters, a consultant with years of experience running a managed-print business, and Tom Gall, Value Channel Marketing Director at Xerox Corp., as they explore what works—and what doesn't—when it comes to jump-starting managed print profits today."
- Xerox Channel Cast
The above is the official line - and it is all true. My hope is that you get at least ONE good nugget out of the discourse.
It's set up like this:
The moderator introduces us.
I get 5-7 minutes of pure MpS bliss, yakking on about City on the Edge of Forever, the MpS ecosystem, and Tri-Dimensional chess.
Then Tom Gall of Xerox contributes and recovers from my tomfoolery, saving Xerox's good name.
We will be talking about why NOW IS THE TIME to get into MpS - but there is work, it ain't easy but it can be done. It will be done.
Join us.
Greg Walters, Senior Correspondent, The Business Transformation Center
We will be in Vegas, at the Wynn, Monday June 11 and 12th.
I will not be attending the Ricoh show(huh?) - but will be in the Casino, around the pool or at a bar,
that is if the Wynn has a bar, not sure on that one...
If you're in town, and want to talk about how to pick a Managed Print Services program, technology in our world, the social ramifications of Space 1999, or the Four Screens of Life - drop me a note.
I may even have a nifty, cool, MPSA hat for you...
"Those responsible for the obliteration of each DOTC image are the MEN in our niche who have in the past and are right, this very second, to leverage their power as Area Vice President, Owner, or Manager, over a female subordinate."
My intent from the beginning was to record observations of the world and refer back over time for my own amusement and pleasure.
"Peter Misek of Jefferies & Co. said that tablets are likely to hurt HP's personal computer segment.
"While consensus thinks Windows 8 will boost personal computers, we think it will accelerate tablet cannibalization as the operating system focuses on touch," he wrote in a client note.
Misek also believes that smartphones are now used by enough consumers -- and tablets to a lesser degree -- that it is lowering printing demand.
The analyst lowered HP to "Hold" from "Buy" and reduced his price target to $23 from $30.
HP shares closed at $22.68 per share on Thursday. They fell to a 52-week low of $20.57 on May 23 and traded as high as $37.70 late last July.
An email seeking comment from HP was sent before business hours but was not immediately returned."
From a usually more upbeat news site, cheerfully named, Bright Side News, the first passage is the high-point of the article:
"While we at Bright Side of News always try to look at the bright side of things and have an optimistic view of the industry, there are times when we simply cannot help ourselves and must say something.
Case and point is Hewlett Packard [NYSE:HPQ] and their current announcement of their reduced earnings of 31%..."
The analysis compares HP's terrible employee/revenue ratio with other companies in the niche sumamrizing with:
"When you have that many employees, your workforce begins to become a liability rather than an asset and you begin to drain yourself purely as a result of maintaining such a large bureaucracy. If HP wants to really become nimble, they need to spin off divisions of the company or give some of them less importance in the future of the company's success."
Mother Blue is going through some significantly bad times - more than most.
Who else could one week announce the reduction of 28,000 employees and talk about being around 40 years from now the next?
IPG merging with PSG is like two fortune 500 companies merging - and we all know how well merges of that scale go, right?
Well, the next time you see an HP'r, wish her the best.
I know I will.
If you've been in this industry for any period of time over 3 years, you either know or have heard of what I call a "Roaming Gnome" - there may even be one a couple of cubes over.
That sales rep who travels from dealer to dealer, employer to employer in search of the perfect sales position. Bringing with him years of experience, a Rolodex chock full of purchasing agents and expiration dates. A pocket full of promises and a wheelbarrow full of "Bravo Sierra".
It's legend - copier reps jump from Ricoh to Ikon to Konica Minolta to Toshiba. Or get out of Toshiba/Ikon/Xerox only to return in a few years.
Old, cromagnum sales interviews start with, "how big of a sales book can you bring with you from "fill in the blank/your current employer"?
Before you go off all half-cocked, accusing me of not understanding, I know this occurs in every industry, especially with salespeople. It is not illegal and it is not uncommon.
As a matter of fact, selling expertise and business acumen can only flourish under the light of many different Suns. And those who grow over time are professionals.
