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Thursday, October 6, 2011

My Thoughts on KonicaMinoltas Aquisition of Officeware

I had an email last night from a P4p'er that wanted to know my thoughts about this acquisition by KonicaMinolta.
I took a visit to the Officeware web site and was surprised with the MPS tone and strategy of the site, but as I dug a little deeper I realized that the copier dealer message was still embedded in the web site.
In a blog I posted at the end of 2010, I had predicted that copier manufacturers like Xerox, Ricoh and KonicaMinolta would start to buy MPS organizations.  Officeware seems to be one of those hybrid dealers that is playing in both worlds (MPS & Copiers) and there's nothing wrong with that because I firmly believe Hybrid dealers like Officeware can make a difference with a MFP's and MPS.
Who loses?  Canon and Ricoh as far as placements, Officeware customers for support as the company starts to sell and support more of the KM product.
I'm sure there are some disgruntled employees, but you'll get that with any changeover.  KonicaMinolta Business Systems wins a major portion of coverage from Midwest central Ohio, all of central Indiana and Midwest Illinois.  I'm just guessing, but I'm thinking one of the reasons they purchased Officeware is because there was not enough coverage of KM in this area.
At this time I believe the entire Copier Industry is still changing through acquisition, it's the only way to grow and the only way to preserve market share. With that I believe all of the manufactures are spread very thin with support and this purchase at this time could be challenging for the buyer and the seller.
As you can tell, I really don't have a lot on this. The competitors of Officeware that carried either Ricoh, Savin or Canon will be delighted to see the acquisition and give them a chance to secure the customers who are brand loyal to Canon and Lanier (Ricoh).  As with all purchases from a manufacturer tomorrow will be no different from yesterday, but as time rolls on turmoil will mount with parts support, tech support and solutions support from Lanier (Ricoh) and Canon.  It's no doubt that Officeware will do it's best to get the major portion of the non KM systems out of the field in a short amount of time.
Our industry is…well…driving our own demise so to speak.  We’re selling MFP hardware to reduce clicks, reduce cost per page, those dealers that are not the Hybrid (Professional services, MPS) or do not have a plan for a Professional Services model will sell themselves out of business. 

-=Good Selling=-

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