I Have Seen The Future of Our Business and it is #Samsung. No. No it isn't. What?

This is what is known as an "Adobe Upgrade"

Dateline, 2014

Do I make fun of the tablet 'duct taped' to the side of a copier?  Yes.

Do I think end users will do whatever they can to avoid standing in front of a copier? Yes.  Even if we attache Netflix or Clash of Clans?  Yes.

Did Tod Pike sell AGAINST A4 devices just four, short years ago?  Well, did Samsung profits just drop like a 1951 era MIG-15?(good lord, google it) Yes.

"Oh, Greg.  Who are you pissing off now?"

Samsung -

Here's the challenges I see with the new user interface:

Reason One - Nobody wants to spend more time in front of a copier.

In all my years of working with clients helping them determine requirements for print and content management, I have never had a client say to me, "I wish I could find another reason to stand in front of the copier."  Well, except for government and education, but let's not get political.

Reason Two - 'Droid isn't a great platform

But what else is Samsung going to use, Yosemite?

Reason Three - The visual stinks.

Honestly, the unit looks like an engineer velcro'd the tablet to the side of a copier.  IKON'a DocSend - now that looked cool.

Hold Your Venom!

I know there are folks ready to fire off a terse comment or email my way, please don't hit 'submit' just yet.  Here are my reasons we should recognize this move as powerful genius.

Tod Pike has been able to get two divisions within one of the largest technology manufacturer's in the world, to come together and bring a combined package to market - in what? Two years?

I see the future of our business with fewer silo's and faster innovation to market - SPEED.

Think about your world: How easy is it for you to get Sales and Service talking?  Right.

How long did HP 'think' about Edgeline before hitting the streets? HP 3D? 2016ish. What train wrecks occurred whenever IPG was inside a PSG account - with a dealer and VAR?

In some organizations, speed to market is measured in 20 quarter cycles.  Our traditional OEMs have one gear to innovation. S L O W.   In this case, it looks like Pike was able to jump the curve.

Maybe there is a back-story and I am giving too much credit, it doesn't matter because Tod isn't stopping here.  He's working with Technology United, integrating Forza AT THE MACHINE LEVEL which would be a gargantuan undertaking for many, but apparently not Tod.

From the outside, it looks logical for a manufacturer of copiers, tablets and phones, to integrate products into a single package.  An example would be Toshiba integrating nuclear reactors inside their erasable copier.  But that's not going to happen.

Remember when HP printers and computers went together like,"...rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong..." (props to Olivia Nutron Bomb).

In a time when MPS messaging gets garbled from the board room to the trenches, seeing a company slap one department on the side of another and bring a product to market, is both refreshing and significant.

Cheers to the process.

####  UPDATE 12/23/2014  ####

Tod Pike as decided to move on, leaving Samsung in early 2015.  What can be gleaned by this turn?

I am not sure.

I can tell you this, the 'droid-tablet-copier will not land more units and if the consolidation of divisions says anything, its that they're shrinking and focusing on equipment based, transactional selling.  Box moving.

Now...let me tell you about a Intellinetics and their 'little box of wonders..."

Click to email me. 

Was the 2014 Executive Connection Summit "The Best Show Ever"? Really?

Well, well, well...40 years of evolution, and look where we are today.  

Scottsdale, AZ under the watchful gaze of one of the true gentlemen on the planet - Mike Stramaglio.  

Mike and I first met at a Lyra show and have had many conversations about the sluggish acceptance of the 'connected world' by our industry.  Mike's world has always been about new technology, M2M, P2P, and business engagements blooming into personal relationships.

He not only talked 'Star Trek' stuff but integrated our corner of the world into his talk track, discussing how "...imaging devices and other business equipment are inherently included in  'things'  'people', 'process,' and 'data' - the four components of the Internet of Everything"

Managed Print Services Was Here: Big Data Business Intelligence

From imaging to content to the cloud to Big Data to Business Intelligence to Mobile Business Intelligence.

May 2012-

We're moving from marks on paper to the clouds, all the data is moving off the paper files.

But the data is just data, unusable.

In the old days, we would 'crunch' the numbers either manually or on a spreadsheet.

Today, there is an app for that; instead of the numbers getting crunched on paper, it's being presented on a screen.

Typewriters and impact printers - are gone. Carbon paper, white-out - gone.

Add cubicles, office furniture, water coolers, uniform rental programs, IT departments, factory floors, inventory shelving, hi-los, 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...

It's this new thing called Business Intelligence (BI) and BI's up-and-coming younger brother, Mobile Business Intelligence (MBI).

What is mobile business intelligence?

Here's the short version:

Mobile business intelligence is a set of tools that allows data from multiple databases to be connected, sliced and diced, and presented on your PADD, iPad, Android, or iPhone.

The data is live, sync'd, and in the cloud.

Your information is represented in pretty, colorful dots, bars, and graphs on a single pane.

For a decade the "remote" or "mobile" workforce has referred to the corporate sales team.

Executive management was still chained to the machine: Mainframe, Mini, Micro, PC, Laptop, or Notebook.

The C-levels were tied to devices because that's how they kept in touch with corporate data (JD Edwards, SAP, etc); converting that data to information and the information into intelligence.  Business intelligence is why they got paid the big bucks and the corner office with all the trappings.

Enter MBI.

Today, not only can the executives open and send emails, read magazines, and check spreadsheets they can look at live inventory levels, orders entered, web traffic, and conversions - from any spot on the planet, even at 37,000 feet.

Without teams of number-crunchers, accountants, middle managers, or MBAs.

But wait, there is so much more.

Big data. "Big" like we in the soon-to-be-defunct imagining industry have never seen.