Switching companies isn't normally a bad thing. I am not criticizing the practice, only the occasional method.
The hacks I refer to as "Travelling Copier Gnome" carry not only baggage but character flaws.
They inflict more harm than good, perpetuating the shady side of selling.
In today's economically challenging MPS universe, many MPS and copier reps are looking for jobs; a quick search reveals IKON hiring MPS specialists like crazy all over the country. A floating deckchair in a turbulent sea?
As with most good articles on this tome, writing from personal experience supplants therapy and, I have found, generates plenty of "the same thing happened to me..." emails.
So, I feel the experience of one of my colleagues may have some relevance. An MPS Practice I know of has gone through major metamorphosis - to date, its third. This recent iteration was characterized as a "bloodbath" resulting in major personnel changes.
People were let go and people left.
It's no secret that I bash the bad in our industry. It's a target-rich environment - there is plenty to bash.
However, I hold a special place, a bull's eye, for the "typical copier sales person".
That churn and burn, rip and replace, 60-month lease recommending, sour-grapes, decision challenging, slick, schlocky, box-moving, toner delivering, non-customer-centric, closed-minded, a square peg in a round hole, never going to change, FUD using, gear slinging, never attracting always selling, jolly, hard-closing, Traveling Gnome types.
Case in point, recently, one of the sales reps, at my colleague's MPS practice, decided to move to greener pastures.
Nothing wrong with that, right?. We've all done it.
As matter of fact, picking up and leaving is a decisive act any one of us can execute. Changing employers is like turning the page, ending another chapter in the book of your life. No biggie.
And when done correctly, there is honor in this; an opportunity to either show some class or reveal to the world your true, sliminess.
Character is what you do when nobody is looking most often exposed under pressure - think about the last time you experienced a death in the family or any other high-stress event. Who remained calm and focused, and who "cracked".
Or how about the last time something went wrong with a customer - who ran around with their hair on fire and who acted like they had been there before?
Character.
Your character is exposed not only in bad times but also in good. Can anyone remember the last time a running back scored a touchdown and simply handed the ball to the ref?
Act like you've been there before.
Back to my colleague.
He found himself in quite a pickle - all the client files were missing.
And by client files, he means, assessments, SOWs, proposals, spreadsheets, orders, quotes, contact records, notes, databases, and laptops.
That's correct, inspection showed very few signed original agreements - nothing left behind, uh, oh.
Again, little surprise, nothing too far out of line, seen it before, been there, got the coffee mug.
But then, they received their first notice of service cancellation.
A quick look into E*Automate revealed this defector-client had been "stocking up" on supplies over the past 3 weeks -capitalizing on confusion and the vacuum - it was obvious the customer had been coached.
And then, this ex-sales ne'er-do-well started reaching out to "his" old clients who are now part of my colleague's current base. Huh.
Again, sad and unprofessional and not at all surprising.
You see, when we sell with passion and believe in the product, service, and company, we can become blinded, falsely believing the client relationship is with us - it's our Ego talking - not reality.
The client relationship, no matter how personal the sales professional makes it, is between the client and company; not the selling professional.
We forget that sometimes, don't we? We fall into the trap of thinking "we" are the only reason clients work with our company.
How foolish, how naive, and how very old-fashioned - quaint, almost.
So, who is at fault here?
The destructive Sales-schmo, The Roaming Gnome? For sure.
"Greener Pastures and New Beginnings" mean just that; a New Beginning can only happen after an Ending of a "period" not a comma. Get over it, move on, and begin fresh. Show some class.
The new employer, absolutely.
What kind of loser organization still hires Sales people under these beliefs? Can this really be? Are we still in the '70s? Has Selling devolved? PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN! Did I miss THAT memo? Show some class.
Any client who follows him? These imbeciles are just as unscrupulous.
I mean really, it's just business, I know, but this is pretty lame.
The Lesson, if there is one?
We in the selling profession take a beating from our prospects, customers, sales managers, and family for engaging in something we love to do; meet new people, take on new challenges and create something out of nothing.
