PrintIT Reseller - issue 49

PRINT IT RESELLER.UK 23 COMMENT are liked to be automated, vendors have developed propositions for addressing workflow challenges beginning with functional processes – such as accounts payable/receivable and human resources management – and extending into industry specific workflows. General customer onboarding solutions can be adapted and significantly enhanced to address the wider requirements for onboarding banking customers, registering healthcare patients or student administration. Vertical markets provide varying degrees of opportunity depending on current levels of business process management maturity and barriers to market entry. n Leveraging broader vendor portfolios to build new market offerings: Vendors have the opportunity to complement their print hardware and software portfolios with other products and solutions developed by the wider organisation. Most notably is the ability to address the needs arising from changing working practices with smart office services designed to enhance collaboration across virtual working groups. The reaction of many channel partners to changing business models is very mixed. Some will embrace it, some will dismiss it and some are waiting for early converters to avoid the pitfalls and leverage best practices. The easier a vendor can make the transition for its channel partner, the better. What this means for IT IT will need to bolster its digital capabilities as technology development accelerates. Its understanding of consumer trends will be a significant advantage as increasingly employees expect technology in the consumer world to be readily available in the business world (the hyper- consumerisation of IT). Relevant skills will be scarcer. Turning to an innovative services partner to address the challenge is an attractive option. More collaboration will be required between IT, the line of business and a Chief Technology Officer or Digital Transformation Officer if there is one. It is important not only to identify which challenges to prioritise but also not to restrict considerations within a special project team – the technology adoption must consider company-wide information management requirements. Management buy-in is essential. There is a requirement to develop clear rationale for technology adoption and specific benefits. And place specific emphasis on customer-centric processes to improve response times and easier resolution of customer issues. However, print will still play a major role in delivering content to customers, as they become bombarded with electronic communications. Of course, print security is a whole other issue and is bigger than the scope of this particular article. What this means for end-customers Partner with print and document services provider who can support your digital transformation – they need to be innovative and demonstrate that they are investing the right technologies to support your business through their project roadmap, as well as advise on which technologies will provide the greatest benefit to your organisation. Deploy a change management process, as technology adoption results in a fundamental reconstruction in how companies do business and provides a clear understanding of what skills are required in future. SMBs should not assume these technologies are for larger enterprises only. It is an opportunity to easily trial and adopt new technologies, while larger organisations face longer timescales for assessment, approval and implementation. What this means for market players Vendors need to evolve to survive and they need to ensure they have the right partners to take the journey with them. Not all of them will be willing and not all will qualify. Vendors need to assess their current partnerships to identify their appetite for change. In building out adjacent services, vendors and partners need to identify the skills gap and opt to recruit or acquire skills. Channel partners are at a crossroads. They need to decide where business is for them, how long they can survive as they are – and is that enough until they plan to retire, and if opting for building the business, how they plan to achieve this. www.idc.com * IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions 2018 Predictions, IDC #US43152617, October 2017 Vendors need to evolve to survive and they need to ensure they have the right partners to take the journey with them Jacqui Hendriks heads up IDC's European Managed Print Services and Document Solutions research and consulting practice. Hendriks has almost 25 years' experience of working in the output and information management market, working in industry for both Ricoh and Océ (acquired by Canon), as a research program manager for Gartner Group and also various European consulting roles at IDC. Her experience enables her to provide strategic planners and marketers, within technology companies, with market and customer insight, analysis, tactical advice, forecasting and marketing intelligence to senior management teams at local, regional and worldwide levels. Hendriks is leveraging her knowledge of the market and significant experience of managing cross-technology custom projects to support providers of basic and managed print services and solutions, monitoring the evolution from print services to broader support for business process optimisation. This includes experience gained from industry- specific business process projects and the development of sales and marketing content for tactical market implementation including rich media content development, moderating executive events and involvement in client workshops.