www.printitreseller.uk PRINT, MFP, SOFTWARE, SERVICES, DOCUMENT & CLOUD NEWS & INFORMATION FOR VARS, CONVERGED RESELLERS & MFP DEALERS 20 23 Royal Lancaster · December 5 ENTRIES NOW OPEN Visit www.printitawards.co.uk to view the categories and register to enter Lexmark’s print system components work Best Together to: Need quality printing that protects your investment? Genuine Lexmark supplies delivers • Deliver long-term reliability • Save time Learn more about Unison Toner by watching a short video that shows what happens when happens when third-party toner is introduced into Lexmark’s Unison Print System. Like your dog and its ball …or like genuine Unison™ Toner and Lexmark printers. GENUINE LEXMARK BestTogether 10 YEARS · ISSUE I05 IN PRINT & ONLINE ISSUE 105 · 2023
In association with: MAGAZINE & WEBSITE Our awards team are busy planning and preparing the PrintIT Awards 2023. We’ve introduced a few changes this year, new categories and new entry criteria, and we’ve lined up a stellar panel of experts to determine the winning entries. Entries and Voting are open. BOOK YOUR TABLE TODAY! Tables and spaces will be at a premium – secure your place at this must attend event – call us now. SPONSORSHIP To get even more involved we have a number sponsorship opportunities available leading up to and at the event. To Book a Table or to enquire about Sponsorship Opportunities call Ethan, Neil or Paul on 01732 759 725. www.printitawards.co.uk 20 23 Royal Lancaster · December 5 SPECIAL AWARDS n Judges’ Special Award n Industry Leader of The Year CORPORATE AWARDS – ENTRIES n EOS Manufacturer of the Year n Channel Services Provider of the Year CATEGORIES CORPORATE AWARDS – VOTING FOR n A3 MFP Vendor of the Year n A4 Printer/MFP Vendor of the Year n Hardware Distributor of the Year n EOS Distributor of the Year n Finance & Leasing Provider of the Year RESELLER/DEALER AWARDS n Reseller of the Year (Turnover up to £3m) n Reseller of the Year (Turnover £3m+ to £9m) n Reseller of the Year (Turnover £9m+) n Client Project of the Year n Service Team of the Year PEOPLE AWARDS n Account Manager of the Year n Marketing Team of the Year n Rising Star Award PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS AWARDS n A3 MFP Line of the Year n A4 Printer/MFP Line of the Year n Scanner of the Year n Device Management Solution of the Year n Cloud Print Management Solution of the Year n Security Solution of the Year n Best Workflow Solution n Mobile Print Solution of the Year SPECIAL AWARDS n PrintIT Award for Marketing Campaign of the Year n PrintIT Award for Environmental Excellence n PrintIT Award for Best Partner Programme n PrintIT Award for Employee Experience n PrintIT Award for Innovation 2023 Categories
PRINTITRESELLER.UK 3 I am delighted to announce that we have officially gone live with the PrintIT Awards 2023. Entries are now open, please visit www.printitawards.co.uk to check out this year’s categories and register your interest. Don’t leave it until the last minute and risk missing out on your chance to shout about your achievements – the deadline to complete submissions is 5pm on July 21! In the first of a two-part feature, this month’s VOX POP sees a number of the sector’s vendors explain which products, solutions and services they offer are currently most in demand and why, as well as the key challenges facing the channel at the moment (page 40). Also in this issue, Natasha Wrighton, Channel Development Manager, Canon UK & Ireland, picks the work tools she uses every day and couldn’t do her job without (page 18). This month’s Q&A is with David Forsyth, Founder and Director, Document Data Group, and PITR spent 60 seconds with Kelvin Paterson, Head of Supplies, Ingram Micro UK. If you’ve got any news about your business to share, would like to be included on our monthly VOX POP panel, have a compelling business success story or simply wish to comment on any industry issues, please get in touch with me at: [email protected] Michelle Ryder, Editor PRINT.IT Reseller is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., 10 Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 Email: [email protected] www.printitreseller.uk No part of PRINT.IT Reseller can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. ©2023 Kingswood Media Ltd. Design: Sandtiger Media www.sandtiger.co.uk 04 Bulletin What’s new in printers and printing 16 People A round-up of new hires 18 I couldn’t do my job without... Natasha Wrighton picks her favourite work tools 20 A decade in print Richard Wells shares his print experiences over the past decade 22 PrintIT Awards Entries are now open 26 Focus on: What’s New A round-up of recent product launches 33 Remanufacturing PCL Direct Group expands its sustainable product offering 36 Q&A Q&A with Martin Randall, Vision 39 Events Network Group Gala and Awards 40 VOX POP Product trends: part one 46 One-to-One Greig Millar, Chief Revenue Officer, Brother UK 48 View from the Channel David Forsyth, Founder and Director, Document Data Group 50 60 seconds with... Kelvin Paterson, Head of Supplies, Ingram Micro UK 2023 ISSUE 105 printitreseller.uk Comment Register online To receive your regular FREE printed copy of PrintIT Reseller Magazine simply fill in our online registration form at www.printitreseller.uk/register If you no longer wish to receive PrintIT Reseller magazine please email your details to [email protected] Read PrintIT Reseller online at: www.printitreseller.uk Join us : Follow us @PrintITReseller Issue 105 I SSN 2055-3110 (Print) ISSN 2055-3129 (Online) Group Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 · [email protected] Editor: Michelle Ryder 01732 759725 · [email protected] Publishing Director, Social Media and Web Editor: Neil Trim 01732 759725 · [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 · [email protected] Account Manager: Jeff Root 07976 950285 · [email protected] Art Director: Nick Pledge 07767 615983 · [email protected] COMMENT Lexmark MPS Express Our turnkey cloud solution frees your customers and their teams from day-today printer management Scan the QR code to contact us now 20 23 Royal Lancaster · December 5 10 YEARS · ISSUE I05 IN PRINT & ONLINE
