Photizo Transform 2013 Wednesday Roundup

 

Early to Bed and Early to Rise? Not me, I hung around the sports bar Tuesday night and spoke to many P4P members, it was a good time put a face on the member.

I spent most of Wednesday morning after breakfast in the Transform Exhibit area.

Oki with NOC in a box was a really cool spin for dealers that would like to get into MNS, however they lack the resources for a full blown plan.

Muratec, also offering an even better version of MNS at a super price. Their program was extremely interesting

What is "Print Management"?

Kudos to Trevor Hoffer from Print Audit for this article. Trevor is our featured "Guest Blogger" for the month of January!

What is Print Management? How will it benefit you and your customers?

Despite the fact that print management has become a ubiquitous term there is still considerable 

confusion about what exactly it is and what its benefits are. Many people confuse print management and fleet management solutions, but the two perform very different functions.

Fleet management (or device management) solutions are used to collect meter reads on imaging devices and perform service functions such as supplies management and service history tracking.

In contrast, a comprehensive print management solution allows organizations to capture and control every print job that occurs in an environment. Print management solutions also enable organizations to control who can print to where and can be used to alter user behavior by setting printing limits, restricting color usage and forcing duplexing. 

10 Questions for the Manual MPS Assessment

Recently, I had an appointment with a "net" new account that was interested in our Managed Print Service Program. This was not a large account (about 30 employees).  Of course the first item of business was to close on the assessment. In this particular business there were over 15 assorted printers from Dell, HP & Okidata.

In smaller accounts I'm not a big fan of all the assessment software tools that are available. When doing a manual assessment one of the items of business is to inventory the entire fleet. I'm a big fan of doing a walk through and collecting my data the old fashioned way.

Of course the manual assessments will take time, however I'm introduced to every person in every department that prints. Not only do I get to meet that person, but I also get a few minutes to interview that person about how they use the printer. After I print the configuration sheet from the printer I'll then have a short interview with the main user/users of the printer.

1.  What size of paper do you print onto?

12 Days of Christmas "What my Copier Company Offered to Me"

I have two of these, one my wife did and I did another. I got her point of view, typical office worker scenario. My wife helped me with some of these and thank you dear!

We'll see which one is liked best by all of you!

On the 12th day of Christmas, my Copier Company offered to me:

12 Document Management Solutions

On the 11th day of Christmas, my Copier
Company gave to me:

11 Cartridges of Toner

On the 10th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

10 Boxes of Staples

On the 9th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

9 Ways to Save Paper

On the 8th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

8 Boxes of Paper

On the 7th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

7 More Invoices

On the 6th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

6 New Print Drivers

On the 5th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

5 New Proposals

On the 4th day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

4 Buy it now end of month emails

On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

3 more phone calls for end of quarter sales

On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

2 New Broken Copiers

On the 1st day of Christmas, my Copier Company gave to me:

1 Print Management  Service Plan for all

-=Good Selling=-

Managing Print Costs for Wide Format Ink Plotters

Over the weekend I took the time to finish one of my spreadsheets that enables us (Print4Pay Hotel members) to identify the cost per square foot for HP inkjet plotters.  Let me tell you this was no easy task.  Why in the world is there no information from HP that states how many mililiters of black ink is used to print one square foot for a CAD drawing?  Every time I searched the HP web site for additional information about cost per page for Designjet plotters I was stymied by a notice that stated there was no information.

I was able to find a few documents that related to color use, but nothing related to CAD drawings.  Each HP plotter cartridge tells us how much ink is in the cartridge, but you'll never use all of the ink due to evaporation, ink head cleaning/purging and some residual ink left in the cartridge.  For example one cartridge has 69ml (mililiters) of ink.  Thus I was curious as to how much ink is a mililiter.   A mililiter measure to be one thousandth of a liter.  I know liters because that's because most of the soda bottles are now measured in liters, but how about a mililiter?  Is that less than a shot glass, more than a tablespoon? I found this handy document that tells us 1ml is also equal to 1cc, 2.5 ml is equal to a half of teaspoon, 5ml is a teaspoon, and 30ml equal two tablespoons or 1 fluid ounce.  Ok, I get it so the HP cartridge that hold 69 mililiters of ink is equal to a little more than 2 ounces.  Since the cartridge resells for $69, the price per mililiter is $1.00.

