Transform 2012 Global Conference - in the city that begins with an "O" and ends with an "O"..

Transform 2012 Global Conference Focuses on Transformation to the Business Services Model


HP joins as first Platinum Sponsor

November 14, 2011 -- Midway, KY -- Photizo Group will lead the print services market in a new direction at the Transform 2012 Global Conference in Orlando, Florida on May 24-25, 2012. Transform 2012 is the next evolution of the popular Global Managed Print Services (MPS) Conference that will focus on the necessary services transformation facing the MPS channel.

“The Transform 2012 Global Conference is managed by the experienced MPS Conferences team and we’ve introduced a new theme into the agenda in response to the shift we’re seeing, across all levels of the technology marketplace,” said Edward Crowley, Photizo Group founder and CEO. “The upcoming Transform Conferences will focus on helping dealers, resellers and other channels transform from hardware-centric business models to services-based approaches.”

HP recognizes the opportunity in service transformation

HP is the first Platinum Sponsor of the Transform 2012 Global Conference. “As our first Platinum Sponsor, HP has shown a strategic understanding about where the MPS channel is heading. We are honored to have their commitment to bringing this important content and education to the MPS dealer and reseller community,” said Crowley.

“The managed services market is evolving and we are excited about the opportunity to have more in depth partnership with our customers. We intend to bring to market new solutions that take advantage of key trends, leverage our channel partners and create world class capabilities,” 

said Mike Weir, vice president, Strategy and Marketing, LaserJet Enterprise Solutions, Imaging and Printing Group, HP “This is an exciting time for HP to be engaged in leading forums like the Transform 2012 Global Conference.”

Content Centered on Business Transformation

The conference program has four tracks, with additional pre-conference workshops on May 23. The main agenda covers the four key areas that are impacting channels today:

• Transforming the Customer's Environment (beginner discussions)
• Transforming Business Processes (advanced discussions)
• Transforming Your Organization (management discussions)
• Beyond Print: Transforming the Market with Technology (market trends, technology, vendor presentations)

Photizo invites applications for speaking opportunities at the Transform 2012 Conference. More information is available at http://www.photizogroup.com/conference/be-a-speaker/.
In addition to the educational events, a Golf Scramble at the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club is planned for attendees on May 22. More information about the Transform 2012 Global Conference agenda and activities can be found at http://www.photizogroup.com/global2012/.

# # #

Misty H. Gonzalez
Director of Media & Publishing
+1 859 846 9830 ext 109

This Ain't Your Mother's Snow White...

"Lips..red as blood..."

"Hair...black as night..."

Things I Learned at the Asia Pacific, Managed Print Services Conference in Sydney: There Is an Unifying Theory

11/2011

What a week. First, I drove from LAX to Charlotte, NC.

After a two day rest, off to Sydney.

My flight went up to Detroit, hometown, back out to LAX, nicest night time approach view around, then out to Sydney - 14 hours away.

On a plane Friday and landing Sunday morning without knowing what time it was, let alone what day ...where in the hell did Saturday go?

That night, I hit the sheets at 6:00PM, local and slept until 6:00AM, local.

Again, what the hell?

Monday morning, sipping coffee from a way too small cup, on a saucer no less, I found myself standing in a sea of grey pinstripes - this sure wasn't LA, St. Louis, Seattle, New York, Orlando or Vegas.  This was Sydney. 14 hours, two hemispheres and one international date-line away.

Oh what fun was to be had, Down Under...

As with all conferences, the first presentation covers the basics: thanks for coming, the rest rooms are over there, we hope you get one good thing out of the next few days and here is our first keynote speaker.

It was a tough crowd for Dom as he took us along the innovation path explaining how the successes of our past can hold us back, chaining us to the old ways.

I got the jokes. But the audience was a bit cold, reserved, dubious.

This changed as one table shot out many different responses to one of his questions. That's when I knew this was going to a very good conference.



First Golden Nugget? - MpS is Universally Spoken

That's right. There is little difference between how MpS is defined down under versus here in the States or North America.

All the challenges we have experienced here, they have down there. Commission structure, toner delivery, cartridge based or CPI invoicing, DCA installations, OEM relationships, "what is MpS" questions...all of it.

Interestingly enough, the S1/S2 successes run parallel to the US and the more advanced firms are expanding into Managed Services.  But they aren't looking to "rip and replace" servers - jus sayin...

I may have expected the A/P MpS'rs would be slightly behind the U.S. on the adoption curve, but they aren't.

There is a unique set of issues, the old copier models still hang on, but the attitude, the 'can do' attitude is prevalent - palpable.  And that was refreshing.  Bold.

The best kind of Zag.

Second Nugget - MpS is open and clear

Wide open.  The players in A/P are hitting everything in sight.  From government to commercial to Education - not unusual, right?  What I got out of their exuberance was a wide eyed wonder not only geared at seeing the huge pool of prospects, but also in the wide array of MpS subjects they would talk about.  Not just toner but networks, documents, storage, workflow and business process. All this under MpS!  No really, it's true.

From the inside out, making it up as they go, not worrying about benchmarks(too much) or best practices(not too much) or their ego.

I did not hear one complaint about OEM toner pricing being too high, or any whining about how OEM so and so is encroaching into SMB.

Hard work gets results, complaining doesn't.

I have attended each North American MPS Conferences so meeting people with different definitions of MpS, infrastructure, pricing and OEM partnerships is common - from Cali to NYC, we are diverse.

There are sectors of the MpS Ecosystem inhabited by those consider themselves above the rest, better, erudite in manner - born into their position.