It's a shame when some of us lie to clients, trap customers into deals, push our agenda, and do harm. The bigger shame is these instances hurt all of us in sales.
This sort of thing may never change, unless we start calling out the evil-doers, exposing this ilk for the sham artists and hypocrites they are.
It was just in 2009, a mere three years ago – or actually, just under 36 months – when MpS started showing up in its current form.
At conferences, show floors were jam-packed with MpS propositions; Konica Minolta, OKI, Xerox, LMI, GreatAmerica, Digital Gateway, ECi, Compass, Strategy Development, M2M, Synnex, NER, and many more were “all-in.”
Granted, it wasn’t really MpS.
Fliers plastered with “MPS” stickers; sales classes pushing MpS selling cycles, TCO, and the like; but the content was still copier sales, copier leasing, toner cartridges. Desk-side toner delivery/auto-fulfill, just fresh off the whiteboard, was being touted and sold.
Everybody is going to the Clouds and in that spirit, I went out and created Word Clouds based on two conference call transcripts and one interview - from the horses' mouth, sort of speak.
Word, or Tag Clouds generate a picture based on the quantity each word is mentioned in a given field of text. All I did was C&P transcripts and the application did most of the work.
"...our performance in the MPS segment itself is very strong, but more importantly it’s the way we go to market. So over 70% of our hardware revenue is in that large workgroup category, which is really the Enterprise segment of the market and that percentage is growing and it’s being driven by our ability to deliver high-end services and solutions..."
"...In Imaging and Printing, year-over-year revenues decreased 7% with declines in supplies and hardware in consumer and commercial. And operating margin declined to 12.2%...IPG has been the lifeblood of our company for a long time with great margins and very resilient revenues...But we also have to recognize that the business is being pressured on multiple fronts, and revenues from our adjacent businesses...are doing quite well, but not developing fast enough to replace the revenues we've been losing. We have work to do here and are aggressively exploring ways to build on IPG's leadership given the realities of today's marketplace..."
"...You've heard me say this before, but it bears repeating. Some companies talk about transformation; we're actually doing it. Our results this quarter and our expectations for the balance of this year reflect the shifts happening in our business..."
I got a question for you. How many MBA's does it take to get 25,000 people laid-off? Ignore that.
The rest of the world see's output waning, the largest company in the world builds devices without the ability to print and the smartest people in the room cancel a tablet after 49 days. Quick, get that drawer statement out.
Right now, it's too easy to kick Mother Blue in the chops - it is good to remember that "25,000" isn't just a figure on a screen - it represents 25,000 fathers, mothers, sons and daughters - families.
Dare I say, believers. So to mock the poor souls taking early retirement or collecting pink slips, is cruel.
I won't do that.
I will say this - its easy to snicker and sneer at the mighty as they fall - especially the arrogant. But we do not live in a vacuum and we are no longer islands.
I wrote a quip back in September referring to whenever HP sneezes, the rest of us get Zombie Flu.
I fear the trickle-down ramifications of a larger print OEM contracting Zombie Flu. What the hell is going to happen to all the 'little-people'?
Huh. No worries, we're ready.
From around the interweb, first reports of this latest disturbance in the Force.
From Houston Business Journal, May 17:
The source told Business Insider that HP wants to downsize its workforce — which totals 320,000 worldwide — by 10 percent to 15 percent, though Business Insider doesn’t expect the company to eliminate that many jobs all at once. Also, manufacturing employees are not expected to be hit as hard as others, Business Insider said.
From Business Insider, May 16:
Layoffs are going to be significant.
At least, they'll be bigger than what Whitman has said so far. She's said that layoffs would NOT be "broad-based" at least in China (whatever that means), but she didn't say anything about the rest of the worldwide workforce.
Our source said HP wants to trim its workforce by 10%-15%. Given that HP has 320,000 employees, a 10% reduction would be 32,000 workers gone. However, that would include an early retirement program.
We'd guess that this would include attrition, too, where new hires don't come in when employees leave. That number sounds high and we don't expect HP to promise it next week, because HP will also want to shift some jobs offshore. So, HP's total workforce numbers won't reflect all of the cuts.