As I stated the key was to

Dr. Print Offers to Cure Your Print Pain

Who says you can't have fun and offer up FREE print solutions?  We've just landed the guru of print to our Print4Pay Hotel forums!

Just about a week ago me and the wife paid a visit to the boardwalk at Seaside Heights, NJ aka Jersey Shore. The sweet smell of the salt water, the blistering sun, the throngs of people and who the heck do I run into?  The Doctor of Print....aka Dr. Pcl5, it was like old times again!

Geesh, I hadn't seen DP in almost 20 years!  So what do people from Jersey do when they're at the boardwalk, you guessed it we drank together, ate Italian hot dogs, clams, lobster, laughed together and reminisced about the glory days of selling copiers.

But there's more to this than you think,  I took the time to show Dr. Pcl5 the Print4Pay Hotel forums, and convinced him with about 5 beers and 5 shots of tequila (we poured the tequila in the beer) to come on board as our Print Doctor.  After the 5th beer and tequila we were in bad shape, Dr. Pcl5 decided it was time to pack it in the for the night and I had to be driven home by the wife. But, it was an eventful time with an old friend and a new member of the Print4Pay Hotel forums.
Here's a small sampling of Dr. Pcl5 knowledge. In the past has offered up customized print solutions for Fortune 500 companies and is experienced with almost every Operating System and applications being used by some of the largest companies in the world!  Both Dr. Pcl5 and I agree that print is NOT dead, it's just more of a moving target and niche print systems and solutions will continue to grow and provide print stream management opportunities that will increase click, revenue and professional services. 

Think about it, does anyone of your customers or potential customers experiencing pain with their printing? Do they have this pain every day or is it just once in awhile, does the pain subside on different days of the week and increase on other days?  Have you been avoiding your customer because you couldn't offer them a pain free solution or you just couldn't find the right Doctor to collaborate with? 

I say, the wait is over!  Dr. Pcl5 wants you to post your toughest print questions and he promises that he can offer up a customized solution that will cure your customer, earn your respect and win you additional business with new and existing accounts. It's starting to sound like Ron Popiel now right?

What's the cost........, well there is NO cost, all you have to do is be a member of the Print4Pay Hotel forums, post you thread about your print pain and Dr. Pcl5 will analyze and offer up a solution to cure the print pain! Click here to find your pain free print solution!

At this time, I can't tell you who Dr. Pcl5 is, all I can tell you is that Dr. Pcl5 is the Guru of print, the King of SAP, the Duke of ERP, and the Lord of Linux and residing somewhere at the Jersey Shore.
-=Good Selling=-

Top 7 Solutions @ Transform 2012 DOCassess @ #5

I've been a little backed up lately with providing the last three "cool" solutions from the Global Transform Photizo show in Orlando last month. But, I'm back on track and the #5 slot goes to DOCassess. Now, while I'm not an expert with MPS, however I've been doing MFP fleet assessments for years many years.  One nice tip when doing assessments is try to visit every printer if you can and find out who uses that printer, and then interview them about the media requirements that they have. This information is very handy if you are upgrading the fleet, and also opens the door for additional print work flow opportunities such as print stream management.

This blogs a little different from the rest,  I actually asked Mike Lamoth to list some bullet points for his solution and I loved the fact that last bullet point addresses work flow so that you may be able to uncover work flow opportunities!

As Managed Print Services gains more momentum globally the need to have reps articulate whats involved with MPS, how it differs from the past "over promos under deliver" and actually perform a professional assessment so they can actually speak more intelligently about the customers environment has become a necessity. Not to mention, the Dealer or OEM is now on the hook because they are telling the customer I will manage your print environment for $$. So they require reliable resources to help them understand the TRUE picture and not pie in the sky.

What was once a nice to have has become a must have and that’s an assessment tool.