BULLETIN 01732 759725 4 Data management becoming more complex Nutanix has announced the findings of its fifth global Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey and research report, which measures enterprise progress with cloud adoption. Key findings include: n 60% of IT teams leverage more than one IT infrastructure, whether it is a mix of private and public clouds, multiple public clouds, or an on-premise datacentre along with a hosted datacentre. That number is expected to grow to 74% in the near future. However, this leads to challenges - 94% say they’d benefit from having a single place to manage applications and data across diverse environments. n Data is driving infrastructure decisions for enterprises, with data security, protection and recovery, and sovereignty topping the list of key drivers. However, visibility is a growing challenge - 94% of respondents agree that having full visibility is important, but only 40% report having complete visibility into where their data resides. n 85% of respondents consider cloud cost a challenging IT management issue, and 34% rank it a significant challenge. 86% agree that moving applications among environments can be complex and costly. Additionally, nearly half (46%) plan to repatriate some applications to on-premise datacentres to mitigate cloud costs in the year ahead. n 92% agree that sustainability is more important to their organisation than it was a year ago. This shift in priorities is primarily driven by corporate ESG initiatives (63%), supply chain disruptions (59%), and customers’ purchasing decisions (48%). www.nutanix.com The great tech unrest Over three quarters of tech talent in the UK are unhappy in their current jobs and actively seeking out new roles, according to the What Do Tech Talent Want in 2023 report, by hackajob. 20% of tech talent are ready to leave their jobs as soon as possible, with only 11% happy to stay in their current role. After compensation, candidates are most attracted to a role and organisation by the overall culture (15%) and mission (13%). When asked what they loved most about their current company / what makes them stay, almost half of all surveyed (44%) said company culture followed by flexible/remote working (13%). Remote working (61%) is the aspect tech talent enjoy most about their jobs, ranking above tech stack (34%), benefits (25%) and location (21%). The biggest work-related frustrations and challenges include salary (34%), lack of learning and development (32%) and not feeling valued (32%). https://hackajob.com. IPIA sets out to stimulate print economy As part of its wider mission to energise the print industry, the IPIA will host its first physical event of the year – the Spring Networking Lunch – at Orelle in Birmingham on June 14. Matthew Ruff, Chair of the IPIA Events Subcommittee, comments: “Last year’s event was a huge success, largely down to the structure of the event and providing the opportunity to meet new connections and share experiences of the market. Not only are our events great for meeting potential new clients, but they are also perfect for finding future collaborators and maintaining existing relationships.” Tickets are now available online at: ipia.org.uk/snl23 Cloud is proving its mettle New research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has found that while 62% of organisations are still in the process of migrating applications to the cloud, 14% have now completed this process and are using cloud to help develop their AI strategy. This provides evidence that cloud is now helping businesses break new ground in technology projects, pushing beyond its traditionally recognised benefits such as agility and scalability, and helping companies continue to innovate in the face of a challenging economic climate. The data, taken from CIF’s latest research white paper, Breaking new ground with cloud, also examined the importance of ESG and sustainability credentials when organisations choose a cloud provider. Key findings include: n 90% of survey respondents consider machine learning either very important or critical to their business, while 86% say the same about AI. n 82% consider ESG and sustainability credentials as important when choosing a cloud provider, and 85% would reject a provider if these credentials weren’t in good order. n 67% say current economic challenges are affecting IT spend at their company. n 96% say their cloud strategy has delivered against expectations, although only 43% say it has delivered totally against these expectations so far. n Complexity of migration is the leading cause of cloud projects falling short of expectations, cited by 65%. https://cloudindustryforum.org
BULLETIN SCC acquires Vohkus SCC has acquired Fareham-based £100m turnover IT reseller Vohkus. This is the first acquisition since the company announced a £300m technology investment programme to underpin its continued growth, targeting significant purchases in a multi-year strategy aimed at consolidating its position as Europe’s largest private investor in technology.. The acquisition represents an opportunity for SCC to scale its presence in the country and to bring its broad range of product and services offerings to Vohkus’s customers. SCC also gains a talented and experienced team of professionals recognised for delivering best-inclass customer service. Vohkus Co-founder, Ritchie Sharma, will retire from the company, with Frank O’Leary (Co-founder), Lance Forster, Ian Hounsome, and Graham Gaut guiding the business day-to-day. James Rigby, SCC CEO, said: “Vohkus prides itself on creating long-term trusted relationships with its people and its customers. It was apparent from our first conversation that Vohkus shares our strong entrepreneurial culture, with exceptional customer experiences at the heart of everything it does. The long tenure of its people and the talent it has within its growing services business will add tremendous value to SCC. In return, we can help scale Vohkus as part of the SCC family.” www.scc.com 01732 759725 6 Contract win Parallel Office and Document Solutions win another contract from multi-national distribution company Bunzl PLC. Parallel Office and Document Solutions specified, installed and now manage the fleet of printers across 21 sites for the Cleaning & Hygiene Division of the organisation (BCHS). Using Parallel’s pre-delivery configuration meant the 21 sites could be rolled out in less than three weeks. Once the unit arrives onsite and is connected to the network, it can be ready to use within five to ten mins. This reduction in downtime and minimal disruption was a key part of the proposal. Sustainability is fundamental to Bunzl Plc, and Parallel’s partnership with PrintReleaf was another