Managed print Services Practice Managers: Whats the new, sexy, Managed print Services?

• Is MpS the new document management tool?
• Is it business intelligence and analytics?
• Is managed print services the future of managed services or the other way around?

Your MpS practice incorporates many tools to satisfy your MpS contractual obligations.

For example, you may be utilizing PrintAudit for data collection, an assessment tool and supplies reporting mechanism. Some of your customers might be reporting through WebJet Admin. Once meter reads are completed through the same or additional tool, your billing system takes over, generating invoices, and collecting revenue.

Maybe you see the advantages of outsourcing the toner supply side of your practice with Great American, LMI, Supplies Network, Axess - you may engage multiple solutions.

When your MpS customer calls for service, technicians are dispatched, service parts installed or ordered and tickets closed. The same for help desk tickets and somewhere, warranties are verified to insure proper credit is received for parts exchange. Lease expiration dates, typically the responsibility of sales, are managed in a separate tool, perhaps E*Automate or SalesForce.

On top of all this, you might be able to run a separate P/L.

Consider how many functions and tools mentioned above: The DCA, help desk, service dispatch, accounting, billing, remote management, toner/supplies reporting and fulfillment - at least six separate data bases which do not talk to each other.

We complain each time we're tasked with presenting a review of the practice to the executive board.

ASCII dumps, Crystal Reports, and pivot tables digesting data from silo's of data then cut and pasted into a nice tidy report. This is both a proven process and staggering hindrance.

What’s the new, sexy Managed print Services? Full-line integration and one-touch information from Atlas.

We integrate disparate databases, present relevant data on single sheet of glass and utilize your existing tool set; no ‘rip and replace’, no expensive and time consuming monolith of programing.

With Atlas, it is possible to manage your business with existing tools and without the pain of creating spreadsheets and pivot tables.

One More Thing -

Your practice is full of silos, but imagine your customers'. Do you think they would like to see IT assets, maybe even printers, with relevant data from databases like WebJet Admin, SCCM, LanDesk, or MobileIron, on one screen?

I know they do, go ahead and ask them.

Once you’ve implemented and seen the positive impact in your business, help your customers by offering to manage their assets. Embed asset management into you managed print services agreements.

Curious? We’re hosting a web session reviewing Atlas in the managed print services niche.

Click to register and join us!

Is Paperless-ness a Sexy Result or a Mundane Goal?

Have you noticed an increase in "paperless" talk?

Scuttlebutt generated by folks who make a living selling print/copy devices.  Their argument goes something like, "... I've been hearing about the paperless office since 1978.  It hasn't happened yet.  It's never going to happen..."

On the other side, parties are pushing the paperless office as worthy goal. Headlines like, "...Five Reasons You Should Go Paperless..." and "Go Green, Go Paperless..." haunt news feeds and timelines across the internet.

Who will find themselves on the wrong side of history?  Will businesses start printing like it's 1999 or does digital transformation impact everything BUT print and copy?

I'm going with the folks letting go of the past, challenging the present and riding technology into the future.

The paper less office is here, now.  I've seen it in businesses across the country and in varied industries.  My view is supported by the current standing of our Big 3; Xerox, HP, Lexmark.  If the business world is so enamored  with marks on paper, why are the jewels of our industry experiencing years of decline?

• Is it because the world suddenly realized trees are not a renewable resource?
• No, trees have always been renewable.
• Is it because print and copy services are expensive?
• No, cheaper than ever.
• Is it because managed print services illuminated decades of overselling?
• No. Customers do not care.

Business is moving away from printers and copiers because they are utilizing technology to enhance internal business processes.  Businesses aren't going paperless to go paperless, their continuously improving processes resulting in reduced costs and less paper.

One of my axioms:

"The more paper flowing through your organization, the less efficient your processes."

The past illuminates the future - Green columnar paper.

Not that long ago, company financials were calculated on green paper.  Sales, profits, operations plans were reviewed quarterly - 90 day old data was acceptable.

