01732 759725 42 VOX POP continued... As more organisations than ever before operate hybrid working models it’s resulting in more devices and endpoints to protect. products that cut the time to produce a job within the print room environment. So whether that’s inline finishing, software automation tools or our IQ quality care system - this is where print room buyers within both the inplant or commercial print sectors see the difference. Steve Holmes, EMEA & Americas Regional Director & GM, PaperCut: PaperCut MF – our print management software that helps hundreds of millions of people around the globe to minimise waste while enjoying secure and easy printing - remains extremely popular. But as the nature and location of the workplace changes as organisations adopt hybrid working models, we’re seeing increased demand for PaperCut Hive. A highly advanced print management solution, PaperCut Hive is based on an innovative cloud-native platform that provides easy integrations with other services. It helps facilitate the transition to cloud-based print in line with organisations’ broader cloud migration strategies and helps slim down infrastructure requirements, saving costs and simplifying management. Phil Madders, Managing Director, PAE Business: Device management is still our core offering and our new platform Printanista Hub is in demand – being driven by the superb new DCA and Remote Device Link. The ability to log on to any device internal web page via the portal is dramatically reducing support costs for our dealers, and as the upgrade process is very simple, we are very busy moving our customers over to the new platform. Its sister product Printanista Workflow, is gaining ground as offering a leading user management solution to customers who want to simply identify the who, what, why and how of print activity in their organisation. They can have this insight for a nominal cost. The data creates opportunities for more valuable sales and is a great value-add for our dealers, as well as creating a useful recurring revenue stream. Our new sales automation solution – Cloudquote is flying as it offers a very easy to use platform for delivering accurate and professional quotations, with up to date prices and standard messaging, and tracking the progress through the sales cycle to order processing. It saves so much time and increases the effectiveness and productivity of the sales team, it is a massive and obvious benefit to any organisation involved in sales. Greig Millar, Chief Revenue Officer, Brother UK: We’re continuing to see strong growth in demand for managed print services. We know that businesses like the hassle-free nature of paying small monthly fees and letting their supplier do the rest. And word on how they can save on their printing and consumable costs by switching to MPS is spreading quickly. We’re helping our partners to seize this opportunity. Take Printerbase, for example. It recently reported a 50 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of Brother MPS contracts sold in 2022, and the business is expecting a similar increase this year – this opportunity exists for partners across the channel. Julian Hodges, Head of Product Marketing, Sharp UK: Over the last few years, we’ve seen a rising interest in our Team Room hardware. As new ways of working become engrained in the workplaces of today, organisations need solutions and products to support collaboration for geographically dispersed teams. In addition, visitor management is also in demand. With office-based and hybrid workplaces, like education, requiring a way to know who is on site at any one time. When it comes to IT services, software and our MFPs we’re also seeing demand for cloud rather than on-premise. Many organisations are making the shift to the cloud and want all their technology moving forward to facilitate this. Finally, we’re seeing rising demand from our customers for support with cyber security, particularly around Cyber Essentials and end-user education. As more organisations than ever before operate hybrid working models it’s resulting in more devices and endpoints to protect. It’s key organisations continue to invest in the security of their data with firewall protection, endpoint security, email security and end-user education. P PrintIT Reseller: What do you view as the key trends driving decision-makers’ buying habits and how can channel vendors take advantage of this? Henning Volkmer: Our customers are navigating an ever-complex world as they move on from the pandemic, face geopolitical realities and economic uncertainties while attempting to keep pace with the trend of digital transformation that hasn’t yet reached top speed. Channel vendors who can offer solutions and guidance are the ones that stand out from the crowd. Know your customer and their business challenges, put yourself in their shoes, and offer cost-effective, reliable and secure solutions to the challenges you see your customers face. If your customers are still determining where the journey will take them, offer options and guidance, show the flexibility in your solutions, and how these solutions will adapt without incurring extra cost should business parameters or outside factors change. Look beyond printer hardware, supplies, and traditional add-on options like job volume reporting and Mark Ash
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