key decider in the decision-making process. Bunzl can log in and see how many trees have been reforested (730 to date) as a result of offsetting their printing volumes. This then becomes an integral part of the environmental statement of the entire business and further develops the green credentials of the organisation. Craig Goody, Bunzl’s Bunzl Cleaning and Safety IT Support Manager, said: “Working with Parallel Office and Document Solutions was really easy. The software and reporting they have provided gives a simple way of seeing accurate data on our printing operation. The units’ installation was incredibly efficient – in installing and configuring in excess of 100 machines – only one had an issue, and even this was solved quickly. Rolling out 21 sites in three weeks was some feat, but Parallel delivered every step of the way!” https://parallel-group.co.uk ERS scoops two awards In the fifth consecutive year of Epson’s awards that celebrate the success of its ColorWorks partners, and new to 2023, its mPOS partners, Electronic Reading Systems (ERS) has been awarded two of the three awards dedicated to ColorWorks – Partner of the Year and Project of the Year. The ColorWorks Partner of the Year is awarded to the Epson reseller with the highest sales volume of ColorWorks hardware and demonstrates the continued success from ERS in the label printing market. Project of the Year Award is designated to a sale of ColorWorks hardware that represents high revenue, robust collaboration with Epson and the end-user customer, and the environmental savings achieved by shifting the customer from outsourced to on-demand labelling. Steve Gibbons, Head of Sales at ERS, said: “We’ve been a ColorWorks partner since 2017, not long after [Epson] started really disrupting the market with on-demand colour label printers, and we’re delighted to have picked up two awards this year.” www.epson.co.uk BCN Group completes second deal BCN Group has announced the acquisition of MSP and Microsoft Solutions partner CMI. Founded in 2009 and with offices in London, Belfast and the Thames Valley, CMI offers a complementary product set to BCN as specialists in Microsoft Modern Workplace, Microsoft Azure, cyber security and managed IT. This is the second acquisition since ECI Partners invested in BCN in 2022, and follows the purchase of Microsoft Dynamics 365 specialists, Evo-soft, in September 2022. BCN CEO Rob Davies, said: “CMI’s complementary product and service offering allows us to increase our Microsoft customer base and strengthen our team of technical experts. Importantly, the acquisition means we can take our combined technical capability to the next level, further establishing BCN as a key player among UK managed service providers.” Ken Roulston, Managing Director, CMI added: “This is extremely positive news for our team and customers. The additional capabilities BCN Group brings will expand the support, skill set and technology available and create even stronger IT support. We are looking forward to aligning our offerings and provide our strengthened specialist support to our ever-growing customer base.” https://bcn.co.uk Business Design Centre · London · 12 September 2023 23 ICT · MANAGED IT · MOBILE · PRINT tech-live.co.uk Headline Sponsor
BULLETIN CMYK to support Seriös Group The Newcastle-based operation of national business technology provider CMYK has added another one of the region’s fast-growing tech consultancy firms Seriös Group to its client portfolio. CMYK has been selected as Seriös Group’s new IT and business support partner and the partnership further highlights its position as one of the region’s go-to providers for workplace technology. Seriös Group delivers bespoke data and test solutions across a range of industries such as real estate, facilities management and technology, working with the likes of Jones Lang LaSalle, Sage and De La Rue. The fast-growing tech business formed in 2020, has grown headcount to 45 and is targeting revenues of £5m this year with headcount expected to increase to 80 in the next twelve months. The new partnership means CMYK will be responsible for all IT issues faced by Seriös Group people, including team member onboarding services, licensing and hardware procurement. Seriös Group will also be utilising CMYK’s corporate branded onboarding services. Lee Rorison, CEO at Seriös Group, said: “We are delighted to be working with CMYK in what I would describe as a true outsourced IT support partnership. The nature of our business means we need to be able to scale our hardware and cloud resources on demand with a quick turnaround, and CMYK demonstrated their abilities and experience in being able to do so in a manner that works well for Seriös Group both commercially and in practice. Having trust in our IT support partners was a key factor in our decision to select CMYK, and I’m looking forward to working with them over the coming months and years.” www.cmyk-digital.co.uk PRINTITRESELLER.UK 7 Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive at Aston University, and Sir Peter Rigby, Founder and Chairman of SCC Argon to operate as Apogee subsidiary Apogee has agreed to acquire Argon Business Systems Ltd. Originally formed in 1983, Argon is a well-established services provider in the Isle of Man, predominantly providing IT-based services, whilst also having MPS and other professional services capabilities. Argon will operate as a subsidiary of Apogee with operational independence and continue to grow and develop its team while expanding its range of managed IT services into the Apogee customer base across the UK and Ireland. Apogee has a long history of demonstrating exponential growth both organically and through acquisition, having completed 20-plus acquisitions to date. This is the firm’s third acquisition since announcing its change of ownership to HP in 2018, and it will continue to consider further strategic acquisitions to drive its growth in the UK and Continental Europe. Aurelio Maruggi, CEO of Apogee said: “This acquisition helps strengthen Apogee’s position as a leader in managed workplace services, both in the UK and, as we continue to drive growth, in Continental Europe. Argon’s reputation will enhance Apogee’s coverage and capabilities to support its customers with managed IT services, while forming part of our ongoing growth strategy, as we aim to create the perfect combination of secure and flexible solutions for our customers’ workforce. Apogee’s portfolio of services has been created to deliver the right technology and solutions to any workforce, and this acquisition further enhances our IT capabilities as we continue to provide a bespoke and market-leading service to our customers.” www.apogeecorp.com Digital innovation SCC and Aston University have partnered to explore the future of digital technologies and digital skills through the new Aston Digital Futures Institute (ADFI) and the Aston Health Services Hub.. The ADFI, led by Aston University, aims to drive high impact research in digital technologies and create innovative solutions that transform industries and improve business and lives. SCC is excited to be a part of this initiative and is committed to leveraging its expertise and resources to support the programme. As part of the partnership, SCC will be contributing industry expertise to the research programme in the areas of data analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital transformation. The newly announced strategic partnership in Birmingham is also set to deliver training programmes for students and professionals in digital skills and emerging technologies, with a focus on health and digital innovation across a range of priority industry sectors in West Midlands. Under the new partnership, Aston University and SCC will work together to identify additional areas of interest, including the potential of establishing a joint Digital Skills Academy to develop and implement training programmes for students, professionals and community in digital skills and emerging technologies to address the digital skills gap and improve digital inclusion. SCC has also joined Aston University’s Computer Science Industry Club, an exclusive network of partners, leading academics and switched-on students who work together to drive ambition and inspire progress. Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive at Aston University, said: “I am delighted that we have established a strategic partnership with a leading UK technology company SCC to drive digital innovation in Birmingham and the region.” www.scc.com 20 23 Royal Lancaster · December 5 ENTRIES OPEN – PAGE 22
BULLETIN 01732 759725 8 Recognition for TD SYNNEX TD SYNNEX has been rewarded for its continued investments in supporting Veeam partners by being named as the vendor’s Distributor of the Year for the UK and Ireland for the third year in succession. It has also been named Veeam Cloud Aggregation Partner of the Year, UK and Ireland, for the second year in a row. Simon Bennett, Director of the TD SYNNEX Cloud Solutions business unit, UK, said: “TD SYNNEX has once again supported partners in driving significant growth in Veeam sales. These accolades are a recognition of the strong customer-first approach taken by TD SYNNEX and its success in driving higher conversion rates of renewals to cloud subscriptions. This is the result of a continuous programme of investment to ensure that the dedicated team is able to offer the best levels of knowledge and support to partners.” https://uk.tdsynnex.com Sustainability ecosystem TD SYNNEX is launching a sustainability ecosystem that will bring UK and Ireland partners together to learn how they can reduce their carbon footprint and develop and deliver solutions and services that will help their customers to move towards their own net zero carbon (NZC) goals. The programme will bring together partners who have an interest in or solution for sustainability at regular face-to-face workshops. As part of the initiative, TD SYNNEX has created a sustainability workshop framework, which can be delivered to groups of partners. This is designed to help partners reflect on the key issues around sustainability and how they can take measures to drive down their carbon impact and help customers do the same. Neil Cornish, Ecosystems Business Manager, UK, TD SYNNEX, said: “Our partner network already includes companies that have specific skills and capabilities in this area, such as MSPs running green data centres, partners offering sustainability analytics and reporting software, and expert consultancies. By bringing these organisations together and adding our own knowledge and services into the mix, we will accelerate understanding and enable new partnerships and solutions.” uk.tdsynnex.com/ Exclusive distribution agreement Printronix has announced an expansion of its printer portfolio, through an exclusive distribution agreement for serial dot matrix printers with Fujitsu Isotec. Printronix Americas was already the exclusive distributor of Fujitsu SIDM printers, while Printronix for the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) was a non-exclusive distributor. Under this new agreement, Printronix EMEA region will also be the exclusive distributor for the Fujitsu line of SIDM printers. Through this partnership, Printronix and Fujitsu will broaden their customer base and strengthen their presence within these important markets. Marlon Woolforde, Printronix President, said: “With the addition of the Fujitsu DLseries SIDM printers, which is one of quietest printers in their class, Printronix will provide customers through its growing portfolio of industrial printer solutions a one-stop-shop for all industrial impact printing needs; providing unrivalled performance, maximum equipment uptime, and ultra-low operating costs. The launch of the expanded SIDM portfolio is the next step in Printronix’s mission to become a single source provider for all its customer industrial printing solutions.” www.printronix.com Exertis expands cybersecurity offering across Europe Exertis has launched Exertis Cybersecurity throughout its European offices. Security has always been part of its portfolio, and the division was bolstered further when Exertis Enterprise (previously Hammer) was acquired. The business unit continues to go from strength to strength and has recently seen an influx of new vendor signings including eSentire, Progress, Scylla, Seceon and Veeam. The team was also recently named 2023 Distributor of the Year and Authorised Training Partner of the Year (EMEA) by SonicWall. The European locations that will be offering cybersecurity solutions are the Nordics, Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, France and Germany. All offices have had, and will continue to have, in-person training from the UK Security Directors and Managers. Dominic Ryles, Director of Sales and Commercial at Exertis