We all know them; the stuck up consultant, the know-it-all copier dealer, the old-skool, old-man, collector and seller of souls - destroyers of innovation.

None of that here.

Clear.  They can see a carpetbagger coming a continent away.

Another cool Zig.

Third Nugget - Even the OEMs are Runin' and Gunnin', in the Wild, Wild West...

There was a time, not long ago, when I would compare the MpS Ecosystem to the "Wild, Wild, West of Imaging" - no rules, no sheriffs, and lots of Gold. We were ALL making it up as we went.

Those days seem to be gone as the OEMs clearly define MpS as Stage One and Two, leveraged to land more equipment.

They are bringing out all sorts of heartless paraphernalia: Toner portals, shrink wrapped MpS, nameless service networks,  automatic proposal generators, MpS "Agent Fee's".

Controlled. Stifled. Boring.

But not in A/P.  I was fortunate enough to share time with Fuji/Xerox, HP, and Canon MDS folks. Each for about an hour.  What struck me was the absolute willingness to get things done by working the market not their system.  Sure, they want to land more gear, but the MpS ideas and philosophy are truly geared around a vision that works up to Stage 3/4 - they don't stop at toner and service.

There are all building teams from scratch, they are all putting together deals and infrastructure programs from scratch.

And they are flexible.  That's right, I just referred to 3 of the big OEM's as "flexible" and I could easily say, "out of the box".  Smack me in the forehead and call me dumbfounded.

What a Zag this is.

Don't...friggin...ask...

The Big Take Away - Remember to Let Go

Again, we talked about how the successes of the past can hold us back.  I mentioned how now is the time to really look at the world sideways, to be open to new partnerships.  New business models, new employment paradigms and different personal archetype for success.

I pontificated on how now is the time when power is shifting away from the big, centrally controlled entities and down to us, the folks in the trenches.

How this point in history is that unique time when technology truly allows us to control our own destinies - that is if we recognize how the "good ole days" can shackle us to the past.

To move forward, we need to let go the past.  Before we let go, we must first remember.

And that's what Australia did for me.  The people, the vibe, the way, reminded me of our past. Our MpS past.

If you can remember, now is the time to let it go, let go of our MpS past, step over the Edge and into a  future with less toner.



Click to email me.

Managed Print Services: The 2011 Rising Stars, Constellation 2

Last autumn, we published the very first DOTC MpS Rising Stars: Constellation 1.

A collection of interesting MpS players who brought something good to the Ecosystem.

I chose individuals or companies who in my opinion, contributed to the MpS cause in a positive manner. For instance, last year, Constellation 1 included MT Business Technologies, Ken Stewart, Robert Newry, and Photizo.

So how did these stars fare over the past 12 months?

Ken Stewart, as Senior Consultant with Photizo, is helping build audacious projects global in scope and transformative in results.

Robert Newry/Newfield IT - Being purchased by Xerox sure has its financial benefits. The doubters and old -skool sayers of nay, express how X will stifle the free expression of ideas. Yet, Robert continues to promote the art of assessments for 8everyone, for all in the MpS ecosystem.

Photizo's - Ed and the Gang's reputation continues to grow, around the globe, as THE MpS consultancy. They are moving from a consultancy to a transformation company.

MT Business Technologies - Still plugging along, slugging it out in the trenches and barnyards of MpS/SmB in the state that starts with an "O" and ends with an "O".

Who will make it this year, and where will the be 12 months from now?

Intriguing.

I introduce to you, Constellation 2 - The Rising MpS Stars of 2011.

Sydney: Day Negative 1. Impressive

It wasn't the 14 hour plane ride. It's the fact that I boarded the plane on Friday and disembarked the same plane on Sunday that is confounding.

Sydney is one of 'those' cities - one that should be visited at least once - for us Yanks for sure.

To me, the city has the same feel as San Francisco, in a good way. Except for the steering wheels being on the wrong side of the Ford and everybody driving the opposite side of the road.

The hotel is a mix of old and new. Old brick facade one side of the lobby, contemporary, updated architecture the other.

The service is impeccable; Cultural mix, multidimensional - West and East meeting at the crossroads.

As much as I expected to feel the flow of a culture and get some MpS vibe going on the other side of the international date line, two hemispheres away, I did not expect to discover, to see what I saw: National pain, wrapped with Dignity, Respect, and Honor.

You see, the news of the day included Quantas grounding their entire, world-wide fleet, over some union troubles - inconvenient, yes. But the somber mood expressed to a nation and from a nation was word of three Australian soldiers being killed in Afghanistan.

This struck me. Afghanistan is OUR war. Fun loving Aussie's aren't suppose to get blown up.

Emotions riled through me - sadness, remorse, and just when I was feeling a bit guilty, the Prime Minister of Australia takes center stage in a nationally broadcast news conference to specifically address the death of these three brave soldiers.

I had never heard her speak before - hell, I didn't even know Australia had Prime Ministers. But there she was, addressing the press. Steadfast, articulate, knowledgeable - when she knew the facts she stated them, when she didn't know the facts, she said so - she did not mislead, there was no grey area in her responses.

As I listened, drawn, almost hypnotized in a moment of refreshing confidence, I noticed another aspect.

She wasn't using a teleprompter.

My embarrassment over pulling friends into our fight gave way to shame, then to anger.

Was I pissed over a war "we shouldn't be in"? No. The bad-guys took down my Towers and killed fellow sales people while they drank Starbucks.

It was the absent teleprompter that got me...