One of the biggest complaints I hear from dealer principles is that many of the tools in the market require an analyst to use and the dealer can't afford an analyst for every rep. So we developed a sales aid and an assessment tool for all sales reps to use.

How does DOCassess differ:

• Ease of use
• We have incorporated a Print Environment Balanced Score Card as a sales aid – this allows the rep to meet with the customer and discuss their print environment by asking 22 related questions. At the end the customers score will fall into one of three categories giving them some industry stats and suggesting they move forward with an assessment.
• Two types of assessments – Surface Level for SMB (small to medium business) and Advanced which goes so far as to offer individual device TCO's, a sophisticated carbon calculator, and much more.
• Interview section to asked end users questions that will uncover process and workflow improvements

One of the strongest financial sections in the market providing detailed current vs proposed options, blended service, financial comparison down to a CPC (cost per copy) etc.

 

Take a trip here to find out more about DOCassess.

 

-=Good Selling=-

Top 7 Solutions @ Transform 2012 Print Audit Premier @ #4

Remember the Photizo Global transform Conference in Orlando?  Many vendors had excellent solutions for MPS and MFP vendors or as I like to say "We help companies put information on paper". 
Print Audit especially their Print Audit Premier Program is far an away the best SaaS solution that I've come across for MPS and MFP vendors!  Print Audit had the vision to package licenses of  Print Audit Facilities Manager, Print Audit 6, Print Audit Assessor, Print Audit Secure, Print Audit Embedded, Print Audit Rapid Assessment Key for one low monthly fee!  If you'd like to know more about the program please click Print Audit Premier .

So, where's the value?  The value to me (I used to own a dealership) is that I can sell the software for a monthly fee per device or I can built the software in to my current maintenance agreement billing. The model that I like best is the cost per page, you've gotta do the math, however adding .005 or .01 for every page printed or copied can generate a lot of revenue in a short amount of time.  Not only does this provide an ongoing revenue stream but your dealership will remain sticky in the account, meaning when the lease of the copiers or printers comes up for renewal, do you really think that the customer will go to another vendor if they lose the licenses to anyone of the Print Audit programs that we offered? 

As MSP amd MFP vendors manage the prints on the device, why can't we manage the software charge to the customer for a low monthly per device fee or the cost per page billing?  There's zero up front cost to the customer!  As vendors we could bill the maintenance, installation and professional fees for a monthly fee, charge the customer a one time fee or build it into the cost per page billing.  On another thought, let's say you're in on a new account, they have no need for MPS, hardware or services, but you've got a hit with let's say Print Audit 6.  They need 50 licenses, what would be easier to get approved a purchase order for $10,000 (guesstimate) or $4 per month per license for 60 months?  My quess and what I'd like to present is the $4 per month per license.

What I've seen over the years especially with lean times still among us (did you know that Obama stated the other day that "the private sector is doing fine", let him work my job for a month or so and then tell me how the private sector is) companies would like to have the benefits of the software solutions but are holding back because of the upfront cost.   Print Audit Premier gives us a unique way to have a creative financial software solution that will benefit the customer and the dealer.

BTW, yes Print Audit is a sponsor of the Print4Pay Hotel and I'm proud that the Print4Pay Hotel is partnered with one of the best Managed Print Corporations in the world!

-=Good Selling=-

Transform 2012 Conference "Hotter Than Ever"

Day one had passed and then day two, and overall, I'm impressed with the event. I actually ran into a few Print4Pay Hotel members and finally after all of these years got to meet Lee Rummage from RJ Young. When I tell you the Transform Conference was HOT, well it was that and then some, just about 1PM there was a huge brush file that developed only a mile away on Route 4.  Traffic is bad enough in the Orlando area and this fire had four or five choppers in the sky and flames that were reaching 30 feet high (I'll be posting the video on the p4p forums in the next few days).

On Wednesday evening Oki hosted the evening reception @ Hiltons Signature Island. Food, drinks and networking, at this time I also had to the chance to meet Greg Walters (Death of the Copier) and now the newly elected President of the MPSA. I also ran across many new contacts and believe it or not many readers of the mfpsolutions blog.