Cybersecurity said: “We’re delighted to be rolling out our cybersecurity solution stack across our European offices. We look forward to strengthening our relationships with our European colleagues, partners and customers.” www.exertis.co.uk SYNAXON brings UK partners together SYNAXON has hailed the success of its first hosted event of 2023. Around 40 attendees came together to hear about the latest offerings from leading supplier partners, Barracuda, Pax8 and OpenText, discuss market dynamics and share best practices. SYNAXON partners from as far afield as Edinburgh attended the event, held at Molineux, the home of Premier League football club, Wolverhampton Wanderers. As well as hearing SYNAXON’s plans to further develop its key offerings – SYNAXON Hub, SYNAXON Managed Services and the EGIS e-procurement platform, partners took part in a series of round table discussions. Subjects covered included an exploration of the potential of extended detection and response (XDR) solutions and services, how to add value with cybersecurity, and the challenges of managing a growing portfolio of cloud customers. Managing Director Mike Barron, said: “It was great to bring some of the key members of the SYNAXON UK community together to share their current ideas and experiences. SYNAXON is all about helping partners find new ways to develop and grow, and everyone benefits from these gatherings in different ways.” https://synaxon-services.com Dominic Ryles Neil Cornish Simon Bennett
PA6000x PA5500x PA5000x PA4500x PA6000x Series KYOCERA Document Solutions (UK) Limited ECOSYS just got greener. Introducing the new ECOSYS PA6000x Series of mono print devices from Kyocera. These ultra-ecient devices deliver great performance with a low total cost of ownership, thanks to long-life image drums and energy use that is Scan the QR code or visit: www.kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk/pa6000x-series Discover more: But low energy consumption, the use of recyclable plastics and fully recyclable packaging aren’t even the greenest things about the new ECOSYS PA6000x Series. That’s because these new workgroup devices are carbon neutral as standard. as low as 0.5w in sleep mode.
01732 759725 BULLETIN 10 Trio of sustainability honours Lexmark has been awarded a trio of sustainability-driven honours from the Science Based Target initiative (SBTi), EcoVadis and ENERGY STAR. The SBTi has validated that the GHG emissions reduction target submitted by Lexmark is in conformance with the SBTi Criteria and Recommendations (version 4.2). In its SBTi submission, Lexmark is committed to meeting three objectives by 2030: reducing absolute scope 1 GHG emissions 27.5% by 2030 from a 2019 base year; increasing annual sourcing of renewable electricity from 0% in 2019 to 100% by 2030; and reducing absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from the use of sold products by 22% per printer sold by 2030. Lexmark was awarded the platinum EcoVadis rating in EMEA for the second year running. The EcoVadis platinum rating represents the top 1% of companies worldwide with sustainable business practices. The company was also named a 2023 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy. www.lexmark.co.uk VAST Data partners with HPE Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has incorporated VAST Data’s file software platform into the new HPE GreenLake for File Storage service. By leveraging VAST’s scale-out software architecture for the new HPE GreenLake for File Storage, enterprise customers can manage unstructured data with high performance at scale to deliver superior time to data insight. “By combining VAST Data’s next-generation architecture with trusted hybrid cloud infrastructure and data services from HPE, customers now get the best of all worlds combined into a single, simple to consume solution from HPE,” said Renen Hallak, Co-Founder and CEO of VAST Data. “VAST is laying the foundation for the future of data management and AI workloads, and together with HPE, we’re continuing to innovate for the enterprise, where data is at the centre of every application strategy and business decision.” www.hpe.com • https://vastdata.com Infotone pledges commitment to sustainability Infotone has joined ETIRA - the European Toner and Inkjet Remanufacturers Association. Infotone specialises in supplying quality remanufactured ink and toner cartridges that are compatible with all of the leading printer brands, as well as a recycling service that includes free collection of empty cartridges. Jamie Hughes, Founder and Managing Owner, said: “Remanufacturing is a vital aspect of our organisation, as it allows us to provide affordable, high quality printer cartridges while also reducing waste and supporting sustainability efforts within the printing industry. “We learned about ETIRA through our search for industry associations that align with our values and goals, and we became a member because we truly believe in the work the association does.” www.infotone.co.uk A strong performer M-Files has been named a strong performer in The Forrester Wave: Content Platforms, Q1 2023 report. The technology platform received the highest scores possible in both metadata and commercial model categories in the 26-criteria evaluation of 13 selected content platform providers. Forrester stated in the report: “M-Files has a unique metadata-first point of view in the content platform market, distinguishing itself from the skeuomorphic folder-first approach of many competitors.” www.m-files.com New environmental goals Konica Minolta has set significant new environmental goals, including aiming to make its products from more than 90% circulated resources (recycled materials and biomaterials) by 2050. With that goal in mind, the company aims to enable the reuse and recycling of materials as many times as possible to minimise waste and the consumption of natural resources. Along with its goals towards the use of circulated resources, Konica Minolta is also committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and considers climate action as the most urgent area for action. The company is continuously working to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions throughout the product life cycle and eliminate waste. In 2005, it recorded 2,067 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions; in 2021, the figure was 790 thousand tonnes of CO2, which is a reduction of 61%. In 2050, Konica Minolta aims to reach the net zero target in Scope 1, 2 and 3. "When Konica Minolta published its EcoVision 2050 in 2009, the targets were in line with what were strict standards for the time. However, as the climate crisis exacerbates, these are no longer appropriate. We have therefore committed to setting stricter climate protection targets to fulfil our responsibility as a global company (with more than 39,000 employees worldwide) in regard to minimising our ecological footprint significantly. We also support our customers and suppliers in achieving their environmental goals”, said Olaf Jonas, General Manager Environmental Social Governance at Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. The company has also been selected for the 2022 CDP Supplier Engagement Leader in the Supplier Engagement Rating by CDP, an international not-for-profit organisation working to achieve a sustainable economy. www.konicaminolta.co.uk Olaf Jones Jamie Hughes 2 0 2 3 See page 49