Big as in every single page that has been generated from every single device ever sold. Big as in every single book, magazine, newspaper, blog, website, status, invoice, check, financial report, inventory sheet, delivery receipt, and email ever generated - BI taps into that and mobile BI lets me do it from the beach.

In Bali.

Don't think this only affects the imagining/copying/printing function - no, this reflects the changes in everything.

Because the growth of Big Data is not going to rely on humans entering the data - machines will talk to machines on the intake side of the process and machines will talk to machines during the data-crunch stages - ultimately presenting an intelligent and relevant representation to a person.

The human.  Yes, we're still part of the process, we've just shifted the 'grunt' work to the machines in the cloud, while we toil away on the beach.

Untethered In North Carolina - 2014

Lake Norman, NC. October 2014 -

I’ve been a digital nomad since 2007 as both an employee and a business owner.  In the early days, I remember feeling a bit self-conscious when I first used my laptop in a restaurant.  Those days are long gone.  Today, more people are ‘working remote’ than ever before.

Today, we’ll talk about two establishments worthy of your patronage.

I’ve quantified as much as possible, my criteria based on personal feelings and experiences culminating in a non-scientific rating system called “Mad Max Hours”(MMH) - a homage to the original Road Warrior, Max. The best is five, zero being the worst.  When I feel the establishment is a good place to work remotely, I give it higher hours - as in I’ll feel comfortable staying there for four hours and so on.

Today we look at watering holes with WiFi: Davidson Beverage Company and Carrburritos.

Selling Managed Services: Whose going to get Slapped Around?

10/2014

The oldest profession in the world isn’t prostitution, it’s 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.

Today, 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.

You're pondering selling servers, storage, networks and network management, aren’t you? Putting those monitors, PCs, switches and hard drives under one contract tied 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 employs thousands of cycle-extending PS peeps – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Again, how hard can it be?

Well, there’s good news, and there’s bad news. The good news is better than we hope; the bad news is worse than we think. It usually is.

The Bad News:

We have approximately 1,500 effective, well-run, imaging dealers/resellers in the U.S. The number of VARs is 15,000. The figure may not be accurate, but the scale certainly is; there are 10 times as many of them as there are us.

They are already in your accounts; they own the network, hold contempt for most salespeople and think they know more than you – which they probably do.

Hubris permeates.

They hate copiers – still – and love brand names. Even if Dell servers suck, once a Dell house, it is difficult to displace. They distrust those who wear a tie and can spot a Polo-shirt-wearing poser with their 'peripherals' – they are militaristic in the use of acronyms.

The Princes of the VAR are the customer-facing subject-matter experts (SME), the guys with all the letters behind their names. They are smart, certified and can speak in front of crowds or directly to CIOs – as peers. But don’t tell them that; most believe they have no peers.

Their deals are complex, multidimensional and project-managed. And I mean real project management – with resources, GANT charts and such.

Most likely, the VAR front-line salespeople, often called BDMs, never physically receive a PO or process an order; they have an inside team to do all that stuff. This gives them more time in the field, in front of their clients – your prospects.

The Good News:

VARs/IT folks don’t really sell; they take orders and write SOWs. They tend to throw technology at everything, yet employ little in-house. They’ve been trained to believe “real cold-calling” happens on the phone. “Sales training” is nothing more than a vendor like Cisco, Lenovo or HP coming in, spewing product, pricing and distribution data, then leaving “leave-behinds.” Yeah, I know – that part sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Most VARs define “service” as pricing, logistics, deal registration, imaging (not the kind we know), prompt delivery, discounts and accurate billing (again, not the kind we know). Client relationships are built on “lunch and learn” giveaways and trading POs for iPads.

Transactional margins are in the single digits; charging for shipping equals margin. Back-end rebates equal margin for the house. Trip-fees are the norm, they have no idea how to manage to “call avoidance,” and trunk-stock is a foreign concept.

So, what to do?

Competing with a VAR head-to-head can be difficult. Especially when your prospect has bought into the belief that copier companies aren't sophisticated enough for real IT issues.  If you can get in under the VARDAR, you have a good chance, since most are not looking at MpS as a serious value-add.  Those who do are experiencing the same mistakes we did – YEARS AGO. They’re stuck in the “powered by” stage of MpS.

Three ideas, 2011:

1. Work with your existing purchasing/facilities contacts without raising much dust. Sell S1/S2 without talking about software, business process management or EDM. Don’t set off any IT red flags.

2. Shore up your internal IT services pedigree. Now is the time to re-evaluate your current talent pool. Tough decisions — there are fewer devices out in the field; therefore, fewer service calls. Figure that one out.

3. Reach out and establish a solid relationship with a VAR as their MpS engine. This is a temporary, parasitic relationship filled with teachable moments. Again, figure that one out.

The times, they are changing. At our core, this niche, the imaging industry, is crowded with resilient, business-minded problem-solvers. We can do this, and for a profit.

Three more ideas, 2014:

Prospect/Sales side:

1. Seek out companies who do not employ any internal IT support staff - resistance is guaranteed
2. Talk to the owner and confirm he values IT is a strategic component of his business model
3. Look at your internal IT. If you don't value IT services, you'll attract folks don't as well

Internal/Infrastructure side:

1. Partner with a master managed services provider like Collabrance.
2. Train your copier reps how to recognize and qualify IT services prospects
3. Do not call in 'managed network services' - why be chained to a network?



Originally posted by Greg Walters on 08/08/2011, 1105 Media.

Before Independence Day, Before Lost in Space, Before Tom Cruise, There was Radio and Orson Wells...

"...We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own.

We know now that as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. 