I also had the chance to speak with Tim Brien from Oki, Lou Stricklin, Carl Mica and Jim D'emidio (President) all from Muratec. On another note representatives from Ricoh, Canon, Xerox, Oki, Lexmark and KonicaMinolta were in attendance. however there were no shows from Sharp and Toshiba....think about it.

On Thursday morning Ken Schmidt (Former Director of Harley-Davidson) presented and engaging keynote address about customers and how you need to break the mold and have them start talking about your company. Thursday evening we were rounded up and attended an event at the Orlando Harley Davidson dealership. Boy did that bring back memories of my 1980 Harley Roadster/Sportster.

There were also 16 different talk track seminars slated for Thursday and another 13 for Friday. I didn't have the chance to attend any of these because I was busy on the show floor along with a Press Luncheon/Press Tour and still had to close my month since we close on the 24th of the month.

I was also able to talk with Adobe about Leanprint (if your a Print4Pay Hotel member we have something special from Adobe in the next week or so), Preton about their SaaS toner optimazation software, Great America with Collabrance, Print Audit with their Premier program, ESP with an awesome new product that will allow you to do an enery assessment for all devices that are plugged in (even water coolers and refridgerators), Falcon Technologies with an awesome Cloud Ipad Sales Software app, BEI Service Providers, Oki and their Total Managed Print Solution and Intellenetics which has an awesome Cloud Based Document Management System that is......so unique that I'll have a blog dedicated to the solution.

Other partners in attendance American PrinterWare, BTA, ChannelEyes, CompTia, Digital Gateway, DocSolid, ENX Magazine, FMAudit, HP, In-Map, Intel, Intronics, Genius Bytes, Global Printer Services, LMI, Lexmark, Mirrored Image, MPSA, MWAi, N-Able, Newfield IT, Nuance, ODC, Parts Now, PREO, PrintFleet, PowerSource, Ricoh, Supplies Network, Synnex, The Imaging Channel, Xerox and YSoft.

I'm a copier guy, never really got into MPS (cause my dealership only dabbled in it), but like everyone else I know what MPS is about. MPS is facing the same set of issues as the MFP industry, so called declining page volumes, lower profits and how can we change in order to be prepared for the future.

I can see the convergence of elite/hybrid MFP and MPS dealers/companies that are or will make the transformation to MSP (Managed Service Provider). So while a lot of the talk track seminars were centered around MPS there were also a few that centered around MSP.

So, far I've enjoyed every minute of this show, I also wondered why there were not more MFP dealers here. We all put toner on paper right?

Forget about ITEX, forget about the Dealer shows, if you want the real spin on what's going on with the imaging industry (remember we put toner on paper) you all need to make the trip to Scottsdale, AZ next year. Whether your engaged with MPS, or MFP's we all put toner on paper. Photizo is committed to helping those that put toner on paper to become more successful, more profitable and enlightening us on the latest trends and technologies that affect our business model.

If you're considering going to a show next year I would highly recommend the Transform 2013 which will be held in Scottsdale, AZ next year.

By the numbers from Photizo:

Global Imaging Market:

$120B global hardware market revenue predicted in 2015 (forecast 360, June 2011)
1% rate of global hardware market revenue decline between 2010 and 2015 (forecast 360, June 2011)
$118B size of global supplies market in 2015 (forecast 360, December 2012)
2% growth rate of global supplies market between 2010 and 2015 (forecast 360, December 2012)
$78B global MPS market revenue in 2015 (2011 MPS Market Size, Share and Forecast Report)
20% rate of global MPS Market revenue growth between 2010 and 2015 (2011 MPS Market Size, Share and Forecast Report)
9 out of 10 most rapid MPS expansions are taking place in less developed regions like Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

More MPS:
$725 average cost per year, per employee to print (pre-MPS)
30% average percent of savings after implementing an MPS program
60% average reduction of hardcopy fleet carbon emissions after implementing MPS
50% percentage of office printing revenue expected to be under MPS contract by 2014
3rd rank of MPS engagements in relation to other IT projects
12% amount of IT budget represented by printing

Stay tuned for my top 7 solutions I liked from the Transform 2012 show.