Then VisaCalc, MultiPlan and Lotus changed everything as hand calculations and mechanical pencils gave way to the QWERTY and mouse.

In an instant, general ledger reports could be generated in days instead of weeks.

In less than a decade, sales of green columnar binder paper dropped off a cliff.

Ask your CFO.

We weren't worried about saving trees or the Chewbacca's; new tools streamlined existing, paper based processes.

As a matter of fact,  output skyrocketed as paper-based workers printed everything from invoices to recipes, financial reports, emails and resumes sat abandoned in output trays around the globe - the salad days of office print.

The Internet of Printers? No.  The internet of Processes

Strange and wonderful things occurred over the last decade - 'clouds' support more efficient distribution of technology.  The internet generation occupy cubicles and boardrooms; continuous improvement collides with digital technology every day. Focus has shifted from faster mechanical devices to streamlined processes.

Information flows from one department to another; from human process to human process. Today, the slowest component of business processes is the conveyance of information via paper.

As technology permeates business operations, organic efficiencies eliminate paper as a mode of information transfer.   This is to say, implementing a paperless movement is not as effective as optimizing business processes when it comes to reducing paper use.  It is an 'inside-out' versus 'outside-in' approach.

The theme is simple:  instead of 'reducing paper usage' or saving trees, focus on increasing efficiency.

Have no doubt, as you eliminate redundancies, your paper, printer, copier, and supplies spend will decrease.

The Selling Professional of Today

"What do you want out of life, kid?”

I remember the first time somebody asked me that question. I hesitated, a 20-something kid, trying to figure my answer and this guy’s angle. In the end, I stammered out an incoherent response; he was recruiting for A.L. Williams.

“More money.”

His answer to me was the best, “I’ll tell you what you want out of life in one word: More."

More work, love, sex, money, cars, kids, toys. More time.

More. Makes sense, in a 1980s kind of way, doesn’t it?

Let me ask you this: What do you want out of the imaging niche? More sales, more contracts, device, software, services sales, MPS, or managed services? More clicks?

Or just More?

Unlike the sustainable and always-growing pool of life insurance prospects...

Read the rest, here.

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Don't Believe the Analysts, Articles or OEMs: Paper Is Not Relevant

3/16/2016

There once was a clever advertisement floating around stressing the futility of going totally paperless. The example was a world without toilet paper.   When the pro-paperless character requests toilet paper, his partner slides a tablet under the door showing a picture of a toilet paper roll.

Cute.

My response to the metaphor is a bidet; no paper is required.

The fight for paper has been raging since 2007 - around the same time, managed print services started going mainstream. Over the last few months, amid the news of Lexmark selling, Xerox diverging, HP splitting, paper plant closures, and the massive consolidation of the dealer channel, it's odd to see more blogs and articles with titles like:

"Print Lives"
"Paperless office remains a pipe dream for many"
"Why paper still rules the enterprise"

Article based on information from as far back as 2009, the year before the iPad.  Oddly enough, manufacturers of devices that scratch marks on paper, fund these studies.  That's right, the people yelling "paper matters" and "the death of print has been greatly exaggerated" are the same folks profiting off the sale of copiers and printers. Huh.

Surveys sponsored by print OEMs are receiving press coverage like:

"According to a new, independent survey of over 3,600 European employees commissioned by Epson Europe, 64% indicated they’d prefer to read reports and brochures on printed paper, citing the ability to ‘share/handout’ (53%), ‘read’ (44%) and ‘edit/annotate’ (41%) as key factors."

-IDM,  January 29, 2015

How can a study "commissioned" by one of the largest printer concerns on the planet be promoted as 'independent'?

Does one need to draw you a picture?

Everything from green printing, security, and print big data, to mobile print, is getting a spike of media attention - artificial buzz created by well-funded marketing departments.

My response to all this "paper is still relevant" talk is Bravo Sierra. Poppycock.  Horsefeathers.  Bollocks.

Bullshit.