Barron's, May 17 -
Business Insider’s Julie Bort this morning is back on the corporate layoff beat, writing that one unnamed source at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) tells her that there will be “massive” job cuts at the company, perhaps as much as 10% to 15%, or 32,000 to 48,000 workers.
ISI Group’s Brian Marshall this morning writes that a so-called Reduction in Force would “improve confidence in HPQ’s guidance for ‘at least $4.00 in EPS in fiscal 2012′ and enable investments in strategic, higher-growth areas.’” Marshall has a Buy rating on HP shares.
ZDNet, May 17 -
HP’s operating profit per employee trails rivals, according to a Morgan Stanley analysis.
For instance, IBM’s operating profit per employee is $49,000. Apple’s is the same. EMC makes $67,000 in operating profit per employee.
HP’s tally: $35,000.
The only way for HP to change that metric—assuming the company can’t suddenly boost growth—is to lay off workers.
And of course there is this:
Number of people seeking jobless benefits unchanged last week
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, suggesting steady gains in the job market.
The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly unemployment aid applications stayed at a seasonally adjusted 370,000, the same level as the previous week. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell for the second straight week, to 375,000....
I like shows. I like to visit with like-minded folks and I like to see the latest, greatest toys.
Lately, at least for the past four years, the tone at some of these shows seems to have ranged anywhere between desperation and bliss.
There is one constant- the show is busy and there is rarely enough time to get quality time.
Some of the topics I am looking forward to discussing this year at Transform are:
The Future of MpS - It ain't what it used to be...
Tablets or Toner- Take a guess...
The Cloud - Will it make rain...
Mobile Business Intelligence- huh?
Business Workflow- MpS has ALWAYS been about BPO...
New MpS technology- What more can we do...
The funny thing is, as good as the speaker content is this year, the offline conversations can be even more interesting.
So, in that vein, I want to see and talk with as many folks as I can.
If you are interested in meeting with me and talking about anything from self-replicating nano-bots, MpS compensation plans, M2M communications, the Cloud and its impact on business processes, or who has the best MpS infrastructure program, let's schedule something.
I will be in Orlando from Monday evening to Saturday. I have a presentation and some hard meetings set up, but send me an invite at greg@thedeathofthecopier.com and maybe we can get together for a few minutes.
Wide open, no charge, possibly over an adult beverage.
Fellow members of Your MPSA, I am reaching out today to ask for your support and your vote for President of Your MPSA.
Like our industry, Your Managed print Services Association has experienced a great shift – from an obscure genesis in San Antonio to an impeccable international presence. Since our humble beginnings back in 2008, I’ve been part of the great transformation of Your MPSA to center stage.
Today, Your MPSA and our niche are on the edge of greatness. From Sydney, Tokyo, Seoul, London, Johannesburg, Oklahoma City, Detroit, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Seattle, Miami, New York City, Des Moines, Ontario, Berlin, San Juan, Paris, and Los Angeles, fellow MpS’rs are taking up the MPSA banner, helping businesses reduce costs, preserve jobs and make life easier.
That’s right, there’s more to MpS than toner on paper.
Still, I remember our proud technology lineage and customer focused pedigree. I believe in our industry. I see resilience and perseverance within each OEM, inside every provider and in the can-do attitude of all those “down the street” reps. We are a hearty bunch.
My Vision for Your MPSA is to grow with the shift, not against it. The winds of change are mighty and wise is the person who sails with the current. Knowing this and with bold confidence, we will move into a prosperous era unbound by misguided dogma of the past.
We will not venture the seas alone. Collaboration will be a supporting aspect in the coming years for Your MPSA – I will actively pursue open relationships and engage with anyone who brings value to our members.
One thing I’ve learned during my three year involvement with Your MPSA is that when we focus on the needs of our membership, forgetting corporate agendas, we do great things. I believe Your MPSA is For the Members, by the Members. Outside agenda’s will be left at the office.
Winston Churchill said that ‘the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits, not animals.’ And he said, ‘There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty.’ As I travel the MpS ecosystem, I am often approached by MPSA members and non-members, asking questions about the future. Those questions aren’t posed out of fear or desperation. With each query there is a sense of determination and of duty. When “great forces are on the move in the world”, it is this spirit that sustains us; the same spirit Your MPSA is founded.