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 4/3/2012

The pioneer in Managed Print Services (MPS) for health care, has been distinguished for its vendor neutral business model by a Quocirca researcher as a 'best of breed' independent MPS company that focuses on business process transformation that ...
See all stories on this topic »

By Laura Stotler Independent UK managed print IT services company M2 has launched its Intelligence platform. The new platform is part of the company's core managed print services software and enables end users to proactively monitor and manage their ...See all stories on this topic »

Manchester, UK – 3 April 2012 – M2, the UK's leading independent managed print IT services company, today announced the launch of its pioneering 'Intelligence' platform, an addition to its core managed print services software, which enables end users ...
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Ryan said that, as part of the technology upgrade, Super A-Mart also engaged Brennan for a managed print service (MPS) in partnership with Ricoh Business Centre (RBC). According to Ryan, the MPS forms part of a vendor consolidation process that enables ...
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IRVINE, CA  -- 04/03/12 -- Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. (http://business.toshiba.com), a leading managed document services (MDS) provider and business printing solutions innovator, today introduced the B-EX4T2, ...See all stories on this topic »

"Our managed print service fixes these frustrations so we felt a film featuring some of our people smashing printers to pieces with axes and sledgehammers was apt and long overdue. "We felt it our duty to take on the burden of corporate plc and every ...See all stories on this topic »

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh’s PCS Director Embedded Now Compatible with the Latest Generation of Ricoh MFPs

 

Ricoh's PCS Director Embedded Now Compatible with the Latest Generation of Ricoh Multifunction Devices

The print management product is one of very few solutions to be released to the field as compatible with Ricoh's latest line of multifunction devices, which feature the new GW+ architecture.

Calgary, Alberta - April 2, 2012 - Ricoh's PCS Director Embedded, a print management solution powered by Print Audit®, has been tested by the Ricoh product testing team and confirmed as compatible with the newest line of GW+ multifunction devices officially released in February of 2012. 

Ricoh's testing of PCS Director's compatibility with GW+ began on March 1st and was completed on March 12th, which was more than 2 weeks ahead of schedule.  Ricoh PCS Director is one of only a handful of embedded applications that as of March 30th had successfully completed the GW+ testing.
Ricoh PCS Director Embedded is a software application that runs directly on the touch panel of Ricoh multifunction devices allowing organizations to easily track and charge for all of their walk-up copying, faxing and scanning.  Embedded integrates seamlessly with the desktop version of PCS Director, providing a comprehensive print, copy, scan and fax tracking solution that is compatible with all types of printing devices.

PCS Director is a Ricoh OEM software tool that can help Ricoh sales branches and independent dealers win more deals and keep more customers by offering a high-demand print management solution that adds thousands of dollars in savings to their proposals.

For more information on PCS Director Embedded, click here to contact a Print Audit Solutions Consultant today.  

About Print Audit®:
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Print Audit is the fastest growing managed print services company in the world. By providing businesses with innovative and practical print management software solutions, the company has helped customers recapture over $200 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year. Print Audit has offices located in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/28/2012

Chris has the experience and expertise to help guide UniPrint's expansion into the printing virtualization and managed print services market as a major enterprise player." "As enterprises look for new ways to reduce costs, they are realizing they can ... See all stories on this topic »

National Service & Support: Samsung PrintIQ™ provides full technical support for all of its customers through a national network of service partners. Mr. Joe Barganier, the president of the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA), said about this ... See all stories on this topic »

In the first, the Government Procurement Service has selected the UK arm of Xerox as sole supplier for an estimated £150m multifunctional devices contract and as a preferred supplier of managed print services in a new framework agreement, ... See all stories on this topic »

Leasing opportunities can be managed on the GreatAmerica industry-leading web portal, Info-Zone.” MSPmentor first heard about GreatAmerica through its work in the managed print services market, helping channel partners and customers to finance printer ... See all stories on this topic »

