01732 759725 ONE-TO-ONE 46 Mike Burke, Managing Director UK & Ireland at Asolvi, spoke to Michelle Ryder about the changes both in terms of technology and customer needs, he’s witnessed over the past ten years Step back in time competitive industry was always looking for the next way to do things and this, in turn, meant that we had to be an agile and responsive supplier.” Understanding the market Looking back over the past ten years, Burke notes that the go-to-market strategy is different in some ways, but similar in others. “The fundamentals are the same – you need to know who is within your market, understand the needs/wants, and ensure you can deliver against that,” he explained. “At Asolvi we benefit from having MPS customers throughout Europe (and beyond) and so have a ‘live feed’ of market requirements from our customers. The means of sharing news and information with potential customers is very different now, though, as it is largely a digital experience. In the past, as long as we were in PrintIT Reseller magazine, our market would know about us – now we need to be across all digital platforms, with LinkedIn being a very significant part of this.” Customers’ changing needs Burke says that both market and customers’ needs are evolving, and the Burke has held a number of sales and commercial roles in his career, however, after graduating university, he started out as a software developer. He said that it was a very different time to be a developer back then, with rapid development tools only just beginning to appear on the horizon. He first joined the print sector in 2007 following the merger of his previous company with Commonsense Business Systems (CBS) to form Purpose Software. “This allowed us to introduce our 2serv product to a new market, where the much-respected CBS product already had a huge footprint,” he explained, adding: “I was attracted by the sales energy within the sector, typified by the subtle variations in the way ostensibly similar products and services were packaged to customers in order to differentiate themselves. Such a pace of change is fast. “As businesses seek additional sources of revenue to deliver growth and offset declines in traditional sources of income, their requirements become more complex. As a result, our solutions need to solve more of their commercial and operational challenges,” he explained, adding: “It is therefore ever more important to ensure we understand our clients’ motivations and aspirations in order to remain relevant and keep delivering solutions to their challenges.” Burke is optimistic about the future. Looking ahead to the next decade and beyond, he said that being part of the changes the market is going through as it broadens its services to include not only print and related software, but also the full and varied range of workplace technology solutions is exciting. “There is also the changing landscape of office/hybrid/home working, and the revolution that AI is bringing, and will bring. “Our industry is no stranger to change and, in many ways, drives it, so to be a part of enabling success in such a dynamic environment is and will continue to be exciting!” he concluded. www.asolvi.com Mike Burke
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