With infinite complacence people went to and fro over the earth about their little affairs, serene in the assurance of their dominion over this small spinning fragment of solar driftwood which by chance or design man has inherited out of the dark mystery of Time and Space. 

Yet across an immense ethereal gulf, minds that to our minds as ours are to the beasts in the jungle, intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes and slowly and surely drew their plans against us. In the thirty-ninth year of the twentieth century came the great disillusionment.

It was near the end of October. Business was better. The war scare was over. More men were back at work. 

Sales were picking up. 

On this particular evening, October 30, the Crosley service estimated that thirty-two million people were listening in on radios..." - Orson Wells, 1938.

In a world without the internet, Twitter, cell phones or email a fictitious account of an invasion from Mars scared children, and angered many.

I submit to you a feast for your ears and the kaleidoscope of your mind. Travel back when this new medium, radio, ruled and was blamed for the Death of the Stage show and rotting young minds...enjoy.

Steve Jobs Talks about " Xerox and Copier Heads".

13,000 feet somewhere over the Untied States of America heading to the Executive Summit.

This is a must see for everyone in the industry, in any industry actually. The year is 1996 and Steve Jobs is lamenting how Xerox had the world by a string, they just didn't know it.

Hear for yourself, possibly the first time a pundit refer to "toner-heads, copier-heads". Amazing.

Granted, those times were remarkable; Bill Gates is buying and selling the perennial operating system.  Wozniak is programming for days at a time and the first generation of computer geeks begin to take shape.

The status quo was being challenged by a unorganized, disconnected, computer nerds "doing it for fun".  Xerox, IBM, Burroughs, and others didn't see the PC revolution coming and when they did, most denied .  The rest, as they say, is history. They also say, "study history or be doomed to repeat it".

Look at your industry - There are two sides: the status quo and what I like to call the "Pirates".  The status quo employ marketing departments, game the search engines and confuse marketing content with content.  They purchase analysts and dictate to the market,  spinning a message through the ever dwindling and irrelevant equipment channel.  They tell us to sell equipment all the while knowing it is a dying argument.

There is no paper in the future because there is no future in paper.

Arrrg!  On the other side live the pirates, rogues, outcasts, crazies, disgruntled - the explorers, selling professionals, visionaries, lone wolves.  We'll play the game, find the edges and push. Of course we'll get in trouble, and from the outsider view, we will fail.  But failure has always been about getting back up, not quitting.   The ones on the sidelines never quit, do they? When things go well, everybody's a champio.

I guess what I like about this video is recognizing that this has all happened before.  The timing for such a revaluation couldn't be better.  Unlike the days of Young Jobs, we have instant connectivity to all the like minded.  The days of single voices, screaming in the night are gone.

The only question is what side do you call home?  

Do you feel the need to be dependent upon a " board of directors" or sales manager?  
Do you criticize free flowing organizational construct?  Is structure and policy more important?  
Do you manage to outside benchmarks and look for templates?  
Have you uttered and believed the phrase, "it's always been done that way"?  
Do you still think the "OEMs drive the industry"?  

Yes? Congratulations, you're part of the status quo - leave now and immerse yourself in the following movies/series(therapy): Oblivion, Cloud Atlas, V Is For Vendetta, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, The Patriot, Tombstone & Saving Private Ryan. Not Glenn Gerry, Wall Street, or Boiler Room. Go...go now.

On the other hand, if you see through the manipulation that is an equipment quota (and still meet them), if you question studies reporting users demand mobile print, or print is growing.  If you do your "job" without going "to the office" and STILL required to show up for Monday morning sales meetings, if you've ever been "written up" - you could be Jobs-like, a Zig in the world of Zags.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

Drop me a line.  I'm starting a group of fringe-thinking, bleeding-edgers.  We'll have a charter, but no Board of Directors.  We'll have meetings and adult beverages will be on the agenda.  Our goal will be to network within the group, share cutting edge ideas having fun and making money.

Moderator:

For our audience, what is 'toner'?

Jobs, "Its the black stuff..."

See the video here, http://youtu.be/_1rXqD6M614.


Click to email me.

013 - We Are #MSFT's Worst Nightmare

First published, 1/9/13 on Walters & Shutwell.

The War is Over: WinTel is dying. How do I know? The growing pile of HP technology in the corner of our room tells me so.

Don't get me wrong - I am not a Cult of the Mac, graphic designer types. The last Apple computer my family owned was an IIe back in 1980.   My father, the teacher, got a massive teacher discount.  I barely touched the thing.

I grew up on DOS 2.0-4.0(the one with the square mouse pointer) my first job was with an Inacomp selling B2B, computerized accounting systems.

In addition to Great Plains,  I sold the difference between "IBM-DOS" and "MS-DOS". We despised MACs for their ease of use and lack of business applications.

I sold IBM PS/2' with OS/2. I was there from the beginning of the War. I was there when IBM, like Cleopatra on her barge, left the field of battle open to the clones and Steve Jobs.

A couple decades later, I was a Crackberry advocate and 'droid proponent.

I sold HP9065(Konica) copiers to IT directors back in the day because they loved that little blue logo. My managed print services practice was built around the Edgeline (cold sweat at night) - again, IT loved the logo.

So, yeah - I drank the Koolade for decades.

A few days ago, we brought into the office an iMAC. Jennifer uses it with her iPad, and I use a 2-month-old Mac Book Pro, with my iPad. We moved an older iMac out to be used by the kids. They have an iPhone and iPad Mini between the two. And iPod Touches.  They can bring the devices to school because the school district has implemented a BYOD policy.  A school district - that's what I said.

In the corner of the room sits an HP InkJet printer next to a half-empty box of A4 paper. The case is at least five years old and still contains a few original reams.