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/27/2012

ROCHESTER, NY, Mar 27, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- For the third consecutive year, Xerox (NYSE:XRX) earned the top position in managed print services (MPS), according to analyst research group Quocirca's 2012 report. Xerox maintained its leadership, ...
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By Robert Dutt Major managed print services provider alliances in Canada and the United States are coming together to increase their ability to do cross-border business. Canada-based National Print Services Alliance (NPSA) has announced that it will be ...
See all stories on this topic »

Opt2Vote supplies electronic vote counting solutions to the 32 Scottish local authorities as well as managed print services to UK councils. It is based in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. IDOX will pay an initial consideration of £2.7m, with a further ...
See all stories on this topic »

As a hosted service, Intellivue(TM) can also complement our Managed Print Service offering by using Multi-Function Device printers for scanning. The shared device approach combined with the efficiency gains inherent in routing documents electronically ...
See all stories on this topic »

Manchester, UK - 27 March 2012 - M2, the UK's leading independent managed print IT services company, today announced that it has been appointed to the Government Procurement Service, YPO and ESPO agreement for print audit ...
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The move was prompted by Danwood's acquisition last May of Document Express, a £10m-turnover managed print services provider based in Oldham. Document Express, which installs and maintains printers, copiers and other equipment, was founded in 1994.
See all stories on this topic »

-=Good Selling=-

The Birth of Managed Print Services "According to Art"

So, I'm just about to pack it in for the weekend after having to doggie sit for my sons dog while he's off at drill for the weekend.  "Nutbuster", that's my name for my sons dog cause she's just big enough to jump on you and well, the name states the rest. 

Anyway I came across this article The Origin of Managed Print Services: Xerox or HP? by Jennifer Shutwell.

Anything with Managed Print, Xerox or HP in the title will tempt me enough to give it a read.  Jen puts some excellent points across about the economics of Managed Print.  The article is an excellent read and two statements stood out for me "With the continuous incline and growth of printing volume between 1991 until 2007" and "The origin of MPS was from neither Xerox nor HP, but created from people seeing a need for management".

I wanted to elaborate on Managed Print and where I think the origin was.  Now, I'm not saying that this was a Jersey idea, however back in the mid eighties there was a Canon dealer that went by the name of Duplifax.  I hated when I crossed paths with them because they had a unique offering for their maintenance agreements for copiers.  Once sold, the copier was put on a "managed care" plan.  That plan worked off the yield of the toner cartridge.  What Duplifax did was to package four or five toners together and build in the cost for service.  For example, four toners had a yield of 40K copies.  So instead of selling the toner for $80, they would sell the "managed care" pack for $800 and include service, parts and supplies for as long as the toner lasted. If you got the yield of 80,000 pages then it was a good thing for you and if you fell short on the yield it was then a better deal for Duplifax.

To me, a seasoned copier professional the term of managed prints means to manage output from systems that print.  Analog copiers print, but they were printing an analog image from a photoconductor, fax machines made prints, and of course laser printers made prints also.  Somewhere in the mid 90's we saw our first digital copy machines that were able to print, copy and fax (scanning came later).  For those of us in the copier industry that knew what the cost per page was for fax machines, and laser printers (some of the first laser printers that remember came from a Canon print engine, I remember the engines well because the low end canon analog copiers used the same type of toner cartridge, those of us in the industry knew that these cartridges had a high cost per page when compared to traditional analog copiers) we were presented with a treasure trove of accounts that we could migrate to one system while lowering the customers cost for "printing".

In effect in the late 90's copier dealerships were already starting to migrate prints away from printers and managing the cost with maintenance agreements that covered everything but staples and paper!

So there we have it Jersey invented the "Managed Care" approach for copiers in the mid 80's and Jersey again led the industry by offering a "Managed Print Service" with their All inclusive Maintenance Agreements for Digital Copiers in the late 90's!

Did we make you laugh, groan or smile yet?  It's my perception that Managed Print evolved from the elite core of Copier Dealers from the 90's, even though most were not servicing or supplying laser printers then, the idea and concept transplanted to the printer industry.