My Vision for Your MPSA is growth through attraction. Our message will cultivate and extend relationships within our niche and outside the industry. And I promise, Your MPSA will continue to be member-centric.
If you and I share a passion for our ecosystem and if you believe, like I do, our best days are yet to come, then ‘You and I have a rendezvous with destiny’.
Cast your vote for me, volunteer and let’s get started.
For the third year in a row, it is my great honor to be presenting at the Photizo, Global MPS Conference, Transform2012.
The first year, I talked about selling MpS internally, last year I chatted about building an MpS practice inside the traditional VAR.
This year, we'll have a palaver around remote work-forces, mobility and that nefarious or benevolent eye in the sky, The Cloud. We'll throw in a dash of Big Data, for good measure.
A thrill packed 45 minutes bursting with goodness beyond MpS - oh the Joy!
Below you'll find a "teaser" (someday I will figure out how to build trailers) of my upcoming presentation.
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..."
In what can only be interpreted as a glaring example of "writing for an audience of One, me..." - I am penning this happy birthday wishes to non-other than, Me.
Moi.
I was born the same year the Seattle Space Needle was erected. (he, he...I said erected)
On this day in 1962:
- Beatles sign their 1st contract with EMI Parlophone - I cannot stand the Beatles...
- Laser beam successfully bounced off Moon for 1st time - 'bounced' and 'Laser beam' in one sentence, poetic...
- US performs an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island - 'Christmas' and 'nuclear test' in one sentence, foreboding...
This video cracked me up. No matter how the big OEMs or companies that produce paper spin it, the time is now.
Still, these 'pro-paper' ads are amusing and well produced.
"I read it in this report..."
Cute, smart, engaging and out dated - these were obviously done before the latest advances in personal access display devices or BYOD - how soon before these are seen as nostalgic and reminiscent of a bygone age?
"Domtar is the largest integrated manufacturer and marketer of uncoated freesheet paper in North America and the second largest in the world. As such, we:
Design, manufacture, market and distribute a wide range of paper products for a variety of customers, including merchants, retail outlets, stationers, printers, publishers, converters and end users.
Manufacture business and office paper, commercial printing and publishing paper, as well as specialty and converting paper."
It ain't mobile print(last gasp of a dying niche) but which iTEX exhibitor might just get printing (not all of it) relevant again...?
It's no secret, iTEX has been taking it on the chin lately with bad venues, obvious 60-minute commercials camouflaged as Power Hours, and empty-headed booth-drones claiming to have been in MpS for 25 years.
Heck, some of the presentations were given a stage worthy of side-show-Bob carnival barkers - "step right up, see the bearded lady..." where is my bamboo stick?
Well, at least somebody got new shoes and it was Vegas, right?
Just kidding - the show was a success. A big success.
Those Who Stay, Will Be Champions
Without a doubt, hands down, shorter hours and everything, the show was a good time. I saw business being conducted in the booths, everyone I talked with was not only positive, but most were also buoyant, almost - dare I say - giddy.
No, really. People in this dying industry are smiling.
And do you know why?
The ones I spoke with are lined up perfectly to be survivors. And this time, the power brokers are the agile, defiant, independents. That's not to say the OEMs are eunuchs - well not all of them. It just means that the role of the OEM is changing, transforming from a large, centrally based command and control center, to a more flexible responsive entity.
Well, one can dream.
We've all been there, "...whatever doesn't kill me, makes me stronger..." - the smart have utilized MpS, the quick are moving beyond marks on paper and the strong are forging their way without blaming anyone.
Staying the course, taking responsibility, and not wasting energy on bitching. The Heart, it still beats...
MpS whiners need not apply.
With the puffed-up and contrived angst around the "false promises of MpS" it was refreshing to find more than a few successful MpS providers. Even though I understand and support the notion, I won't call them Hybrids. I call them businesspeople.
