Print.IT Reseller - issue 56

PRINT IT RESELLER.UK 53 VOX POP market expertise and meet the ever changing demands.” Matt Hill, Sales Director – UK, Ireland & Nordics, Nuance Document Imaging : “If there are too many vendors chasing too few print opportunities, then this dynamic gives more power to the customers’ elbow when it comes to both choice and ensuring they get the best value. It also means that vendors need to think harder about how to differentiate and stand out in a crowded market – that too, plays to the customers’ advantage. “From a vendor’s perspective, a declining market usually results in one thing – the survival of the fittest – so optimising value and being highly attentive to customers’ needs becomes even more important if their business is to succeed.” Jonathan Whitworth, Managing Director, DSales : “The law of natural selection applies as much to the office print market as any other business sector. Those that adapt to changing market conditions will thrive and those that don’t will fail. “There is a role for print devices in the office, but not as purely print devices. Those vendors and resellers that focus on solutions such as electronic archiving, document workflow and data security will continue to prosper. Others that stay fixated on click counts will not. “Resellers are now recognising that a centralised device can also be sold as a document storage and processing hub, with solutions an integral part of the sales proposal. Develop offers a comprehensive portfolio of document management solutions to facilitate this need.” Joe Doyle, Group Marketing Director, Kyocera : “The decline in general office print volumes has been an ongoing issue for this market, so it’s probably fair to say that the number of vendors has already reduced in line with this. “Whilst the growth of electronic documents has resulted in a decline in general office print volumes, there’s an increasing demand for managed print services contracts to expand into areas such as cloud printing and biometric authentication. There are also business needs such as increased regulation, which drive solutions addressing security and compliance requirements. The challenge is how quickly OEMs and channel organisations can re-educate their teams and incorporate new value- added services.” John Gifford: “As I mentioned, I do think the trend will continue for some time yet, but exactly how that will play out is difficult to forecast at this stage. “The consolidation itself is not necessarily a bad thing at all, it may even mean the survival and improvement of some which could have a positive impact on the market in general. However, that is partially dependent on how these business operate post-acquisition and migration. End-user clients are more interested in cross-vendor and vendor-neutral solutions these days, be it MPS, document software solutions etc. but the danger of OEM acquisition of multi- vendor resellers could result in cornering the market too much, and removing the potential impartiality that some resellers may be able to offer prior to acquisition. Naturally this is a negative impact for end clients. “Those organisations purchasing others talk about it not changing things and not meaning they only sell certain products, but the reality is that this is business, and they do not purchase a company to then continue selling competitive products in the same quantities.” Mark Smyth: “Consolidation has helped us as it continues to reduce market competition, so it’s less for us to compete against. Consolidation also There’s an increasing demand for managed print services contracts to expand into areas such as cloud printing and biometric authentication continued... PrintIT Reseller: Is consolidation a good or a bad thing and do you see it continuing? Jonathan Whitworth Joe Doyle Elia Giovanni