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/21/2012

Xerox's efforts in managed print services are paying off, as its maintaining a strong leadership position in the emerging segment according to a new IDC report. The IDC Worldwide and US Managed Print Services and Basic Print Services (BPS) 2012-2015 ...See all stories on this topic »

The catch here -- and whether or not it is a big one remains to be seen -- is that the core message of IPG's broader integration into other aspects of HP's business is now managed print services. For instance, at GPC Scott Dunsire, Vice President, ...
See all stories on this topic »

With newly added intellectual properties, Lexmark is optimistic about taking a larger share of the Managed Printing Services (MPS) arena of the printing industry. As a new development in the printing business, MPS is attracting major industry players.
See all stories on this topic »

Additional features include managed print services, cloud monitoring and power management. “Managed Workplace 2012 further extends Level Platforms partners' lead in delivering innovative IT services to meet the rapidly evolving needs of their customers ...
See all stories on this topic »

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/14/2012

SA IT Services, an industry leader in Managed Print Services, today released their most recent white paper on Managed Print Services entitled, "Managed Print Services: Key Considerations." ROSWELL,
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 Implementing a company-wide managed print service program, a global chemical company documented savings of $27M over three years. With an advanced managed document solutions strategy, a financial firm created a secure printing environment, reduced costs and increased efficiency See all stories on this topic »

OKI win Managed Print Services Contract into World's Largest Online Bike Store in Ireland TOKYO, March 14, 2012 -- OKI Data Corporation, an OKI Group company specializing in the printer business, announces that OKI Systems Ireland has won a ...
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-=Good Selling=-

Selling MFP's & Copiers "Positioning yourself as an MFP/Copier Expert"

Do you feel that you're a top notch solutions & MFP sales rep? Do you consult more to the end user and then let the customer buy from you? Are you consistently producing print/document assessment reports for customers that have and instant ROI? Do you want to add more profit and value?

If so, you need to add this weapon to your arsenal. In your territory look up the 10 largest Accounting/CPA firms. Once you have them, be prepared to make the calls to success!

Accounting firms have many business clients that have trusted their services for years and years. What we want to do is to add value to the CPA's service's that they provide to their business clients, by added a new service for their customers. A customized Print/Document Assessment Report for their clients. I would recommend starting with Accounting firms that are already your customers. Have a plan that will outline how they can add value to their clients and be able to add some profit from your work also.

Positioning yourself as an expert in the field of print/document assessments, meaning you are offering your services to the Accounting firm for their clients, the Accounting firm can either bill out this service or include it as an additional service that they offer for their clients. Your goal is to sell your knowledge, expertise and nothing else. Have copies of Print Assessments that you have completed to show the accounting firm what the typical report entails, here you are breaking the mold from the common copier salesperson and establishing yourself as the solutions/MFP expert. You can even offer a FREE print/document assessment to the accounting firm to show them your expertise and your creative ideas for print/document assessment and print migration.
You can start by telling them about the high cost of printing to multiple devices and that you specialize in provided a detailed print assessment cost of what they are spending and a solution to save their clients money and or productivity. Your fees can be as much as $250 per hour plus expenses for your work. Even though MPS has been around for years, there are still many companies (and we need to find these right?) that have no clue as to what they are spending each year for copies and prints.

All of the information needed is at your finger tips, companies like Ricoh offer a COG (customer opportunity generator), this software program gives you real life per page cost for about 95% of all the print devices that are on the market. For the other 5% you can do your research on the Internet. I would even go a step further and consultant on page coverage. Producing this type of report especially if your MFP is using a tiered cpp pricing can have a dramatic effect on the bottom line.
There are many print management programs around, personally I like Print Audit, however nothing is better than visiting every single print device, generating a report and then interviewing the end user for their needs. Interview can uncover tremendous saving and opportunities for all. Plus what's often left out is the type of media that each user is printing on.

After the assessment has been completed you would give this to the Accounting firm that contracted you, they in turn would give the report to their client. You would have an agreement that if the client decided to move forward this would happen with your company.