It is my personal belief, that if you're a copier dealer and have half a brain, you can be successful with MpS. Yes, I know, the two may be mutually exclusive (wait for it...wait...)
One reseller I spoke with explained how he analyzed the market, looked at his strengths, calculated a plan, articulated his MpS vision both internally and with his existing clients, and executed his plan.
Today, his revenue consists of around 47% MpS services. He is satisfied with his progress, but moving forward, honing his value prop around his customers' needs, not those of his mainline, OEMs. That's called customer-centric vs. OEM-centric. Huh.
Oh, and are you ready for this - he came from outside the industry, bought a dealership, and whipped it into shape, like a real business, raising both the bar and the curve.
And when things were tough, he didn't look around and ask, "...what happened to all those promises..."
Get Used To Disappointment
If I detected any displeasure, it was with the Power Hours(again).
You can't please everybody, all the time, and no matter which show I've been to, I hear people lament over the class/workshop/seminars. The gripes typically go like this:
"The content was too basic."
"The content was too complex."
"The guy tried to sell me his system."
"We heard all that 6 years ago."
"That session was nothing more than a rolling commercial, describing his product, not a process."
"I walked out."
Now, just because these are common statements, it doesn't make them less valid. Indeed, one of the MpS workshops I sat in really was a 60-minute commercial. And I spoke with one person who walked out of TWO sessions because the content was "stale, dated and inaccurate". (not my words)
Ouch.
But this reaction was rare and presented by people I consider to be rather advanced in the art that is MpS. The overwhelming majority of the people I asked said they enjoyed the show and came away with many 'golden nuggets'.
Well done, ITex/Questex. Well done.
ITex - Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Fairest of them All...
With Lyra, Transform, World Ex, and other shows, you can count on seeing people from each organization working the rows, the booths, and speaking. Charlie, Ed, and Patricia could be doing everything from hobnobbing with the elites to chasing down HDMI cables for the next presentation.
It's their show.
Not so with Questex - and that's okay. Questex does not sell MpS. Questex has never provided remote meter reads or automatic service dispatch; they don't know of or give a hoot about the three stages of MpS.
Again, that is okay.
Questex publishes trade magazines and manages events - and they do that well.
In a very real sense, Questex/ITex is simply a platform for us in the industry to display our wares, pontificate about ourselves, and generally show off.
But it doesn't end there. ITex is just the name of the stage that Questex Media manages - what happens on that stage is not only our responsibility it is a reflection of who we are.
So last year, people reported the venue sucked and "nobody attended" - well, last year, our industry was sucking and nobody had a presence.
This year, the show was fantastic, attendees positive and upbeat, right now, the independents are cheerful and looking toward the future. The show is reflecting the mood.
For the life of me, I don't totally understand this joviality - every indicator is down with no rebound in sight. The largest print OEM in the world is getting out of print and the next generation of end-users barely read off paper, let alone send print to it.
Be that as it may, I am as sick of the negativity as I am of the blatant "ignore that" mentality.
I say we rock. Let's persevere or go down fighting.
Print can be relevant, again.
A week ago, if you told me the most impressive thing I would see at ITex was a piece of hardware I saw 4 years ago, I would have laughed.
And after I stopped laughing, had you mentioned to me that 'not only could this piece of hardware bring print back into the spotlight, it may even save mobile print' I woulda dropped you right where you stood.
Well, I stand corrected. How so?
The goal is to make print easy, not available on every street corner for a price - what most mobility models miss is the cost to the end-user. Sure there is a laser printer down in the business center, but it takes longer and costs a dime a sheet.
What I witnessed could make over-charging customers for print, a thing of the past. I saw an MFP that is blazing fast at 60ppm, performing this speed at 5% or 100% coverage, black and white or color, full-bleed no less - it just didn't matter.
And cheap. Four cents for color, penny B/W. And cheap. $700.00 cost.
As the pie of available prints shrinks, the big, centrally located, 11x17 copiers are too expensive, too loud, too slow, and too old-fashioned.
And they require a service agreement.
Also, today's printers are slow, expensive to feed, suck too much energy, and have left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The machines and their toner cartridges are fading yet not all the prints will go away, it's an example of the Long Tail.