I'm saying this to the copier sales folks, the managed print services practice managers and salespeople, the toner crews, and everyone in the trenches - listen deeply to the noise, do not ignore the propaganda, and analyze the content with a dubious eye.

Remember, your prospects DO NOT READ THESE ARTICLES.  Unfortunately, ownership and sales management are consuming this tripe like it's 1999.

Nod your head when these reports are regurgitated during your Friday evening sales meeting and smile whenever one of your colleagues exclaims with glee, "Print isn't dead."

Clients don't want to be tethered to a copier, chained to a printer, or slave to toner cartridges.

"And in your heart, you know I'm right."

The dirty little secret?

Our OEMs knew this back in 2007 and have been concocting it ever since.  Progressive manufacturers are reducing sales acquisition costs with a virtual channel; take a look at HP Instant Ink. 

Considering most of the buying process is completed without a sales relationship, and today's machines rarely require service, how relevant is a local dealership?

Now is the time to side with your prospects - sure, sell the shortsighted ones a copier or two - but keep your eye on the horizon.  Dive into all the training you can and develop your personal brand.

The wave is coming, be ready to jump.

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WebJet Admin, SCCM, LanDesk - See Everything with ATLAS

As business entities, we've developed separation of duties establishing the highest level of functional efficiency possible. We specialize by purpose: Accounting, Selling, Support, Production are separate yet interlaced.

This model works. The stronger our separate functions perform the better for the organization.

Unfortunately, this strength turns into a weakness.

"ATLAS saves us hours of valuable time every week locating and tracking vehicles in our dealership..."

Amy Westlake, Office Manager

Silo’s of data evolve into formidable barriers of communications. For those of us tasked with managing the ever expanding landscape of IT assets, collecting the necessary data from all our tools can be time consuming and vulnerable to human error.

Wouldn’t it be grand if you could cross-reference databases within your organization, distilling raw data into actionable information on a single pane?

Today, you can.

Introducing ATLAS - One-Touch Asset Management. ATLAS delivers YOUR data, from multiple sources, the way you wish to see it.

The concept is simple. The deliverable is simple. The method behind the glass, sophisticated.

Join us for a brief discussion around this easy-to-use yet powerful tool designed to work with your existing tools.

Our next webinar is, March 24th.

Click here for a schedule of events.

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Three Alternatives to ‘Clicks’

 It’s been almost a year since I’ve written about copiers here at The Imaging Channel. During that time I’ve been in the field, in the IT realm, watching office print disintegrate from the end user side of things. It isn’t 1999 out there; companies are not buying big, 11x17 copiers as they once did and end users are not printing emails or recipes by the thousands anymore. On the good side, end users don’t hate printers or copiers as much. Unfortunately, that’s because end users hardly, if ever, think about print. To them, toner on paper is approaching irrelevancy.

Can anyone deny that this niche is in the midst of historically turbulent times? We’re witness to the transformation of an industry embedded in the fabric of modern living. Every person in the business world recognizes the copier and printer as foundational tools of the trade. Our industry is all over the world, but that world is changing, transforming daily away from the mundane, away from slow processes and away from paper.

We see the results of this movement in the way our OEMs are fracturing: Xerox is splitting, HP has split, and Lexmark is disintegrating. The Big Three of American office automation are shattering into stars.

This turbulence affects the independent channel as well. Merges, acquisitions and the entry of investment groups tell the tale of a smaller, less-populated landscape. Indeed, as the manufacturers fight for their lives, how can the independent reseller manage? Should you jump into the fray, slapping a “For Sale” sign on the front door? Should you shutter the place and simply get out?

I’ve noticed a peculiar thing:

Read the rest, here.




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Your Assets: Surrounded By Water

How much time do you commit to a physical inventory of your IT assets ?

What resources do you allocate to the task? Once the numbers and locations have been collected, how long do you sit in front of your computer, tabulating the necessary data into usable information?