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01732 759725 12 BULLETIN M-Files achieves record growth M-Files has achieved 33% year-over-year growth in subscription revenue and 40% growth in new customer sales in 2022. The company says it continued to dominate the small and medium-sized business market and drive value into the enterprise market with an average new customer deal size that grew 60% YOY. M-Files boosted sales in Western Europe by 59%, grew bookings for professional services industry customers by 30% and gained 100 new clients for its external collaboration solution, M-Files Hubshare, reaching new milestones in key growth metrics. www.m-files.com Partnership to revolutionise labelling workflows A strategic partnership between Epson and Loftware aims to ‘revolutionise customers’ labelling workflows’. The two companies will collaborate to develop cloud-based 1-step colour printing solutions to improve print efficiency and ease-of-use; and lower barriers for on-demand colour label printing through seamless integration with SAP and other leading business systems. The partnership will integrate the Epson ColorWorks series of colour label printers with Loftware’s NiceLabel Cloud platforms. Businesses will be able to print from NiceLabel Cloud directly to Epson ColorWorks cloud-connected printers. This will improve productivity, reduce customers’ reliance on IT, minimise print errors, and decrease the cost and inventory of pre-printed labels. "We're partnering with Epson to help businesses of all sizes move their labelling into the cloud," said Paul Vogt, VP of Channel and Alliance Strategies at Loftware. “Businesses are adopting best-of-breed partner labelling solutions and 1-step colour label printing to bring radical improvements to their supply chain printing operations. We’re delighted to collaborate with Epson to deliver such transformation.” www.epson.co.uk • www.loftware.com Exclusive partner benefits Konica Minolta has introduced its new ‘Exclusive Partner’ scheme which recognises and rewards channel partners that solely sell its hardware products and services. The new scheme, which the company believes to be unique in the UK channel, forms part of its recently reinvigorated partner programme. Whilst the company has always fully supported and appreciated its sole line partners, this is the first time that a dedicated recognition scheme has been in place to specially cater for the needs of these specific partnerships. Cameron Mitchell, Business Leader for Indirect Channel said: “We have all been through some very challenging times over the last few years, and we felt it was the perfect juncture to re-examine our commitment to our partners who have been exceptionally loyal and supportive to the Konica Minolta brand. It was clear that along with our recently reinvigorated partner programme there was a great opportunity to further recognise and reward our sole line partners. The new ‘Exclusive Partner’ scheme is designed to do just that, providing additional support and incentives that add real value as well as celebrating this exceptional level of commitment to our joint business.” www.konicaminolta.co.uk OwnBackup and Cohesity join forces Cohesity and SaaS data protection platform OwnBackup, have joined forces to deliver customers a modern data security and management solution for their essential SaaS applications. Cohesity and OwnBackup are partnering to simplify this effort for their joint customers across an array of popular SaaS applications including Salesforce, Microsoft 365, ServiceNow and Microsoft Dynamics 365. This partnership will provide both companies’ customers with enhanced capabilities to backup and seamlessly recover multiple data types, across a wide array of SaaS applications. With Cohesity and OwnBackup, customers will be able to choose to back up their data to their on-premise environment, or to a fully-managed cloud environment. www.cohesity.com • www.ownbackup.com 150 years of innovation Konica Minolta is celebrating its 150th anniversary, which sees the company reflecting upon its long history of innovation, as well as focusing on present successes and looking towards future evolution, as it continues to adapt to meet the opportunities and challenges for its customers, partners, employees, and the wider world. CEO Rob Ferris said: “Our journey started 150 years ago with a vision to see and do things differently and that same purpose that kept us moving then, keeps us moving now. As we mark our 150th year we recognise the significant contributions of not only our own team but also our valued partners and of course all our customers. This anniversary further inspires us all to continue our tradition of innovation and to recognise that there are no limits in our determination to make the future brighter. This first 150 years is just the start, and we look forward to shaping the next chapter in our long history.” www.konicaminolta.co.uk Yealink joins PSNI Global Alliance UC specialist Yealink has joined the PSNI Global Alliance, the world’s largest global network of premier technology integrators and service providers, as a Global Preferred Vendor Partner (PVP). The PSNI PVP program connects vendors and PSNI’s Certified Solution Providers (CSPs). All vendors within the program are prescreened by the CSPs to ensure that only the best technology providers are represented. Customers who engage with the alliance are assured seamless installation and support, benefitting from the collective expertise of PSNI’s integrators and vendors alike. www.yealink.com 20 23 Royal Lancaster · December 5 Cameron Mitchell Rob Ferris