Lyra, 2012 - I Just Received My Invitation

Ours is a world of choices, it's what makes us human.

Years ago, when I approached Lyra for my very first set of press credentials, I was impressed when they said, "yes".

I've attended the last three Lyra conferences.

Other than free entry in exchange for some tweets and blog posts, Lyra and The Death of The Copier have no other type of relationship.

They've never paid me a dime.

So when I say the following, my view and opinion are from a clean place with clear intent.

Coming soon! Xerox Color Qube: The DOTC Review

For the last 30 days, I have kept output from a Xerox ColorCube, both 8.5x11 and 11x17, on the dash of the LandRover.

It sat in the Ontario(California, not Canada) extended stay parking lot, for a week.

The interior temps exceeded 100 degrees.

Happy to report, no runs, no drips, no errors.  As a matter of fact, the cracking along the fold closely resembles what happens when color toner is folded.

I anticipate installing an evaluation unit into one of my most important and discerning clients, within the next 30 days.

I know, I know, MpS has nothing to do with hardware - I got that.

Still, the entire story is delicious - I could write a book titled, "The Evolution of Edgeline: From ink, to Oblivion, to Wax..."

Hey...that's not a bad idea...

BattleShip: No, really, just like the game...

The Ultimate Managed print Services in a Box - "Ink Subscriptions" from HP

10/2011

This is why we cannot define MpS as simply toner and service, Stage 1 & 2.

HP press release:

"HP today announced it is collaborating with Condé Nast to explore a new digital content distribution medium that merges rich content and digital-to-print service.
Additionally, HP plans to launch a pilot subscription service, HP Instant Ink, that automatically delivers replacement ink to customers at home or work while offering potential cost savings...

...HP Instant Ink pilot program

As the printer evolves into a content hub in homes and offices, HP Instant Ink allows additional content pages to flow – with savings and convenience for the user.

HP Instant Ink delivers Original HP Ink cartridges to the home or office when needed. Users may receive up to 50 percent annual savings on ink cartridge purchases for one low monthly fee.

Subscriptions for HP Instant Ink will be available from $5.99 to $10.99 per month depending on the product line, plus all cartridge shipping is included..."

Head scratching logic, what intent is revealed ?

How far away is the "buy a fleet of 9050's, and receive toner and service, automatically, via an HP van.  All for a flat, monthly fee?

The reviews.


Click to email me.

The Imaging of Greg - "The Double Dip Depression"

"Oh, boy ... look out. Double Dip Depression is here.


You see it, hear it; we're in it. Just the other day, I was driving through a business park – empty – and a tumbleweed literally blew through the parking lot. It was a bad movie.


Today, banks have the bailout money, but they ain't lending. We can’t hire staff without taking a major leap of faith – not in the candidate, but in the system. AMEX, MC/VISA – they’ve got us all by the short hairs, and they don’t let us raise our personal “debt ceiling”; get the scissors out.


Five years ago, there were three U.S. automotive companies; today, just one – and GM don't count.


The times are tough, and our troubles are artificially extended. 


The current administration..."


There's more, go deeper...

Click to email me.

HP IPG: Indestructible

2011

I know, I know...somebody filled my beer bong with HP-Blue KoolAid at last week's OPS Elite conference.  I can't see who exactly is holding the funnel up - pretty sure it's not my MES rep.  Could be my PBM. Huh..

The HP OPS Elite resellers. You know these guys. That one-time very exclusive collection of core IPG channel players who jumped through hoops to earn the opportunity of a lifetime - selling Edgelines.

Yeah, that was us - I guess things have changed.

Today, if you are a Global/Xerox dealer and you have a pulse, 'little blue' will authorize you for OPS.

Today, if you have a retail door, hang MpS on a peg board next to the paperclips and white out, kick down a pulse, 'little blue' will authorize you for OPS.

Right, I busted my ass to install 79 Edgelines - all still in the field. Today, 'little blue' doesn't even have the Edgeline SKU in their system. (okay, that might be extreme, but you get my point. TouchPad anyone?)

The propeller heads over in PSG are whining over a little shift? Give me a break. Those of us tied into IPG have been surfing the whirlwind of "scratch your head" logic since the MoPIER.

Remember those?

As easy as it is to throw poop at mother blue, I ain't going to, I'm done.   The last 90 days may be remembered as just another bump in the dark as it appeared mother blue is trying to commit suicide, shooting every foot in sight - this isn't about all that.

HP is the biggest gorilla in the house.  Actually, HP is a great, big, humongous, blue gorilla in your bed.  She can roll over, squish you, and not even lose a wink.  Talk about a 'walk of shame'.

Last year was in Phoenix - this year in Orlando.  Last year the presentations were old-skool and it seemed mother blue couldn't spell 'MpS'.

Well, what a difference a year makes.

"The Death of the Copier is going Down Under: Let's Zig in a World of Zags"

Greg Walters to Speak at The 2011 Asia Pacific MPS Conference in Sydney, Australia, 

Oct 31- Nov 1.

When I first let the Death of the Copier genie out of the bottle, back in the wild days of 2007, I did not know what to expect. Indeed, I had no expectations at all.

As the popularity grew, I noticed more visits from the UK, South Africa and Australia.

Even more than the US.

 I credited this phenomena to the US having "real", MPS experts, folks with lots of letters behind their name, answering MPS/Sales questions on their 'real' websites - nobody would come to a goofy blog called "The Death of..." anytihng.

So I went out to see for myself; call it a digital walkabout. I explored every instance I could of "Managed Print Services". Back then, when I Googled the phrase, nothing came back.