This is just another way of positioning your self as the expert, and will allow you to gain easy access to new accounts. Keep in mind while you're in the clients office that you need to remove your selling shows and provide an accurate and professional assessment.

-=Good Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 3/1/2012

Industry leaders Supplies Network, Preo Software (TSX VENTURE:PKM), FMAudit, and NewField IT, today announced a coalition with a goal of transforming the practice of Managed Print Services. Effective use of end-user data and insights has been ...

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"We are very excited about the partnership with Fasoo and the opportunity to provide our joint customers with the next level of Managed Print Services," said Shane Hannan, President of Print Control Software, Inc. "The opportunity lies within our ...
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The company continued solid execution of its strategic initiatives throughout the year, focusing intently on bringing greater productivity to business customers through innovative technology and a rapidly growing software and managed print services ...
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"If you do a Google search for info sec burnout, you'll find nothing," said KC Yerrid, an information security and managed services consultant. Yerrid was one of several panelists who took part in a talk focused on IT security burnout and stress held ...
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-=Goos Selling=-

Daily Managed Print Service Industry Notes from Around the World! 2/22/2012

UniPrint(TM) Launches Infinity Managed Print Solution "Organizations are adopting managed print services with the goal of reducing the cost of printing while improving document processes and efficiency," said Scott Hornbuckle, Senior Market Analyst at leading managed print services research and consulting ...read more here

Konica Minolta To Exhibit Healthcare Solutions And Managed IT Services At ...
Services range from IT management, email security, server and network monitoring and 24×7 client help desk support designed to support healthcare specific IT requirements Managed Print Services for Healthcare – Konica Minolta's Optimized Print Services ...read more here

Managed print services are benefiting a list of segments that include defense contractors to financial services and healthcare providers. Enterprise businesses are starting to realize the bottom line benefit to getting their output under control....read more here

HP IPG shares recent solution offerings by the Company in print and imaging segment, technological advancements in the recently launched products, managed print service adoption and awareness rate and with other vital details....read more here

Managed Print Services is another focus area for growth. On the enterprise front, Print consolidation and Green initiatives are driving corporates to relook at their printer deployment and explore opportunities for savings, this is an area where HP is ...read more here

Good Selling=-

Managed Documents "The Next Big Thing"?

We've all read the hype about Managed Print Services, some of us have embraced it, some of us have tried it and stated it's not for us.  But did we ever think about Managing the Scanned Documents? 

I sell "down the street", hardware has always been my bread and butter.  After 32 years in the business I can see the trend to scan more, and email more and a distinct line in the sand for companies to not print and copy as much.  The documents are still there, they're just being scanned and saved more and more.

So, with more SaaS Cloud Document Management Systems on the horizon, the increasing popularity of Microsoft 365 why can't we (dealers) have a plan for SMB's to manage the scanned documents?

I hear excuses from potential customers like  "We'd like to do this, however we don't have the IT expertise to do this",  "We can't hire another person right now for this", "We're kind of illiterate when it comes to operating new software applications", "We can't afford the training right now". 

Everyone likes idea of being able to find documents when they need them and the idea of being able to access documents when they are out of the office. 

So, why can't we offer a Managed Document approach to the scanned documents?  I'm thinking we can do this easily and offer Block Time Agreements, a monthly billing charge or maybe a document charge.  We could meet with clients and develop their index and naming process. The customer would then scan all of the documents to a folder on the server, once a week we could log in, index and upload those documents to the SaaS program. 

We would only have to train the user in finding the documents, or we could even manage this part of the business.  Just think of it, no IT resources would be needed for the customer, no additional hardware, no learning curve on how to use the software.  We can manage and do it for them similar to a Managed Print Program, only we would control the documents.

We can bill professional services monthly or even bill by the document.  This would alleviate the large investment, along with removing the fear of buying a product and never using it.

I'm sure, someone, somewhere is doing this.  I think it's about time we offered this to our SMB accounts.  Thoughts, Ideas?

-=Good Selling=-