We don't print much.

On top of the printer is what I call, "the world's largest laptop, in the world" - some HP huge contraption that I am sure was great in its time but has also been downgraded to kid duty.

There is a Compaq/HP laptop stashed somewhere and soon to join the "pile of HP" is my last PC, ever. A very nice, HP, steel thing-a-ma-bob with so many .tmp files loaded on it, I should just take it into the woods and shoot it out of its misery.

But I won't. I need it for the picture.

We didn't wait for DOS 8.0 because we knew it was going to be a dog.

We didn't wait for all the new tablets, Droid or otherwise, because we knew they would never, ever be an iPad with the Retina display.

We didn't run out and grab the latest E-reader either  - who wants a reader when you can get an iPad mini? Who?

Not many.

Conversely, corporate America did wait. But by the time they saw what they waited for, the Kool-aid had lost its sweetness.  DOS 8.0 won't save anyone, it will remain planted in the past - #MSFT's last attempt has fallen short.  Xbox to the rescue?


Our house is now a house of Mac.

No patches, no blue screen of death, no drivers, no long boot times, and no eye fatigue.

For me, it wasn't how good my eyes felt the second I started using the iPad, that convinced me of MSFT and the PC's death.

It wasn't the zillions of cool, available, and affordable productivity apps or the fact that all my contacts and music are sharable without the headache that tipped the scales.

Just because my computer is now a pleasure to work with, easy to understand, and powerful enough for NASA, I could still see an HP or Dell somewhere in the future. In a public library or someplace.

The convenience, ease of use, and increased productivity of the Mac hadn't convinced me totally of The Fall.

The thing that clinched it, the one observation that pulled it all together, that last nail in the coffin was a little device that fits in the palm of my hand.

A technological marvel.

Like the penny in Somewhere in Time - Apple's Magic Mouse snapped every second from 1980 into the present. Boom, here it was, full circle.

The last item MSFT will see as it fades to black is the first object that set Apple apart:

The Apple (Magic) Mouse.

"Alas poor #MFST, we knew you well..."

"Oh, Canada" - The Symbols of Western Civilization Attacked.

“He was an awesome person,” Perron said. “He always had a smile on his face no matter what situation he was in.”

"You're doing good, you're doing good, buddy," he told Cirillo. "You're breathing -- keep breathing."

"You are loved. Your family loves you. You're a good man," she told him.

Unleashed Workers and the Paperless Office

It Was a Good Run: Paper and the Pony Express

The debate rages — is there, will there ever be, a paperless office? 

The politically correct response is, “no silly, it's less paper, not paperless.” My answer is the paperless office is already here and those who refuse to admit it are deniers. In the end, we’re all simply debating ourselves, expecting different results; academic insanity.

As I consider the denier position of print volume is increasing or holding steady, I wonder why HP is experiencing so many challenges and why did International Paper shuttered A4 paper-making plants? I can imagine many carriages and buggy whip manufacturers feeling the same way and expressing similar arguments the year automobiles started replacing horse-drawn carriages en masse: 1913.

Note: Buggy whips are actually a humane product used to lead horse-drawn buggies, making snapping noises to encourage them to speed up and not meant to ever touch or harm the horse.

Read more, here.

There was a time, long ago, when men rode horses, coffee was brewed and mail was delivered by hand.

Remembering is romantic and foretelling.

We stand at the precipice of the paperless age. Like the steam engine, postal stamps, cigarettes, and the horse, paper will be regarded with nostalgia and a twinkle in the eye as you tell your grandchildren how you once read email on a sliver of dead trees.

"Be Brave."

Three Ideas for Copier People Selling Managed Services

The move into managed services is well on its way and traditional copier reps are getting caught in the middle between selling boxes and selling services.  Pundits and consultants lament "copier people cannot sell managed services" unless they attend a day of specialized sales training.

It is true, I've seen plenty of managed services or IT sales destroyed by copier sales reps - from Cali to N.C. I've written about a couple of instances.

The thing is, for all the challenges and failures, the rep is not to blame. We train them to always be closing, find pain and twist, to hunt, take-down, close, trap and "increase share of wallet" - armed with this mentality, its a miracle anybody sells anything, let alone a nuanced offering like managed services.

So, as a copier rep, what can you do to secure more managed services contracts/agreements?  Should you heed your sales manager's advice and  treat help desk like a fax board?  Does your OEM offer any clues? How about a few days of off-site training followed up with a phone blitz?

"No...no...no..."

#RemoteWorking: Unleashing the Power of You

First published Oct, 2014, on WorkIntelligently, Ricoh.

The new world of work looks a lot less like the traditional corner office.

Today, the idea of mobile workers is commonplace. 

But it hasn’t always been that way. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and see where the idea came from — and from there we’ll look at where it’s headed in the future.

FedEx Training Attack Hawks: Amazon Drones Beware

SkyNet was a fictional representation of a robot Apocalypse - robot drones occupy the skies delivery humanity to the brink of extinction.

This isn't that.

Recently uncovered footage shows a hawk downing what could be an Amazon delivery drone.

What first appeared as random attacks, is thought to be results of a secret training program.  Eye witness accounts of birds attacking innocent, privately owned, 'quad-copter' drones around the world point to one possibility: Avian Skulduggery.




Just outside Memphis, TN, FedEx World Headquarters,  locals have been noticing an increase in "Bird-nappings" - pet hawks, crows, canaries and even Canadian Geese have been reported missing at a alarming rate.

"The other morning, I was feeding the geese.  I had to get more feed.  When I came back out, all 20 of 'em were gone.  Without a trace.  It's the damnedest thing...its like they just flew away...", reports Jimmie Casey, the neighborhood goose wrangler.