Nobody else.

I Googled "MPS Training" - again, nothing - at first. Soon, MPS training classes started to pop up, a quick gander at the agenda revealed one blaring truth, these guys were repackaging copier sales techniques into MpS sales training.

Now, if I were truly on the outside looking in, I probably wouldn't see the difference. If I had not been in the copier industry, had never been involved in the IT industry or not been trained on solution selling, by software companies, back in the 80's - I probably would have not been able to see.

Heck, if I wasn't freshly into MPS I wouldn't had cared. But all this was true, I was looking for somebody who knew more than I about MPS – I was disappointed.

Oh, there were a few - and they are still around: Jim Lyons, Ken Stewart, Art Post, Ed Crowely(Photizo) - followed by Nath Dube. We admitted to "making it up as we went along"- great fun.

DOTC was alone in the wilderness. Talking about MpS and getting echo's back - except with Australia. For some reason, the folks down under were coming to my site.

Fast forward a few years - DOTC is now considered a 'go to source' for information on MpS and nano-technology.  The nano-tech thing is way out there, just beyond the reach, out on the Edge.

DOTC is knows for scantily clad ladies and contrarian views. For pole dancers, movie clips, honest real world MpS/Sales stories and Attitude.

Always, Attitude.

MPSA Sponsors Splinter MpS Group, that does not exist...

2011- No Rules MpS

Almost a year ago, deep within bowels of a super-secret, underground bunker, difficult even for the attendees to find - the first No Rules MPS meeting convened.

No Rules
No PowerPoint
No Ego's

This improbable collection of bleeding edge adopters, consumed adult beverages and spoke the forbidden language of collaboration.

DOTC style.

Weeks of 'Thirsty-Thursday's", private, encrypted and scrambled online collaboration sessions resulted in the second No Rules MPS session being held in "No Rules, Eastern Command" - Tennessee.

The MPSA took note, and agreed to sponsor the third iteration of No Rules MPS in Vegas, January 2012.

As a wild, untamed, right of the bell curve loosely connected gang of MpS'rs, No Rules prided themselves on just that - No Rules.

Can this rebellious tone continue with the backing of the only MPS association?

Will the big Mother Ship devour her young hellions?

Like injecting the 24th Chromosome, will No Rules enhance the association's DNA, producing a faster, healthier, more nimble warrior?

Or will this 24th chromosome reveal the worst of all worlds and collapse?

In the end, it's up to you - get to Vegas.  Like you need another reason...

Press Release Below:

Saturday Night - Go. Have Fun...

Another night out, another Dance Floor....

"Droid" and MWA - Press Release

“I am excited about this launch, this continues to distance MWAi’s exclusive capability and provide a sustainable ROI in the Service Automation vertical apart from any other solutions available in our channel.” 

said Gavin Williams, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, MWA Intelligence, Inc.

-------

MWA Intelligence Reaches Milestone with DROID Application

Scottsdale, AZ. – September 3029, 2011 – MWA Intelligence, Inc. (MWAi), a leader in enterprise-class M2M (machine- to- machine) and M2P (machine- to- people) solutions and services, today announced the launch in Q4 of the First Generation Droid Applications for MWAi’s Intelligent Workforce (IWF) application adding to the already powerful lineup of supported platforms. The Droid platform expands MWAi’s extensive offering and investment that already includes RIM, iOS, and Windows Mobile.

Wow -

Is Your MpS Locked In An Eight-Track World?

9/2011

"Does this look like the past?"

Did you catch the Rolodex? The ashtray? One could sell Edgeilnes outta the back of CougarVan.  LOL!

Yes, this is an advertisement for MicroSoft and the private cloud. Again with the cloud. The MpS metaphor still holds - do you see it?

Is your MpS "locked in an 8-track world" - are you simply providing toner and service, an outdated plan, from the back of a van? LOL!

There's nothing wrong with sticking with the classics, unless all you have is the classics - then, not so much.

S1/S2 are classics.

I'm not suggesting you hire a complete EDM team or bring in CISCO or even become an iPad dealer(Doh!) - just expand a bit beyond the run of the mill DCA installation - get out of the powder blue vest, shave the fu-man-chu and for god's sake, put some product in your hair - yeah, that's right, leave the love-van and get into BeMod.

BeMod software lets you get away from the box, and into the process.  Into how end users behave, how they print - what the end user prints in addition to how many of what comes out of a printer.

Not sure about getting all involved with another piece of software?  Makes sense.

Try this: run a quick report on a medium sized fleet.  Look for percentage of 11x17.  It will between 0.05% and 2% of total output.

Now look at the fleet; calculate the percentage of the fleet A3 capable?  Whatever percentage it comes out to be, can you determine the amount of money this client spent on A3 capability that they never needed?

If 50% of the devices will handle 11x17 and the percentage of actual A3 is 2% - can you see or are you stuck in the past?

See More, see Deeper.  You don't need to go out and buy any fancy software tool, that would be good, but not necessary.

Two eyes, one brain, and a spreadsheet...

BYOD Policy

Click to email me.

How Much Data this Year...

Click to email me. 

End Of Summer, End of Days - What Next?

The 23rd of September, fall equinox, was the last day of summer up here in the northern hemisphere.

The Spring Equinox seems like decades ago.  Remembering the Turn that was Summer 2011 one can barely imagine what the next 3 months will bring.

What about the next 12 months?

Unemployment is still up.

Gold is way up.  HP down.

Since 2007, that will be five years ago pretty soon, the only aspect of our world that has steadily increased is the use of technology.  Our technology has forced the growth of content faster and faster.