Do you access multiple applications, aggregating relevant data by straining multiple streams? Are spreadsheets and pivot tables your ‘best friend’? Do ASCII dumps, report generation and saving files as “.xls” give you the chills? How about converting .PDF to .XLS?

Yeah, we know.

Contemporary IT managers have more tools available than ever before - for every type of end-point, there is an application:

• WebJet Admin see’s your printers
• PrinterLogic shows end-user print activities
• SCCM tracks servers
• MobileIron helps managed mobility
• LanDesk aids in dispatch and support
• Etc.

Individually, these applications are considered best in class and provide meaningful information within their specific niche. Of course, when viewed globally, these niches become silo’s - if not islands.

Read the rest, here.

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Of Sex, Printers and Universal Translators

Printers are about as sexy as asset management and neither get a rise out of any IT professional. But just like sex, everybody does it - albeit with varying degrees of...satisfaction. To get it just right, there's a lot take in. Different inputs from multiple angles. It would be easier to reach apex, if there was a tool that made sense of these mixed signals.

It would be cool if there were something like that for sex, too.(not for you or me, for those not as experienced as we...)

For now, what would your asset/printer management nirvana feel like?

Is understanding the condition of all the printers in your organization through WebJet Admin, good?

Is knowing the number of service calls placed for each device as reported by applications like Service Now, fulfilling ?

How about the exact operating spend for each device found on a report generated in e-automate? Would this bring you to fruition?

Consider the following data items associated with managing print devices:

• Toner levels
• Service alerts
• Current meter readings
• Geographic location
• Number of help desk calls logged against the device
• Past service calls on a specific device
• Print Cue information
• Current lease and service billing amounts Lease expiration dates
• The list goes on...

In the above example, there are six or nine separate software tools monitoring redundant or specialized areas of the same fleet. Each application is perfect for their specific function. Yet, at the same time, isolated and silo-centric.

This how of business process efficiency is achieved. Separate divisions of competencies - service, support, dispatch, contracts, warranty, sales, marketing, accounting on and on - each perform a defined set of functions within an organization, for the common good. This ideology flows through all organizations and is reflected in the portfolio of software you use everyday - separate packages for specific uses.

Chances are, you’re using a great set of tools to get an handle on all these data flows.

How would you like to see relevant data, presented as information, from ALL you applications, on a single screen? View toner level and alerts from WJA, number of service calls, help desk tickets generated from your dispatch/service desk and the physical location - all at the click of an icon, on one screen, presented on a floor plan.

Wouldn’t that be something?

It is possible, I have a solution that doesn’t require a “rip and replace” of your existing sub-solutions.

It’s a piece of software that sits in between your applications, pulling relevant data then presenting on a single screen.

Simple.

Not just for printers - whatever you’re monitoring today - Servers, PC’s, tablets, printers, service vehicles, mobile devices, water pump controls, nurse's carts, cattle - we can distill into immediate actionable information where and when you need it.

Its not a pipe dream and this isn't an add in the back of the OC Weekly. Sound interesting? The system is installed healthcare and IT support environments today and I'd love to share more.

This is real, no faking allowed. Reach out to me.


Click to email me. 

Xerox, HP, Lexmark : The Greatest Transformation of a Niche Since the 70's Auto Industry

Remember transformations of the Past -

• The great computer dealership purges of the 1990's - Inacomp to Wal*Mart
• The music industry - vinyl to CD to MP3 to streaming
• The auto industry, 1970's, from V8 to 4cyl, from 400 HP to 100 horses running through front wheels

2/2016 -

Look what is happening to Sharp - the copier side of Sharp is viable and profitable - is it far fetched to see another 'spin-off' or will the imaging division continue to be a profit center for the whole?  Is an investment of $450M good money after bad ?

Lexmark has gone from the "long cool woman in a black dress" to having her parts examined separately.  Recent augmentations appear more valuable than the core.

HP just reported,

"...Printing remained challenged in the quarter with net revenue of $4.6 billion, down 17% year-over-year as reported or 11% in constant currency, with declines in all regions."