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01732 759725 14 BULLETIN Epson nominates XBM on NEPA2 Framework Epson has named XBM as an Epson Nominated Reseller on the National Education Print Agreement (NEPA2) Framework. The agreement provides a compliant framework for XBM to provide print equipment and management solutions, primarily to universities and higher educational institutions, but also to publicly funded primary and secondary schools, further education, and the wider public sector. Dominic Kennedy, Public Sector Account Manager for Epson UK, said: “Epson’s inclusion in the NEPA2 Framework demonstrates just how important sustainability is becoming in the procurement criteria for the higher education sector. We are privileged to be on this framework and to be delivering cutting-edge solutions with all the qualities of local service thanks to our resellers such as XBM.” XBM Managing Director Richard Taylor, added: “This is great news as it enables our continued growth, recognising that XBM has the expertise and capabilities necessary to support public sector bodies. Our partnership with Epson, as one of only two Platinum Partners in the UK, provides the public sector with a genuinely more sustainable print option.” www.epson.co.uk • www.xbmltd.com Konica Minolta ranked in top 5% Konica Minolta has been listed in the Top 5% of the most sustainable companies in its industry in the Sustainable Yearbook 2023 by S&P Global. This is the 13th straight year that the company has been named in the Sustainability Yearbook. S&P Global calculates a total ESG score of up to 100 points for each company to assess the sustainability of business practices in the economic, environmental and social dimensions, and selects the top-performing companies in each industry for inclusion in its Sustainability Yearbook. www.konicaminolta.co.uk Circular economy solutions Lexmark has been selected as a partner in two new EU-funded projects to build circular economy solutions for the global marketplace. As the exclusive imaging equipment provider, Lexmark will contribute to both the Circular Economy Resource Information System (CE-RISE) project and DiCiM, a project using integrated digital solutions to improve circular manufacturing systems. Both projects are part of Horizon Europe, the EU Research and Innovation framework programme running from 2021- 2027. CE-RISE will foster a dynamic ecosystem geared toward prolonging the use of materials in the economy while Lexmark will contribute to pilot studies, create prototypes, and gather information for a digital product passport (DPP) which will enable the traceability of materials in the supply chain. The DiCim project will develop integrated digital solutions that make use of IoT, machine learning-based artificial intelligence, big data, image processing and augmented reality. As the only print manufacturer, Lexmark will assist the DiCiM project with IoT monitoring and identifying the key parameters in realtime. This will include implementing an open access digital platform and demonstrating the capability of the printers for enabling tracking, tracing, and condition monitoring. Maxime Furkel, Head of Government Affairs, Lexmark EMEA, and one of the project leaders of CE-RISE and DiCiM at Lexmark said: “We are delighted to be sharing our expertise with both the CE-RISE and DiCiM projects. Utilising our IoT expertise for the projects will be key to both continuing the critical work of developing circular economy solutions for the business world and will also help Lexmark further improve our own offering and approach as we build towards a sustainable future.” www.lexmark.co.uk DocuWare partners with One Tree Planted DocuWare has announced a partnership with One Tree Planted which will see it plant one tree for every new customer as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative. One Tree Planted, a non-profit organisation founded in 2014 which operates in 43 countries across the world partners with local communities and experts to initiate reforestation projects that promote biodiversity, create jobs, and help to restore damaged forests. Dr Michael Berger, President of DocuWare said: "We are excited to partner with One Tree Planted and contribute to global reforestation efforts. Our initiative to plant a tree for every new customer is a small but powerful step towards promoting a better environment for all.” www.DocuWare.com ePS acquires Tharstern Group eProductivity Software (ePS) has acquired (MIS) software provider Tharstern Group. . ePS provides transformational technology for the print and packaging industry and serves customers of all sizes and across all industry segments globally. The addition of Tharstern furthers its inorganic growth strategy and pursuit of delivering greater value to customers and the industry at large. It also further solidifies ePS’ leadership position in the SMB print segment and continues to drive geographical diversification of the business while adding new technologies to the ePS portfolio. “We are excited to welcome Tharstern’s customers and talented employees to the ePS family,” said Gabriel (Gaby) Matsliach, CEO of ePS. “We will continue to support Tharstern’s existing customers with the same enthusiasm they have come to expect, and we look forward to providing them with additional value by leveraging ePS’ global presence, industry knowhow, and rich product portfolio.” Tharstern’s team members will participate in advancing ePS’ cloud offering, growth strategy, and driving expanded customer value. www.ePSsw.com Maxime Furkel