There isn't today and there never will be, a paperless office - Less paper, but never paperless.

The social networks carry more and more.  Netflix is chewing up bandwidth,  FB has become mundane.  Tablets shipping everywhere, $99.

The Apple store at Fashion Island was packed on a Tuesday afternoon.

Droid, Win8, HP is out, no their in, no their out, wait...we don't know, iPad 2, iPhone 5, thin client, zero client - and the cloud.

That always growing, ever changing "cloud" - Google, Salesforce, Box, on and on.

What about managed print Services(MpS) or selling copiers?  With all this cool stuff going on, you're selling copiers?

Really?

Bill Hewlett and David Packard - The HP That Was...

"...The Sky Shall Blow the Heavens into Stars..."

September, 2011.

I was reminded today by Jennifer Shutwell, (Leopard and Senior Consultant at Photizo) about "the HP Way".  A set of norms and values HP, the company, lived by and extolled.

I decided to learn more.

Wandering around the 'net, hunting down the HP that was, I found myself a bit morose and feeling bad for today's HP employees, the HP'rs who have been there for more then 5 years.

The ones who bought into the HP ideals -  respect, achievement, contribution, integrity, teamwork, flexibility and innovation.

Those who didn't believe in product launches, silo'd divisions, marketing-by-chaos, press leaks, bribes, spying on employees, questionable expense accounts, revolving door leadership, pompous, aloof executives shouting "ka-ching" on stage or the decimation of every channel birthed.

No.  Right now, I see ten's of thousands of HP employees feeling betrayed, alone and broken.

I mean, where do you go after HP?

If a company, an American Company, one that was built out of a garage on a foundation of hard work, failure and recovery, American ingenuity and honesty can let you down, who can you trust?

Who can you believe in?  General Motors?  General Electric? Boeing?

I wonder how many really, great employees scrambled away or where turned out by HP over the past decade?  How many opportunities were missed, squandered, thrown away, because the HP board appointed oh so many wrong CEO's.

How often do you think innovation was squashed, hidden and digested within the bowls of that once great ship?

Lamborghini Aventador - Relentless Force

Holy CRAP!!!! Meg is In, Leo is Lost...and HP/Mother Blue? Slow-Motion, Disintegration

"...the Sky Shall Shatter the Heavens into Stars..."

2011

HP has let Leo go - not surprising, and still shocking.

Meg is in, not surprising and still shocking.

The leaks, the rumors, the change in plans, the mystery, intrigue and tragedy that is HP.

Remember what started it ALL - Hurd's girl. Which is only saying Hurd started this.

But Meg? No really?

I do not dislike Meg, its just that I was out here when she ran for governor.

Stilted. Stiff. Planned, formula, handled.

No innovation. She appeared stuck in the old ways. She was overly advised, not genuine.

It seems to me, the HP board resurrected captain Ahab from the depths and put her on the bridge of the USS Ronald Reagan.

DOTC is calling it right now - NO GOOD SHALL COME OF THIS.


Click to email me.

 

Earth and Water - Focus and Vision

"We can survive in MpS on either Focus or Vision, but to thrive beyond the temporary confines of toner and service, one needs both – Focus and Vision, Earth and Water."

Check the full post.

Just don't go demanding "Earth and Water" from Leonidas...jus sayin

Is HP Considering Another Seismic Shift? Apotheker, Going Away?

HP stock is up 7% today based on a rumor that Leo is Leaving?

As if we haven't had enough transformation this past summer, it seems rumors are flying around Wall Street and the internet regarding HP's board thinking about letting Leo go.

Oh, it gets better.

Seems the board is thinking about getting Meg Whitman of EBay fame to lead Mother Blue.

WOW!

ECi and Digital Gateway - Merging/Acquired/Transforming/Converging

The Transformers keep on coming.

Reliable sources report that Digital Gateway and ECi will become one - no details yet.

Digital Gateway, the 2011 MPSA Leadership Award, is a class-act and infrastructure pillar in our little industry.

Indeed, I use it everyday in my practice.

ECI is a legacy application in imaging - we all know both.

Expect more details in the following days.

The "Transformation" moves forward...

Thank you, "Deep Throat".

Selling Managed Print Services: The VAR Vs. Us

The oldest profession in the world isn’t prostitution, it’s professional selling. Selling one to one; one to many; many to many; retail; B2B; to that hottie in the corner; to your girlfriend, wife, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sales manager, cop, judge, jury; to ourselves – we all sell, and we always have.


Our industry is turning another corner – contracting and expanding at the same time. We’re looking for the next frontier and eyeing the IT cluster.

Thinking about getting into selling servers, storage, networks and network management, aren’t you? Putting all those monitors, PCs, switches and hard drives under a contract and tying that all into a 36-month “rip and replace” strategy, right? Sure.

How hard can it be?

Copiers have been connected now for more than a decade. All your devices scan; you’ve sold or heard of a “fax-server.” Your dealership has at least one “Content Specialist,” and RiKon/Xerox employ thousands of cycle-extending PS peeps – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

There's More...


Click to email me.

#BoA Bank of America and the Signature Card

Today, I found myself in a Bank of America, finishing up what I figured would be a 15 minute job.

Sixty minutes later, I was out the door; a new signature card in the system, an additional account added to the DOTC one, new BoA online user account, second ATM card secured and activated, checks ordered.

While completing a wire transfer, all my personal information was set up so I would rarely, if ever, need to step foot into another branch again.