GoPro and QuadPod enthusiasts say their drones are under attack.  Hawks, crows and geese appear to have a singular mission; attack, maul and negate mechanical intruders.

Flying birds are not the only recruits.  Recently released NSA footage shows field training of a FedEx recruit, pestering a UPS driver.

Warning, the following footage may be too intense for some viewers.





There's more.

Obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, footage shows a foul-recruitment technique designed to entice American Bald Eagles. Locals refused to answer any questions regarding 'attack Eagles' on camera. But un-named sources close to the project said,

"It's a mess out there.  It's like they're being trained to eat fish and attack pickup trucks.  I don't like it."




More Rumors -

Internet groups like Next Day Delivery and online forum, Package Shipping are filled with whispers of a secret program, named 'Drone: Attack, Maul, Negate'(DAMN).  This program is believed to the brainchild of either Elon Musk, Sir Richard Branson or Meg Whitman.  Perhaps all three are forming a triad.

More details as our investigation continues...for now, keep your eyes to the skies and watch The Birds.




Click to email me.



* Do I need to mention that the above is a work of fiction, fantasy and fantastical?

"Mobile Class of 2012: No Print" A Managed Print Services Story

09/2012 - 

Dear Reader, 

Please remember this article was created and first posted in 2012.  Today's technology was eight years away.

Enjoy.

____

I subscribed to Dropbox and Box.net. I wanted the ability to send documents to the cloud and access them from my TouchPad anywhere in the world.

It worked great. For example, I create a master blog article at night, then reviewed, finalized, and sent it from 10,000 feet in the air the next morning. (Mile High Club – sweet!) 

There is more: I didn’t need to “send” the file as an attachment; I simply shared the folder with my editor. When she opens the file or document, I am notified. When she needs a new contract initialed, instead of emailing me a 12-page PDF, she simply drops the file into our shared folder, and the cloud notifies me of the new document. Revisions, digital signatures, and final drafts are all handled from a tablet. The final “print” is on a website, not ink on paper.

And I know I don’t need to point out how much paper was not used in this workflow, do I?

What the HP Split Tells Us About HP's Managed Print Services

It's an outhouse.  Made out of the shipping container for Edgeline.

For years the definition of managed print services has been bandied around like a beach ball on Labor Day Weekend. Your definition of MPS rotated around your particular strengths.

For instance, if you refilled empty toner cartridges, your MpS is all about less expensive toner. If you're a copier dealership, your MpS may orient around centralized MFD's and optimization means a single brand of devices. Still, if you are a big box, office supplies vendor, your MpS is all about desk side toner delivery.

My definition of MPS tries to be encompassing: my monitoring software is in on a screen inside my NOC, right next to the CCTV and Level Platforms. My optimization, for example, includes reducing the number of devices in an accounting department to zero and implementing digital workflow systems and dual monitors.

So, back in 2009, my MPS included everything from ink and service delivery, staff augmentation, Sharepoint, laptop imaging, and unified communications. I was a big HP house. I sold only HP toner, servers, laptops, printers and...oh yeah, Edgeline multifunction behemoths.

#HP $HPQ to Cull PC's & Printers: New Company Called, "HP, Inc." - Get It?

"Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung."
--- Coleridge

In 1991 Lexmark was formed when IBM divested its printer and printer supply operations to an investment firm. On November 15, 1995, Lexmark was publicly traded .  Today the company is trading at $41.59 has a revenue around $3.7B and about 12,000 employees.  Back in the 90's, Lexmark boasted a revenue of nearly $2.0B.

IBM was in the midst of one of the greatest corporate transformations in history.  The company was in turmoil; internal leadership changes, intense competitive pressures, economic headwinds and a fractured self-image.  They didn't know who they were, what they did or how to do whatever it was they were going to do, better.
Crazy times, the 90's.

Today, another great technology firm finds herself in the throws of transformation - HP offers everything from servers, clouds, PC's, laptops, printers, supplies and services. But its not enough.  More accurately, its just too much. What IBM grew through, HP is now experiencing - you can't be everything to everyone.  If that were all, it would be bad enough, but its worse.  HP, Microsoft and the rest of the WinTel realm can no longer dictate demand. Their rule is not as relevant as in the past.

Take printers, for example.  HP brought the laser printer into the business world and for a decade or two, HP was synonymous with printing.  But in 2007, the winds of change were upon us.  No matter how much marketing tries to accentuate the shift from toner to ink, black and white to color, desktop to mobile, hard copy print will never rebound;  sinking more resources against the tide is folly.

What made HP great, is holding her back.  Print is the albatross.

Some will herald the move as great strategy - it might be - for sure, this is a responsive tact, not one that bends the market to HP's will.

Nothing, not even the company who brought the laser printer to nearly every desktop in the land, can reverse the trend.  Printing is dying.  Not because we've all decided to stop killing trees, or understand printing decreases the ozone layer or bringing on the next ice age.  HP is a victim of the shift in How We Work:

• No more desktop PCs
• No more servers
• Fewer laptops
• We do not print the same
• We communicate differently
• Fewer printers
• Almost no copiers

Today, we communicate under glass more than ever before. Generations of young adults live in a world without PC's, rotary phones, black and white TV, newspaper delivery or a printer.  Like generations before them understood life with electricity, they've never known a world without the internet.  Why in the world would they ever want or need to print anything?  Why?  Ask them.

Tablets, smart phones and new workflows, oh my.

"No one in the printing industry, or outside it, had any idea that the iPad would come along and destroy three- to four-thousand-year-old human traditions concerning paper," explained Gary Peterson, chief executive at Gap Intelligence, a San Diego-based research analysis firm.