Turning to Supplies, revenue was down 14% year-over-year in Q1 about 400 people exited the company globally as part of the restructuring activities announced in September...we are accelerating the program and now expect approximately 3,000 people will exit by the end of fiscal 2016 instead of over three years."

Last year, Q1 2015, HP reported a 14% decrease print revenue.  Two years of down numbers?  How about 4 years?

Xerox -

In an article written by Stephen Hays, the chairman of Brighton Securities, George Conboy is quoted saying Xerox...

"is steadily on a downward path, especially in its equipment business. The demand for its technology is falling by the day. Though the company may not be staring at bankruptcy in the near future it is, however, facing a situation where it is slowly moving away from maneuvering paper documents and making copies. Meaning, Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) is steadily shifting away from its equipment business as there is lesser demand for its technology..."

Outside pundits see, why don't our own?

Some might say the auto industry transformation was greater in scale and scope than our copier confluence but consider this: no other segment of business, lest IT, has had more impact in the business world that printing and copying.

Nothing in history compares.

Chevy Citation, anyone?

How can Lexmark, Xerox and HP change to remain relevant?

The car of the year in 1980 was the Chevy Citation.  A front wheel drive, side mounted radio, "Accord killer".  Parts fell off, transmissions locked and a generation of customers scrambled toward Toyota.

The OEMs continue to produce more of the same:

Is ink in the office akin to front wheel drive?
Is MPS the independent channel's CD?
Is managed services the next 5.25" floppy?

Either way, slow down and consider what is unfolding before our eyes - the greatest shift in business communications since the typewriter.

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Xerox, Lexmark, Sharp and HP: All Things Must Pass

In an article written by Stephen Hays, the chairman of Brighton Securities, George Conboy is quoted saying Xerox...

"is steadily on a downward path, especially in its equipment business. The demand for its technology is falling by the day. Though the company may not be staring at bankruptcy in the near future it is, however, facing a situation where it is slowly moving away from maneuvering paper documents and making copies. Meaning, Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) is steadily shifting away from its equipment business as there is lesser demand for its technology..."

Wow.  Who woulda thunk? But who is surprised?

The vultures are circling Lexmark, HP just reported a 17% fall in print revenue, Xerox dividing and Sharp bouncing back and forth between China and Japan - all add up to the most dynamic imaging environment since the Great Rikon purchase of 2008.

2016 -

More experts are recognizing something we've been saying here on DOTC since 2008 - The Death of The Copier is upon us. They're talking bankruptcy and comparing Xerox with Kodak.

People outside of the imaging niche, folks who don't sell toner, copiers, printers, document management software, MpS, print 'big data', online marketing, dealer websites, copier sales training classes, MpS programs or save trees - articulate how the demand for copier/print technology "is falling by the day."

The wave is just over your shoulder.

Who is your biggest competitor, today?

• The direct branch across town? No.
• The mega-dealer over the state line? Negative.
• The toner pirate on the other side of the tracks? Nope.

Today, your competitor is Time.

Tic Toc

It might be too late.

Smaller dealerships with lower overhead serving the SMB, may survive.

Larger companies will sell out or wash away.

The medium sized dealers, their employees and families, will take the full brunt of the on-coming wave.

After the flood, the sun will rise on a landscape full of opportunity and promise.

A new day, a new Way.  Without print.

"Printer jams, how novel. Did you know there is no paper in the future, or should I say no future in paper?"

- Matthew, Continuum, Season 2, Ep. 2, "Split Second"

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Apple, The FBI, ISIS and You - The Internet of Everyone

"The United States government has demanded that Apple take an unprecedented step which threatens the security of our customers. We oppose this order, which has implications far beyond the legal case at hand.

This moment calls for public discussion, and we want our customers and people around the country to understand what is at stake." - Tim Cook

This issue has implications beyond the disgusting terror attack in San Berdoo - and as much as we despise ISIS and its followers, I can't help but believe that today's request by the FBI is more slippage toward that Orwellian vision.