So who will be there to print all those buggy-whip designs? The lowest, almost disposable, devices, that's who.
Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it.
At those prices, $900.00 for a 60 page per minute, full color, printer, with very low operational cost, barely any moving parts - why would anybody ever want to purchase a service agreement?
And let's say, just for giggles, each purchased unit included ink refills at half price. Let's just say.
Why wouldn't every hotel on the planet have one of these? Why wouldn't every Starbucks? Hell, why wouldn't you have one to print Christmas pics right then and there for Grandpapa and Grandmama?
There you have it. Mobile print everywhere and not a dime to show for it - no CPI, MpS, no margin or service calls. Nadda, zip, zero.
Have a nice day.
The Belle of the Ball - Sindoh/MemJet
And there it was. Sitting there unassuming. Back in 2009, I saw the MemJet engine spitting out A4 color prints on some guy's couch in a hotel room somewhere. It was cool and for the next 3 years we all waited for the 'real thing'.
Like a ghost, MemJet haunted the halls of Lyra and trade shows across the country. We heard of desperate deals consummated with the devil - and still no device.
From San Diego to Sydney to Oklahoma City - the rumor mill and paper trail churned on.
It's real, not a wraith. I saw it. Touched it and even videotaped it working Lawsuits aside, Sindoh the Korean concern utilizing MemJet in their machine has got a tiger by the tail on this one.
Stay tuned for more as I get more on them...
So in the End...
ITex 2012 is in the rearview. MpS is all over the globe and the copier dealer is on the rebound.
Just when you think you're getting out, they pull you right back in...
2012 If you've been in the industry for over a year, you know how much the ecosystem changes. You also know that rumors of business deals churn faster than your 36 month ex-dates.
Especially when it comes to which OEM is buying who, what dealership is consolidating and who is getting sued by Canon/HP.
We have a small but rather colorful niche which is likely to get a bit smaller.
Not 'doom and gloom', it just is.
I keep my eyes out for new and interesting tidbits of information, getting a feel for trends - nothing statistically supported, no study groups or polling numbers. I pay attention to how often a company or person pops up on my 'radar'.
Over the last 60 days its been Xerox - more specifically, Ursula Burns.
Videos and quotes have been flowing into my view so often and I decided to listen in on the Xerox earnings call. Very interesting.
These calls pretty much go without incident - one typically needs to listen deeply, digging out encoded tidbits of insight. It is quite typical not to hear any mention of competitors and report the landscape in extreme generalities.
That's why one statement made me do a double take:
Ursula Burns, Xerox Corporation, Chairman and CEO, responding to a question posed by Bill Shope - Goldman Sachs, Analyst on the competitive landscape, 2012, Q1 earnings call:
"...Yes, I think that I would speak about two companies outside of the other group.
So the other group is Canon, Ricoh, KM. You know, the normal technology people, technology hardware providers, and they are still infants in document outsourcing.
They are really not large players. They are trying to get together solutions and offer them, but we really don't compete actively against them..."
WOW - bit of the old smack-down, eh?
Now listen, I have never worked for Xerox, seems they are the only OEM I don't have intimate experiences with, and it is true that I write for the Business Transformation Center which is Xerox sponsored, but up until 12 months ago, I considered Xerox a competitor.
Twenty-four months ago, I evaluated PagePack. Ten months ago, I was looking at PagePack 3.0. and just 8 months back I evaluated the ColorCube. Xerox hardware and program are impressive, any way you shape it.
Over the past 60 days I have come to know the story of Ursula Burns - out of the projects and up through the ranks. I like that.
At Less than 9 bucks, XRX is a steal.
Merger talk and take-over rumors are part and parcel of the imaging industry - from Ikon to Danka, Ricoh to Global, everyone on the outside recognizes the incestuousness atmosphere while we inside shrug our shoulders and say, "what?"
The swirling chatter today is that the X is prime for a take-over and Dell or HP are would-be suitors.
Personally, I don't think HP is a strategic position to take on anyone. And I don't think they are all that gun-ho on continuing down the toner-based path.
So what about Dell?