No one except us...here.

In light of this expected turn, to all the paperless deniers, I ask this:

• If employees print 10,000 images each/year...
• If mobile print is a viable option...
• If global print volumes are rising...
• If OEMs can re-establish the relevancy of print...

then...

• Why did International Paper shutter it's biggest, 8.5x11 sized paper producing plant if print volumes are increasing?
• Why did HP layoff 40,000 employees when the second coming, mobil print or ink, is just around the corner?  Think of layoffs as The Rapture.
• Why is less than half of Xerox's revenue generated through equipment sales?
• Why would a leading copier manufacturer build an erasable copier?
• Even without printing capabilities, Apple still sold more than a dozen iPads

Denial.

"HP profits are reliant on selling "consumables" like inkjet cartridges, so the company can't be eager to see that business sidelined by the new prominence of tablets and smartphones. Even though mobile device make it easier to skip the printer in some cases, for example with electronic boarding passes and mapping apps, McCoog doesn't see printing as an endangered business.

Yeah, right.

What does this mean to all of you selling copiers and MpS?  Keep doing what you're doing, your resume clean and enhance your PERSONAL ACUMEN every day.  The change isn't coming, it is already here and you've got to improve yourself beyond the box and away from marks on paper.

Perhaps two decades from today, we'll look back and remember how HP built a great print business, sold it off and turned into the technology powerhouse Bill and Dave envisioned.


1991 -

The Death of A #CopierSale - Birth of a #ManagedServices Engagement

10/2014

There we were, sitting shoulder to shoulder with a freshly minted copier rep talking to a prospect. The rep was leading the team in monthly revenue and looking to lock it all up with this opportunity.

 The five of us, three on the provider side, and two on the prospect were discussing the benefits of managed services. Our prospect was lamenting the many challenges with the current IT services provider:

- "Never hear from them"
- "Whenever they come out, they charge us. And they always come out."
- "I asked them if our backup was secure and found out it wasn't last week when we lost power"
- "He only does hardware and knows nothing about printers"
- "What are we paying for, again?"

The pain was there waiting for us to isolate and trial close. We knew how much they were paying and they wanted to work with one company, for all their technology needs.

Yes - we could have closed right then and there...

But we didn’t.


Out of my mouth came the following words,

"Well, we can certainly remove all your current issues. Our managed services program is designed to address everything you mentioned...but for now, let's concentrate on getting your copiers squared away, and then talk about managed services...don't let a managed services decision get in the way of new copiers..."

Wait...what did I just say?

The Fall of IT and the Rise Of The Human Resources Department

BYOD, the Cloud and 99 cent apps are shifting Information Technology expertise from the glass room to the end user at an accelerating rate.

Once, all business tools were housed 'back at the office' - the phone system, postage meter, mainframe, desktop and network, all your paperwork and files were physically located under one roof.  To support this infrastructure, organizations splintered responsibilities into appropriate departments; accounting, marketing, warehouse, sales, and administration departments carried separate responsibilities, budgets and expectations.  

IT was one such department.  

The 2014 Executive Connection Summit - "They Let the DeathOfTheCopierGuy In?"

The Executive Summit has been in existence for three years, this is my first one.  For context, I've attended and spoken at every domestic Photizo MPS conference, I attended and spoken at a few ITEX get-togethers and a BTA meeting - I 've attended more shows than I can remember.

I've known of MWAi and the group for years, meeting Mike Stramaglio at a Lyra back in ....2009 or 08, I forget. Mike and I have broken bread and on occasion, we've even solved many of the world's problems over whiskey, Cabernet, or some other variation of libation.  

As it Turns Out RELEVANT Content is King.

Relevance - 

Peggy Winton, CMO over @AIIM, reposted an article on LinkedIN about the benefits and pitfalls of content. Read the article, here. The essence of the piece is good content is better than bad content and bad content may hurt your reputation.

Earth shattering, isn't it?

It doesn't take a Marketing Degree agree or disagree with the author who presents good insight

From the article, "Being barraged with irrelevant content, misleading titles and promotion actually damages the brand." this is, and ALWAYS has been true, from late-night infomercials to toilet paper adverts.

Another great quote applicable in the copier/imaging industry, "A strategy based primarily on vendor generated content negatively impacts conversion because buyers consider that information biased and untrustworthy."

This includes content(sponsored) in free magazines, white papers and especially from the analyst community - it is all bought and paid for.

We've been saying this for years, the top-down, 'build it and they will buy' mentality propagated by OEMs and supported through hardware quota's was once old-fashioned.   

Today, its dangerous to the channel.

The phrase "Content is King" assumes 'relevant' or 'pure' is in there somewhere, as in "Pure Content is King". Which leads to the next level, "How pure can your content be, if you outsource its generation?"

In the turbulent world of content marketing and marketing content, Purity is difficult to muster.  The foundational question is,  "How can your content be relevant if you and what your offering is irrelevant?" Like it or not, the act of printing and copying is not that important and if you've built your business on the reliability and relevancy of office printing and copying, you could be in dire straits.

But I don't believe you are irrelevant, yet.  I believe you have happy customers with great stories.  I believe you ARE transforming into a leaner and more intelligent organization.

You just need to get your clients' stories out into the open.

Click to email me. 

What the #LatteSalute Says About Managed print Services

The internet is afire with accusations and defense around the President of The United States(POTUS) lackluster salute.

Say and think what you want, but our personal, core values are illustrated every day, on a subconscious level.  The clothes we wear, our body language even the way we look at others, tells the world who we are and what we believe.  How we move and act when nobody is watching displays how we feel about ourselves and the world around us.