One of my gripes with Google is their disregard for our privacy - invasive advertising, location detection, etc., etc.  If Apple gives in, they become nothing more than a prettier Google and Google is a sieve; so is Windows.

"Dominoes Fall"

"We have great respect for the professionals at the FBI, and we believe their intentions are good. Up to this point, we have done everything that is both within our power and within the law to help them. But now the U.S. government has asked us for something we simply do not have, and something we consider too dangerous to create. 

They have asked us to build a backdoor to the iPhone."  -Tim Cook

Here's the point: Its obvious iPhone is one of the most secure phones in the business, not even the FBI can break in. It's what I expect from Apple.

Some argue Apple should "do the right thing" and open up to the authorities.  Of course, Apple is doing the right thing by securing our personal data.  This is foundational to a digital existence.

From printers, and Netflix to your phone, today's world logs your actions and is subject to outside observation.  Current generations unfamiliar with life without the internet, accept this openness.

But there should be an island of privacy.  Apple gave us a slice with the A7/8 chip.

Assuming the unlikely event that Apple prevails, the FBI, indeed the US must find another way:

• Patch up the holes in our immigration process.
• Intensify anti-ISIS marketing.
• Neutralize them in their backyard.

Whichever side of the dispute you fall on, remembering why we're arguing either point is most important:

• ISIS put this in the headlines.  
• These two murderers pushed the FBI to consider data on an iPhone.  
• Radical belief forced Tim Cook to release a letter of explanation.

The erosion of privacy isn't a result of a heavy-handed government or a weak corporation. The assault is born from ancient people who loathe your freedom.  We must defend freedom from all directions at every instance.  From the copier to your phone.

"Ideas are Bullet Proof.."

Everybody in the Gov't has a gun: The FBI, Homeland Security, Immigration, FDIC, USPS, and even the IRS.  ISIS has guns, HUMVEE, and steak knives.  The fear 

Apple has ideas.  In the end, Apple will probably lose this fight.

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Nothing New in ManagedPrintServices: Except Seat Based Billing

Top 100 Summit Executive Council Creates SBB Business Model for Managed Print
February 16, 2016

Calgary, AB - February 16, 2016 - Print Audit®, along with 29 dealer and distribution partners, has completed a 12 week Executive Council for the development of a viable Seat Based Billing (SBB) model for Managed Print. SBB for MPS has been designed as an alternative to the highly commoditized CPP billing method currently employed by the industry. SBB offers stronger protection of dealer profits while at the same time delivering additional savings for customers through efficiency improvements.

One of Print Audit’s key missions is to “Save the office equipment industry” and SBB will help to deliver on this. Declining pages per user, fracturing OEM stability, increased competitive pressures and the commoditization of the traditional CPP model are forcing the office equipment industry to develop a new business model for the future of Managed Print. The SBB Executive Council has come up with a model that will drive a new era of MPS.

“The existing CPP model for MPS has been around for over 15 years and dealers have been looking for new ways to grow their businesses in challenging times.” stated West McDonald, Vice President of Business Development for Print Audit. “SBB will give office equipment dealers a way to increase their total profits while shutting out less advanced competitors. We are all very excited to have completed a viable SBB model so that progressive dealers can start taking advantage of SBB today.”

Seat Based Billing comes with a host of benefits for both dealers and end-users alike:

- 100% budgetable printing costs: No more counting. A fixed monthly fee per user for managed print.
- Cost reduction through workflow improvements: Delivers customer savings while increasing dealer total profits.
- Unified billing: The same billing model for MPS, Managed IT Services, and DMS.
- Improved security: User-based accounting and print tracking.

The SBB Executive Council was created at the Top 100 Summit. The Top 100 Summit is an event where dealer principals gather to build and refine the business model of the future. To learn more about SBB and to see if you are eligible to attend the exclusive Top 100 Summit, visit http://www.printaudit.com/top100

###

My take on this -

SBB isn't going to save the industry, but it might help "re-invent this business".


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