Print IT Reseller - issue 60

VOX POP The latest edition of the Subscription Economy Index from Zuora revealed that subscription economy companies in Europe are growing at least six times faster than the companies represented by the FTSE (London), CAC (Paris) and DAX (Berlin). PrintIT Reseller asked a panel of industry veterans to explore the impact of the ‘everything-as-a-service’ trend on the traditional print market Changing business’ purchasing decisions John Gifford , Founder & Managing Director , Fiducia Strategic Consultancy : “From the print industry perspective I am not convinced it is hugely disruptive, but the channel will need to adapt in order to take advantage of an opportunity. In some ways it could be said that it is similar to a traditional lease and MPS set-up, with both hardware and services being paid for on a monthly or quarterly basis by the client, focusing on operational expenditure as opposed to capital expenditure. “The reality is of course that it is a very different method of bundling the two together. I do believe that it is the responsibility of the OEMs to help support and structure a way for channel partners to embrace the ‘as a service’ offering, especially for those traditional print resellers who are far more used to the transactional methods. “Given that Fiducia is a services only organisation where we do not supply hardware or software, the impact is minimal to us. Although we provide day rate based consultancy as part of our structure, we also provide short- to mid- term contractual offerings where clients are able to pay a recurring fee for the specific set of services they require.” Phil Jones , Managing Director , Brother UK : “We’re seeing a shift in how the overall channel dynamics work. Traditional box + invoice resellers are being marginalised in favour of service orientated players. This impacts everything from the traditional wholesaler/distributor supply chain and where the trade buys, the role of consumable only distributors and manufacturers taking more of the lead on larger opportunities provided. The landscape is shifting significantly and we are continually having to track and keep pace with these changing dynamics commercially and from how we provide sales and support resource.” Jeremy Spencer , Marketing Director , Toshiba Tec UK : “We recognise customers’ requirements and have changed the way we take products and solutions to market. Purchasing services by monthly fee is impacting on the way we deliver software particularly as a lot of software can be cloud-based which allows it to be available on a subscription basis. Process optimisation and business efficiencies are a key part of this, all of Traditional box + invoice resellers are being marginalised in favour of service orientated players PrintIT Reseller: The ability to purchase products and services for a monthly fee and realise efficiency and scalability benefits is undoubtedly impacting business’ purchasing decisions. To what extent is the way technology is ‘purchased’ disrupting the traditional print industry and in turn your business? John Gifford Phil Jones