Taping out on the Droid,  registration completed and passage confirmed for the upcoming Preo/HP event in Seattle, DOA procedures outlined and initiated for one of lastweeks installs(I was told that HP's never arrived dead, I was misinformed), client confirmation of delivery and invoicing for 3 Edgelines.

All from inside the bank.

No Fax
No PC
No Printing

Photizo in May, Preo/SNi in June, World Expo July, rained out Xerox in August, Muratec/Vegas, SuppliesNetwork/HP Seattle in September, OPS Elite October

What do you say we finish this year out in Australia? Eh?

I spent 2 days and 5 nights in Vegas last week, for my very first Muratec dealer conference.

It was awful nice being invited, on account, I just signed up 30 days ago and haven't sold a single box.

The venue could be called small and intimate relative to the bigger shows, like Photizo, or the other OEM's - I liked it.

A little bit of background.

When I first got into selling technology, there was IBM PS/2's and Compaq desktops; the MicroChannel versus EISA architecture  - #1 and #2.  The Compaq folks were more willing, more attentive, and more fun - their events rocked.

IBM? Unless you're Mike Stramaglio, how much fun can you have in a pinstripe suit at 12:30 AM?

When I served time in IKON, there was Canon at #1 with Ricoh a very close #2.  Again, the Ricoh folks, tried harder, worked with us, and were a hell of a lot more fun, especially in Vegas, at the Wynn.(Jus sayin, I've seen them in action)

Just like Compaq, Ricoh knew their place as well, at number 2. They knew. They didn't pretend to be the largest or most installed. They didn't have big laser beams and fog machines at the national conference.

Point is this, #2 always tries harder - so wouldn't an admitted "third tier" player try even harder?

The answer, Yes.

Red Tails: "...We Fight...We Fight...We Fight..."

Technology All Twisted Up...

"...Go be the Rock Star..."

"...This song ain't about no bootie, it's about transistance. You dig?"

Yeah, I'm still in Vegas...

I just like saying, "HoobaStank..." and going to Vegas...

Like I need another reason to go to Vegas - I will be there for the Muratec celebration.

And I am looking forward to it.

There are few remaining MpS Frontiers; not so many of us Crawling In The Dark as once was...

Evanescence - "What You Want"

Do what you, what you want

Your world’s closing in on you now (it isn’t over) Stand and face the unknown (got to remember who you really are)

We're coming into the last quarter.  2011 pushing out, keeling over, 2012 more than a twinkle in the eye.

And how will it end?

Will you make quota?

Will your commission check be "correct" this one time?

Looking forward to the NEW comp plan?

How many of your co-workers won't be next to you in March?

How's that new MpS manager working out?  Another new manager?  Really?

Are you still a solutions provider on the 1st and a box mover on the 18th?

Is this "What You Want"...

MpS going downstream - Way DownStream - SMB/SOHO - wait, WHAT??

9/2011

HP recently announced a slew of new machines, MpS enabled aimed directly at the small business niche.

Oki - is bundling scanning options built for Quickbooks, integrated with hardware, under their MpS, for around $800.00.

And I swear, I can almost hear Samsung slowing down through re-entry, landing in the water and waiting to come ashore en mass, with cheap, bundled MpS devices.

The Sky Shall Shatter the Heavens into Stars -

The great double-dip recession of 2008-20xx is recognized by layoffs,  jobless figures, the California exodus, the Detroit melt-down and the not so stark difference between government-created jobs and government jobs. (Think about it...wait for it...wait....there.)

As corporations are reducing headcount and squeezing every ounce of productivity from the zombie-like survivors, home offices are sprouting up like poppies in Afghanistan.

HP is getting out of PC's because they see less value for their shareholders in PC's - and as the PC goes, so too, goes the printer.

Downstream.

All these laid-off executives,  managers, and cube rats are going to find their way in the world, most won't simply lie there, on the couch, collecting "Obama-bucks" forever.

The new Aquarian Workforce will be mobile, they will work simultaneously for multiple employers, and be based at home - printing. All those individual stars falling out of the sky, landing and thriving - on smartphones and tablets; no more brick and mortar.

But wait, there is more.

As the corporate world shrinks, and the need to print fades to white, smaller, cheaper, and MpS Bundled devices will be the norm; if by "MpS Bundled" I mean S1/S2, which I do.

Machines talking to machines, toner automatically delivered, directly from the OEM.

Service you ask?  Really?  How about the OEM's go and design devices as reliable as your flat screen? How often have you called for service on that one?

From B2B to M2M to B2C and NOTHING in Between.

You feeling that? 

   

That's my L.A. - How many times does L.A. need to get blowed up by aliens?

Click to email me.

For Three Years - This has been played here on DOTC on 911

It isn't that they hate Us - they hate themselves...

It isn't that we are arrogant - we are envied...

It isn't bragging, if its True...

Deep down, our identity is there, supported by hundreds of years of pushing every  frontier between Plymouth Rock and Tranquility Base.

We are not Broken...

We are not Alone...


GRW - 2011

2008 Click to email me.

I Knew the Day Would Finally Come! We were There - Americans Were on The Moon, for all Mankind.

Astronauts' tracks, trash seen in new moon photos - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (AP) —

A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts during their visits from 1969 to 1972.

Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts' paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy. Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.

"What we're seeing is a trail," said Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist.

"It's totally awesome.""

Isn't it cool, when chief scientists get quoted saying something like, "It's totally awesome?" 

__________

Remastered, 2023.  Chat GPT.