01732 759725 16 BULLETIN : PEOPLE OKI Europe appoints new MD Takaaki Hagiwara has been appointed Managing Director of OKI Europe, succeeding Tsukasa Takasawa, who has moved into a new business development role in Singapore. Hagiwara has been with OKI since 1990, originally joining the company in the overseas sales and marketing division. He brings a wealth of experience to his role, having already served in many senior positions within OKI, including as Managing Director of OKI Systems (UK) between 2013 and 2018, where he was responsible for building the company’s position in the business to business printer, document output and management markets, while growing relationships with channel and business partners and core business customers across the UK, Ireland and Nordic regions. In his new role, Hagiwara’s focus will be on the continued development of solutions for verticals and new applications within the professional print technology market in the EMEA and India regions, and to explore opportunities for the application of OKI technology that has already been commercialised in other regions. www.oki.com/eu LastPass expands leadership team LastPass has appointed Terry Murphy as its Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining LastPass, Murphy served as Chief Financial Officer at Qualio, a SaaS B2B life sciences provider. He’s also previously served as Chief Financial Officer at Kenna Security and Whitehat Security. The company has also promoted Abby Miller to Senior Vice President of Customer Experience. Since joining the company in 2017, Miller has played a pivotal role in shaping how LastPass approaches customer success and has helped define and execute the company’s retention strategy across all customer segments. She already led LastPass’ customer success team, helping business customers find value throughout the customer lifecycle. In her expanded role, Miller is now also responsible for setting the retention strategy for all customer touchpoints and evolving the support model to give customers the best experience possible. www.lastpass.com Cohesity names Kit Beall CRO Kit Beall, former VMware, Cisco, and Uhana executive has joined Cohesity as Chief Revenue Officer. Beall brings more than 30 years of highly relevant experience to Cohesity, with deep expertise in software, cloud, security, artificial intelligence and managed services. In this role, he will use his vast international experience in overseeing all sales and partner functions worldwide. “I’m thrilled to join Cohesity at this important juncture of the company’s evolution,” he said. “Cohesity sits at the junction of three of the highest priority business issues today – security, cloud, and data management, and it provides a radically simple yet highly differentiated approach to securing, protecting and deriving value from data. I look forward to helping customers and partners succeed and working with this incredibly talented team.” www.cohesity.com Management changes at Brother UK Brother UK Sales & Marketing director, Andy Forsyth, has retired after a 40-year long career in business technology and 11 years with Brother UK. His retirement sees Brother UK establish new distinct business lines to support its strategic growth plans reporting directly to Managing Director Phil Jones. Greig Millar is appointed to Chief Revenue Officer to lead the firm’s sales teams and partner strategy, with Terry Caulfield appointed Chief Commercial Officer to lead the vendor’s category management, and specialist printing solutions division. Mike Anderson has been appointed Chief Marketing Officer leading demand generation and branding.. www.brother.co.uk Paessler hires UK&I channel sales manager David Durrant has joined Paessler as Channel Sales Manager. He will be charged with spearheading the UK channel strategy and developing relationships with new customers across the UK & Ireland. He will focus on selling Paessler’s product portfolio to enterprise, data centre and industrial markets as well as working with customers and partners across the network monitoring ecosystem. Durrant brings 12 years of experience in the IT industry to his new role at Paessler, with expertise in building and growing channel partners. He has a background in cyber security and monitoring solutions as well as a breadth of experience in business development. www.paessler.com Takaaki Hagiwara Greig Millar David Durrant Kit Beall Terry Murphy Abby Miller
BUSINESS BRIEFING PRINTITRESELLER.UK 17
01732 759725 18 WORKPLACE Natasha Wrighton, Channel Development Manager, Canon UK & Ireland, picks the tools she uses every day and couldn’t do her job without I couldn’t do my job without... to complete tasks in a timely manner. Speaking over the phone makes it more personal and an open line of communication, enabling me to build better relationships with my team and clients. e Notebook and pen I can’t get through a working day without having my notebook and pen. I’m an avid list writer and this helps me to focus on the tasks I need to get completed in a working week, enabling me to plan the necessary time for each task. I find it helpful to have the tasks listed out in front of me as a visual reminder of what I need to complete, and this helps me keep on track to meet deadlines. r Canon MFDs and uniFLOW Online When I’m reviewing or reading documents, I always prefer to print them off to review rather than looking at them on a screen. This is why I find both Canon’s MFDs and uniFLOW Online useful tools. The MFDs allow me to print hard copies of work and uniFLOW Online q My Team I couldn’t do my job without my amazing team. We’re there not just to get the job done, but to support each other and offer guidance and advice. Being able to collaborate with the team ensures diverse thinking and solutions to tasks, enabling us to tackle them in the best way possible. That collaboration can also take us down new avenues, which might not always be the conventional route, but the best one. w My Phone I’m a big people person and my preferred method of communicating is face-to-face meetings. But, where that’s not possible, giving them a call is the next best thing rather than going back and forth over email. This makes my phone an absolute essential tool for me to stay in touch and communicate with my team and clients, enabling me allows me to manage my printing and scanning workflows and devices. This enables me to print anything, anywhere from any device, making hard copies of work accessible from wherever I am. t Microsoft Teams Teams is an essential business tool which integrates the people, content and tools I need to engage and collaborate with my team. Using Microsoft Teams means that everything we need to work together is available at any time and is all in one place. This tool has supported a diversity of working styles, giving everyone what they need to do their best work, no matter how, when, or where they work. Microsoft Teams has been and continues to be vital as we look towards a more hybrid workplace, allowing us to collaborate from wherever we are working, be it in the office or at home. https://www.canon.co.uk Natasha Wrighton
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