The #Apple Watch and Printing: What? No #AirPrint?

The other day I Tweeted, “Is #Apple part of Mopria?

With digital content growing, wouldn't it make sense to print from my Apple Watch?” My point was with all the fanfare and hoopla, printing is never mentioned. Users rarely think about printing and when they do, it’s a pain.

The Apple Watch is the latest example of the shrinking relevancy of the printed document. Granted, the category is consumer based, but the Apple Watch and iOS 8 represent the fading frontier between B2C and B2B . More employees are bringing devices to work because the devices are easier to use and present information in the manner that is pleasing to the consumer. That’s all. If paper were more relevant, we’d all have the daily under our arms and my watch would only tell time.

But that’s not happening, is it?

Consider the lowly photocopier. Once the hub of communication, copiers hummed along churning out everything from memos, file copies of invoices and bound reports. Today, more information is read off a screen in your lap, or palm of your hand than ever before. Tomorrow, your wrist.

Read the rest, here.


Click to email me.

The Death of Spreadsheets

That's an Edgeline Shipping Pallet, converted.

"Knowledge will no longer be trapped on paper... or under glass."

9/24/2014

We were talking about Big Data - it's what we do - when she exclaimed, "It's the Death of Spreadsheets...people will need to swallow faster..."

I was stunned and not sure what swallowing had to do with Big Data, I'll let you ponder that one.  I did, however, understand her observation about Big Data, or specifically, the use of Big Data and the end of spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets are on the path to oblivion, just ask Microsoft.

The rise of the 99 cent algorithm and the fall of "=@if(A, B, C)".

Algorithms are workflow.

Automating processes with algorithmic discipline is changing everything.  Why generate formulas on static spreadsheets when a preconceived formula, connected to live data, streams actionable information directly to your device, pane of glass, or contact lens?

Imagine saying the words,  "Computer: what is the most profitable group of devices in my fleet, today?"

Not only is the answer reported orally, but a running, graphic representation of your profitable machines is presented as well as comparative representations from around the globe - all in real-time.

Beyond words, what if the 'cloud' knew exactly what you wanted to see and when?  Instead of you asking, the information(vs. data) is presented to you nice and neat, in real-time, anywhere on the planet.

No paper, no historic or static.

Funky, eh?  There's more.


Apple just released, to a rather conservative fanfare, the latest addition to the iPhone lineage.  Some were waiting for a "Dick Tracey" watch and others lamented a "phablet", instead, Apple released some less expensive color devices and a new 5s - in Gold.

To many, the device was less than expected - I took note of the A7, 64-bit processor.  In a word, "Awesome" and I'm not an Apple FanBoy.

The A7 is the first 64-bit of its kind to be found in a phone, processes twice as many bits per cycle, and incorporates built-in, on-the-chip encryption.

This all means the little gold box will do stuff faster, crunch more numbers and drive cleaner video - all in the palm of your hand and this is just the beginning.

Back to big data.

Soon, we'll all be carrying around enough processing power to compress massive calculations and connect from anywhere on the planet.  Our customized, 1:1 news will stream flawlessly, and profit, commission, productivity, and financial reports, both personal and business, will seamlessly appear.

In the cloud, huge amounts of calculating power will collect data from billions of sensors all around the planet.  For example, when one of your Konica Minolta is repeatedly misfeeding, AND throwing off ambiguous errors, our newly ubiquitous business intelligence network will:

• Analyze the multitudes of sensors inside the copier...
• Backtrack the units manufacturing chain of custody...down to every component
• Research the composition of toner and examine the entire supply chain...
• Research the composition of the paper, all the way back to the tree...
• Measure the humidity fluctuations and compare them to occurring misfeed times...
• Compare the reported symptoms with millions of other devices and every other device ever recorded... 
• Measure the incoming power...
• Report back a meaningful diagnosis - or simply make corrections remotely - and then report back...

All real-time. No paper because the paper is too slow, no glass, because glass is too restrictive.

Chew on that.

PS - I used a copier as an example but you and I both know, there won't be any copiers left, don't we?
#Wink #DOTC #NoReallyThisTimeItIsPaperLess

1910 -

The Mundaneum

Founded by Paul Otlet (who outlined a concept of a globally connected network of computers in 1934) and Henri La Fontaine, The Mundaneum aimed to "gather together all the world's knowledge and classify it according to a system they developed called the Universal Decimal Classification".

Originally posted on Walters & Shutwell, Inc. Sept, 2013.

_________

Remastered by GPT4.0, 3/2023

The rise of Big Data and the increasing use of algorithms is transforming the way we process information, leading to the obsolescence of traditional methods such as spreadsheets. This was an observation made by my colleague Jennifer during a conversation we had about Big Data.

Algorithms are becoming the new workflow, automating processes with greater efficiency and accuracy. Why use static spreadsheets when a preconceived formula, connected to live data, can provide actionable information directly to your device, pane of glass, or contact lens in real-time?

For instance, imagine asking your computer: "What is the most profitable group of devices in my fleet today?" The answer is not only reported orally but also displayed as a running graphic representation of your most profitable machines, compared to similar devices worldwide.

But the impact of Big Data extends beyond visual representations. Soon, our customized, 1:1 news will stream flawlessly, and personalized financial reports will appear seamlessly. In the cloud, massive processing power will collect data from billions of sensors all around the planet.

For example, if one of your Konica Minolta repeatedly misfeeds and throws off ambiguous errors, our newly ubiquitous business intelligence network can analyze the multitude of sensors inside the copier, backtrack the unit's manufacturing chain of custody down to every component, research the composition of toner and examine the entire supply chain, research the composition of the paper all the way back to the tree, measure the humidity fluctuations, and compare the misfeed times. 

