Print.IT Reseller - issue 63

from procuring print transitionally, and benefit from flexible payment options, which can cut spend and free-up cashflow. For example, UK pharmacy chain Day Lewis saves more than £100,000 each year on printing from its MPS solution with us. Awareness of these cost savings is driving more interest and subsequently adoption of MPS. “MPS and HaaS solutions both provide a route for vendors to build more meaningful, long-term relationships with their customers. But there’s a challenge to overcome as the industry continues to transition towards services, which is increasing the level of competition for suppliers. However, fully managed systems under MPS are where vendors and partners have the greatest opportunity to solve pain points and build customer retention. “Vendors, together with their partners, must adapt and enhance their tried and tested MPS and HaaS offerings to differentiate their services. Supplies replenishment, fleet renewal frequency, device monitoring, flexible payment terms and high-quality servicing and support will all be key in getting ahead of the competition, while building long-term customer relationships.” Jamie Coombs: “Altodigital is definitely looking at this and plan to implement our solution presently. We already do SaaS and DaaS so adopting HaaS is the logical next step.” Martin Randall: “Our offering already encompasses ‘as-a-service’ elements and like (no doubt) most, we are constantly evaluating how our offering will continue to evolve.” www.utaxuk.co.uk www.dsales.eu www.synaxon.co.uk www.altodigital.com www.commercial.co.uk www.sharp.co.uk www.hp.com www.visionplc.co.uk www.brother.co.uk PrintIT Reseller: Is the HaaS model something you are adopting in your business in order to stand out in a market where hardware commoditisation and margin erosion are prevalent? Compared with IT, print is behind the curve for as-a-service leasing PRINT IT RESELLER.UK 45 VOX POP of circumstance, it’s important that they express that at the design stage. “As a result many customers will define a core service and contract for that specification, but build in a degree of flexibility in case they want to send some devices back at some point or change the equipment. This means we can define the requirements as effectively as possible, and build in the necessary flexibility. “Customers also want contractual simplicity and transparency so many prefer a single set of terms to cover the equipment rental and the services provision. This avoids arguments about which contract takes precedence. “It’s not possible to contract at the best level of cost, and have total flexibility. Flexibility means paying a premium: the terms are better for a three year contract than for six months, that’s logical. Short-term arrangements are available of course, but they cost more. “Going forward, customers need to try to anticipate any change in their requirements and build it into the specification at the outset: the pace of change is accelerating so this is more of a concern today than perhaps it has been in the past.” Simon Warnes: “On the one hand, the as-a-service model doesn’t necessarily lend itself to long-term service provisions, because it doesn’t always come with the same commitments as a traditional lease. However, I do think it helps to build long- term loyalty with customers. Compared with IT, print is behind the curve for as-a-service leasing, so HaaS is currently a differentiator and helps to position OEMs or dealers as more flexible and innovative than their competitors. While moving to a 100 per cent as-a-service model may mean end-user procured commitments become shorter, the ability to provide flexible solutions that meet your customers’ needs is certainly conducive to successful long-term business relationships.” Gary Tierney: “Service models like MPS and DaaS definitely build longer-term relationships between vendors and customers. With contractual, customers have the benefit of choice when it comes to their IT requirements – while the vendor or managed service provider can harness insights over time that allow them to provide an even better offering. “It also means vendors can offer further value-adds which might otherwise be overlooked – for example, print supplies that deliver not only on the customer’s quality needs, but also their sustainability goals through closed-loop recycling. “This aaS trend is already gathering pace. When we launched our DaaS platform in 2016, one in every 100 PCs in the market was under a DaaS contract. By 2020, IDC expects it to be one in every six or seven PCs.” Martin Randall: “Customer relationships are built through trust and confidence so if HaaS can be used to breed more of this then potentially yes, but I don’t see the model itself being a relationship differentiator.” Mike Mulholand: “The availability of both HaaS and MPS models has presented channel partners with an opportunity to switch customers away Alastair Adams Martin Randall