Apollo Moon Missions Rediscovered: Uncovering the Tracks and Treasures Left Behind

Recently, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured the most impressive photos to date of the Apollo astronauts' tracks and the debris they left behind during their expeditions from 1969 to 1972. 

From an altitude of 13 to 15 miles, the images showcase the pathways that the astronauts traveled during their moonwalks, as well as the tracks left by their moon buggy. 

Additionally, the experts could identify the backpacks that the astronauts tossed away from their lunar landers before returning to Earth.

"This trail is absolutely incredible," expressed Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist, and professor of geology at Arizona State University. "It's totally awesome."

It's amazing how far we have come as a society to witness such groundbreaking achievements. Even more thrilling is the fact that we continue to discover new aspects of these historic moments in time.

HP, MotherBlue, Just Sneezed...

No, really, potatoes.

September 2011.

Change?

You could say that. Transformation is the new convergence, the new change.

Was the HP decision to let go it's PSG division, one of the Triad, Wall Street driven or some emotional knee-jerk reaction to dismal TouchPad sales?

The answer is 'Yes'.  And HP is genius.  Mother Blue see's a future without desktops.

It's a crazy world, upside down, inside out - we'll make sense of this over the next 18 months - rationalize or remember.

And we'll hear everything from "business is proceeding as usual, you will experience little impact", the typical HP Edgeline, Mopier, 9065 talk track to "see, we told you HP has no loyalty to you, why should you to them?" Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, PC dejour...

We'll read industry pundits explain how 'so and so' will take HP's $42billion company on, re-label and grow.

IPG - Supplies, are big. Sustainable?

Meanwhile, 10,000+ HP employees squirm, VARs scramble, 'loyal' HP Enterprise customers call emergency CIO driven IT meetings, evaluating their 5 year technology refresh plans.

General panic smolders just below the surface and MotherBlue stays the course. She's just too damn big to ignore, she can do absolutely anything she wants...

And this is just the beginning. This is the first in a sequence - tell me, if the largest PC company in the world can get out of PC's, how difficult is it to see the worlds largest printer company, get out of PRINTING?

IPG is 21%(Q1/2011) of HP total revenue - ten years ago, IPG accounted for 43% of revenues.

Guess how much PSG, the division HP is remembering to let go, contributed to total revenues...31%.

Do you see what I see? The biggest question is, who can afford to swallow IPG?  Xerox? Ricoh? Cannon? Lexi?  Nobody.  What about spinning IPG off, all on its lonesome, eh?

Someday...

CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT.


PC's are dying, the focus, the singular focus, is not the machine, it's the stuff going through the machines - bits, data, thoughts, ideas, conversations, expressions, information - CONTENT.

Look to the content, not the machine - maybe, just maybe, HP has this all white boarded out, because they look hellbent on shedding their hardware pedigree and heading to the cloud.

Let's put this in context.  Remember when every employee had a PC at their desk? For every new hire, IT had to set up credentials, order up a PC, secure network drops, and LOAD PRINT DRIVERS.  Because every PC sold had a printer with it.  Free Dells anyone?

Perhaps, quite soon, it won't matter how well the OPS partners are fairing,  if the HP MpS program supports the channel or MES.

Maybe, someday soon, I won't be required to report how many third party toners I sold last year.  Because, as goes the PC, so goes the printer.

Off the Edge, remembered, honored, and let go...

Your World: Do I need to Draw you a Picture?

Tell me again, what do you sell?

My Dad still buys a newspaper.

When HP loses PSG, really, it won't be that bad.

Manged print Services, the Economy and Layoffs.  Do you see it?

Click to email me.

DOTC - How to Manager Your Manager

2011

What is the primary function of a Sales Manager?

Let's say you're selling copiers - no big stretch there.

Your company/dealer/branch conducts Monday morning group meetings followed by individual, one on one, 'Sales funnel' sessions.

Consider the following:

Scenario 1 - New Sales Rep

Your company-owned, CRM has to be updated, all the stages of the cycles illustrated and filled.

Your funnel covers 150% of your quota - all target accounts diagrammed, bases covered, red flags seen.    Number of appointments, number of cold calls, demos, etc. etc., etc.

All normal and ordinary. You're ready and prepared for that meeting with your Sales Manager.

Scenario 2 - Old-Salt

Same company, same meeting.

You've been moving copiers since 1980 and remember selling machines on real cold calls; face to face, demo in the lobby, one appointment close.

All your prospects' and clients' business cards are at your fingertips. You've worked with more sales managers than you can remember.

Your Monday morning routine includes reminding the Sales Manager why you're still there, how much gear you've landed over the past decade and how many more are coming down in the next 30 days.  You present this verbally because you don't get paid to play with spreadsheets and computers.

EMBED-Horrible Bosses: Trailer - Watch more free videos

Unfortunately, this Monday is different.

Today, senior management is in on the meeting to introduce the new manager.  Today, you get to meet the new guy, your new manager.

So you're both in the same spot. Now what?

Listen to the introductions, nod your head, play their game, and become part of their agenda.

Is that really what you want to do? 

Does your manager hold dominion over you? Really?

How about you try to help him define his role in supporting you?

How about you show him he works for you?

What, do you think that can't be done?



Click to email me.

TheDeathOfThe PC: A Call to the Channels Transform Now

My Rover, Grass Valley Fire, 2007

It isn't that we are not familiar with tough business decisions.  We all know somebody who has been a victim of such acts.

HP's announced decision to let die WebOS and TouchPad - a product that lived just 49 days - in and of itself is stupendous.

Spinning off their PCs may seem surprising unless you once sold IBM ThinkPads and remember selling IBM printers.