Then, it can compare the symptoms with millions of other devices, every other device ever recorded, and measure the incoming power to provide a meaningful diagnosis or make corrections remotely, all in real time.

These advancements are leading to a paperless future and could even render traditional office equipment such as copiers obsolete. As we look to the future, it's worth remembering the Mundaneum, founded by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine in 1910. 

They aimed to "gather together all the world's knowledge and classify it according to a system they developed called the Universal Decimal Classification." It's remarkable to think how far we've come since then, and even more incredible to imagine where we'll be in the future.

_________

Tweet: Big Data is changing everything! From automating processes to providing real-time insights, the possibilities are endless. #BigData #Automation #RealTimeInsights

Intro paragraph: In today's world, Big Data is becoming increasingly important, as it has the power to revolutionize the way we process and utilize information. With the rise of algorithms and automation, traditional methods such as spreadsheets are on the path to obsolescence. The ability to connect preconceived formulas to live data provides actionable information in real-time, changing the way we work and make decisions. Big Data is not just about processing information, but it's also about how we use it. From customized 1:1 news to personalized financial reports, the possibilities are endless. In this era of digital transformation, Big Data is changing everything!

Click to email me.

What Will Happen to Managed Print Services When Aliens Land on Earth?

9/2014

Long ago, before the Star Wars Generation grew old, people who discussed alien planets, time travel, robots with brains, or life created in a petri dish would be labeled as "off", "introvert", odd, strange, socially awkward, clumsy, etc.

Not today.  Today, it's not so geeky to talk about anything in the context of science fiction.

Signs -

In the 2002 movie "Signs" Mel Gibson plays a reverend who after losing his wife, rejects God and Faith.  Aliens play cat and mouse for a few days utilizing crop circles as navigation symbols.  The invasion is concentrated around these designs; Mel's family lives on a farm and has recently been a victim of other worldly graffiti.  As more and more indicators reveal themselves families begin to suspect the worse.

The movie is a tapestry of past, present, and future events all woven together leading to the ultimate ending where all the pieces fall into place; hindsight is 20/20.  Everybody saw the signs, but nobody put them all together until the very end.

With this in mind I pose this question with all seriousness and grace - in a cold and analytical manner:

Do you See The Signs?

If not, let me point out a few of the Crop Circles in our cornfield:

• Recharger: Gone
• Lay-offs: Prevalent, secular
• 3D Printing: The latest 'Adjacency' does not make marks on paper
• IBM sells off Servers - "...its the Cloud, stupid..."
• Dealers offering Coffee and Water Services - no, really, its true
• Old Content - We're telling each other the same thing again and again, expecting new results
• Self-implemented MpS engagements; fewer clients need our services
• MIF reductions - If your numbers are up, you're simply trading MIF with a competitor
• Financial: Sharp, Panasonic, Kodak, HP - if the exchange rate wobbles, look out
• Show attendance:  ITEX, Recharger, BTA; each was much bigger than they are now
• Paper plants closing: International Paper announced the closure of one of its biggest plants in 2013 - primary output was 8.5x11
• IBM sells off SDN - googlitize it
• IPad: Almost as many sold as cases of paper, just kidding, but you get the point
• E Signatures - from car loans, to insurance forms, to lease payments everybody is doing it except you
• Google sells off Motorola - patents more valuable than the hardware
• Kids these days - all Thumbs and not a newspaper to be seen
• Lawsuits - desperation; it's like hoping for a penalty when you are down 3 points, late in the game.

There Are Two Groups -

"People break down into two groups when they experience something lucky. Group number one sees it as more than luck, more than coincidence. They see it as a sign, evidence, that there is someone up there, watching out for them. Group number two sees it as just pure luck.

Just a happy turn of chance.

I'm sure the people in Group number two are looking at those fourteen lights in a very suspicious way. For them, the situation isn't fifty-fifty. Could be bad, could be good. But deep down, they feel that whatever happens, they're on their own.

And that fills them with fear. Yeah, there are those people. But there's a whole lot of people in Group number one.

When they see those fourteen lights, they're looking at a miracle. And deep down, they feel that whatever's going to happen, there will be someone there to help them. And that fills them with hope.

See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky?"

Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"

"Swing Away, Merrill"

What signs are you ignoring?  Do you see crop circles, but blame the "kids down the street" for little late-night shenanigans?

Is it a coincidence that International Paper is shutting down paper plants, that HP refers to IPG as the "once cash cow", newspapers and magazines shift away from print, that industry show attendance dwindles, MIF falls off lease, and dealers now provide toner and coffee services, all while hardware margins shrink?

It's not so cryptic. The more difficult conundrum is figuring out which group you're in...

"Do you believe it because it's true or is it true because you believe it?"

#Managed print Services - TheDeathOfRelationship Selling

Original post, 10/3/11

"...Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over

But had me believing it was always something that I'd done

But I don't wanna live that way

Reading into every word you say

You said that you could let it go

And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know..."

All those original MPS Engagements are about to come up for renewal soon, aren't they?  Or do yours all have auto-renew's? Nice.

Are you setting yourself apart and building value into your relationship?  Or are you screwing them over, blaming them?

They'll figure it out, waking up one day and making you 'somebody that they used to know...'

MpS'es I speak with report a customer retention rate of 99.9999%, mentioning their depth of client relationship as one of the supporting pillars.

Relationships. That's what it is all about - but how do you define a "relationship"?

Quarterly Business Reviews? Weekly client meetings? Lunch and learns? Bondage and Rapport? "Nice Fish".  That was then, this is Now.

-- Read the Rest Here --





Click to email me.