With Xerox deriving over 50% of its revenue from services, Dell might fare well acquiring all those inroads to global IT entities; spin-off the Global arm, converting it into cash. Again, I doubt Dell wants to get into the copier/printer world, wax-based or otherwise.
I know what you're thinking - who else would take Xerox? Look west...far west...Seoul.
Samsung may want a channel where they have none now. Samsung might like the idea of instant invite into the best of the Fortune 500.
Nawwwww...it'll never happen...still...
Detroit hasn't been the Automobile capital of the World for decades. GM is owned by Canada and Chrysler has been sold off to an Italian automaker. Boeing has to compete on the world stage no longer holding dominance. And HP is in the middle of sending her once cash-cow, out to pasture.
What happened to all the American companies?
Well, in the End, money is money - generated by clicks, seats or acquisitions - it makes the world go 'round.
I was there. Oh what a difference a few years make.
But this isn't about the past, it's about the shape of things to come.
And who better to talk about the future of MpS, than a few long-term MpS'rs.
But wait.
From London to LA, Detroit to Sydney, Tokyo to Cape Town, Seoul to Orlando, the place will be flush with purveyors of content, movers and shakers of big data, visionaries all - and that's just the attendees.
7/2012 Do We Live With Technology, For Technology or Under Technology?
There was a day, back in the 80s, when I was almost embarrassed to use a mobile phone in a car - it just felt weird.
I remember getting my first alpha-numeric pager and no longer needing to pick up messages on those little pink sheets.
Back then, a laptop was what the stripper danced on, and a tablet was medicine.
Cold calls referred to walking your territory, stepping right past the "no soliciting" sign, and asking for an appointment. No metal detectors or bullet-proof glass.
We met at clubs, church, work, and house parties.
We asked people out, face to face, not on Facebook.
And we waited by the phone...
What the hell happened?
Technology baby, that's what happened.
Technology seduces. She moves with you, around you, off your fingertips, by your command.
On December 31, 2011, I submitted the last post for The Death of The Copier. DOTC was to stand unchanging as a historical marker signifying the beginning of the End of the imaging industry, as we know it.
And honestly, there is nothing more to say about MpS or copiers. It can be summed up this way:
1. Print is decreasing; Print is Dead
2. MpS assists this movement, but user behavior is driving the shift
3. The OEMs have LOST control over the populace
4. The Independent dealers are in a great position to survive and thrive
5. The strong will survive
6. The “Next Thing” is content, Big Data, Business Process, business intelligence and mobility
7. Ultimately, like no other time in history, the real power falls to the individual
From that very first post, in 2008, my views were never and are never meant to be vindictive – I do not celebrate the demise of businesses, displacement of good people or the end of an era.
I do, however, bristle when observing blatant disregard for the obvious, can't stand bullies or their enablers and loath those who use fear to fill classes or manipulate.
But that isn't why I'm addressing you now.
Somehow, the DOTC following is growing - . In my voluntary absence, DOTC peaked over 300,000 lifetime views – without any NEW content.
I’ve attended three shows this year and at every show, you’ve come up to say hello. Hello to me, and Jennifer. She and I have had our names screamed across a crowded bar and been challenged on our views around paperless.
This is overwhelming and humbling.
Our New Enterprise, Walters & Shutwell, is a platform for growth beyond MpS/Imaging – there is a bigger world out there. I encourage anyone with interests that transcend MpS to visit.
This is what I have decided to do here on DOTC:
It is my intent to share edgy views with those who are willing to see. Whether that be two people or 200,000 - it doesn't matter to me. Entertainment value, perspective and stuff I would read myself - that's pretty much all I was after.
I plan on contributing back to DOTC, but not on the same schedule as the previous four years.
I will tell it as I see it. You are more than welcome to visit, read or express your opinions.
Either way, strap in.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Thank you, good reader, for venturing to DOTC. If you're looking for MpS content, it is here, waiting.
Nearly four years of imaging industry news, folly, pontification, and Managed print Services hilarity for you to peruse.
Oh the Times We Had...
No content added since 1.1.2012 - there is nothing left to say about a dying niche, Copiers/Imaging.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)