Go back to IBM, heck go back to the Mopier, the HP9065, and Edgeline; is it really a surprise that after investing a billion, shifting leadership, HP drops and adds?

There is more, much more here, and it is not all Dark.

"...Kindles and Schmindles..." Print...is...Dead...

Buggy whips, that's all I'm sayin...

911 - Never Forget

iPhone 5 - Better Than R2D2 ? "Help me Oki Wan, You're my only Hope..."

Paper?  What paper?

Jus sayin..

The Imaging of Greg - "MPS Summit: What a Difference Three Years Make"

"Yup, I was in Vegas at the “Recharger show.”


Well, technically, I attended the 2011 Managed Print Summit, which to me, seemed even more out of place, until I looked at the scheduled presenters: Ed Crowley, Robert Newry, Mike Stramaglio, Jim Lyons and Greg VanDeWalker – all MpS regulars, each in the ecosystem from early on if not the very beginning.


And there were more. Jim D’Emidio, Ed McLaughlin, Mark Mathews and Jim Phillips – old-skool hardware and infrastructure dudes who each see the impact of MpS.


And the new guys? How about Brendan Peters from Intel, Tim Grimes from Research in Motion or Gordon Jones from Green Hills Software? Googlitize them if you don’t know who they are. For now, let’s just say wireless, intelligent devices and security software. Yeah, at an MpSummit, the day before the large toner cartridge show. Who woulda thunk?..."

Read the rest at The Imaging Channel



Click to email me.

This is What HP Should Do with TouchPad/WebOS: "Execute Order 66"

Give more TouchPads away.  And by more, I mean to give another 500,000 away.

Quickly put together a Mega-Cloud, now.  

Call it the "MacGyver Cloud"; duct tape, paperclips, hope, and a prayer - whatever it takes, string it together.  

In this cloud, give away 6-month subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal, HBR, LeopardONE, MPSInsightsPro, LuLu, TMZ, on and on.

Bundle all of it in. Free.

Hook up with Verizon and get on their network, into their stores.  Hell, buy Verizon.

Get every remaining print publisher on the phone, in a Halo room, or to the West Coast and offer up an advanced conduit to 1 million customers, through MacGyver. Negotiate for a percentage and target Amazon/Borders; the Nook and the Kindle.

Spark up the TouchPad plants.  Rationalize, re-calibrate and reorganize PSG around generations of TouchPad.  Get this new team out there selling MacGyver and giving away TouchPads through every channel.  EVERY CHANNEL.  Sell it at 99 bucks - through Walmart.

Call the second model, "TheNext" and release a Leopard print version.

Buy a f*cking advertising agency, not another technological oddity.

I'm not done yet.

The Dubious Monk On Professional Printer Destruction

Author Nathan Dube, also known by his twitter handle @dubiousmonk

As time has gone on I have "worn multiple hats" in my tenure at Expert Laser Services. Graphic Artist, Managed Print Services Specialist and Social Media Marketing Engineer are all responsibilities I have held or currently hold.

As of recent I have also taken on a new role, one with as much prestige as any. In fact I am one of only a few professional "Printer Destruction Specialist" in the world. This is a humbling and rewarding career, one of which I know there are many aspirants...

In this post I would like to outline what makes a great printer destruction possible. Below you will find a most useful guide for the annihilation of print and copy devices that if practiced regularly, will ensure a most sublime level of expertise in the noble art and science of printer destruction.

Quigley - Another Analog Guy in a Digital World

A couple of weekends ago, I was fortunate enough to squeeze off a few rounds from a Sharps 1874 - you may remember the 1990 movie, "Quigley Down Under" with Tom Selleck.

The weapon had a prominent role.

At its peak, the Sharps was considered one of the best, long-range firearms in the world.

From the Uberti site, makers of Sharps replicas:

"...In 1874, after 700 Comanche warriors attacked 30 buffalo hunters in the Texas panhandle, the hunters used their Sharps rifles to exact a punishing toll. By the early 1880s, the long-range models had become the favorites of professional buffalo hunters because of their long-range capability..."

Indeed, even today, the long-gun is a fully functional, work of art:  double triggers, lever action, 34" barrel, 15 pounds she delivers a good kick, our black powder loads were clustering in 8 inches, 300 yards - we aren't that good.

The Sharps is cool - but the movie/sales metaphor?

Rugged individualism in the face of despotic ownership and management; Analog Guy, in a digital world full of other analog guys who think they're digital.

Huh?

"Dear Steve, I've never owned a Mac, or an iPhone and I don't have an iPad..."

I don't even know you, but you seem to know a great deal about me.

So Steve, thank you for my Droid X.

Thanks for forcing Microsoft to integrate a mouse, even if it was on DOS 4.0.

Thank you for getting IBM to utilize 'preemptive multi-threading in OS/2 even though it was a doomed OS.

Thanks for pushing the 3.5" floppy.  Thanks for letting all the peripherals that attach to the Lisa automatically connect.

Thanks for AppleTalk.

Thank you for seeing I really only wanted three or four songs from an album.

Thank you for disrupting the music industry - giving us Lady Gaga and incredible, mind-blowing live shows. (figure it out)

Thanks for recognizing a dwindling need and not allowing the iPad to print.

You beat the PS/2 and helped IBM find a new way.  

You destroyed the music industry and helped them find a new way, giving us immediate access to the music and artists we, the people, wanted to hear, at 99 cents a pop.

Sony, because of you, experienced the stink of defeat, the folly of internal business silo and they found a new way.