Print.IT Reseller - issue 88

PRINTITRESELLER.UK VOX POP 43 Rather than having to piecemeal an overall solution, it makes much more sense to find a partner that has the ability to provide all of the client needs “We’ve taken over license management in some cases to unlock full access to key tools that they have potentially been paying for twice, using other third-party applications that do the same job as what they have already. “That’s where our services can be really influential to an organisation and help support their business goals.” David Warrington, Client Services Director, Office Fox: “The biggest impact here is making sure as an organisation we have flexible enough finance partners or internal resource to be able to fulfil the growing need for subscription and one-stop-shop style procurement. “The concept however is a sound one, where clients are now looking as much to choose the company as much or more than the service they require. Rather than having to piecemeal an overall solution, it makes much more sense to find a partner that has the ability to provide all of the client needs.” Julian Broster, VP of Strategic Business Development, Apogee: “Consumer behaviour has been evolving over the past five to ten years, and it’s no secret the desire to purchase goods on a subscription-based model is on the rise. “The shift from ownership models to XaaS so far has been gradual. As an innovative solutions business, we are monitoring this development and look forward to embracing the change, as we always have done in the past. “We have been very transparent with our embrace of Apogee cloud-based offerings, such as our cloud print services, and forged strategic partnerships with tier 1 software providers to provide this service effectively. It is part of our key strategic directive and exemplifies how we constantly adapt our services and processes to match consumer needs and wants – rather than holding onto outdated models. I think it's the key to our success, and we will continue to deliver this.” Martin Roberts, Managing Director, Neuways: “It’s a great benefit to almost everyone involved – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any negatives to be wary of. For the purchaser, it takes away a barrier to entry, which is great, because usually, in the first instance, when a business is faced with a project or activity with a large price tag and the attached risk that comes with that, decision-makers are less likely to take that step for their business. “The subscription model, with its flexible situation, reduces the barriers to businesses to carry out the activity. This is a much lower risk for a business, as it gives them an opportunity to try something new, something that could greatly benefit their business without shelling out a huge upfront cost. “On the flipside, businesses need to be careful to not be sucked into the subscription model too much, by trying Andy Ratcliffe, Managing Director, Key Digital: “The print and IT sectors traditionally operated on an on-premise model of supplying and servicing hardware or other peripherals. In recent years, these industries have been able to offer more IaaS, PaaS and SaaS solutions through applications and integrations with other third-party solutions as well as wider technology support services. “At Key Digital, we like to predict and follow trends so that we can best support our customer base, and the desire to purchase everything-as-a-service (XaaS) is having a positive impact. Our customers are coming to us as a trusted supplier and asking for further support and expertise in other technological areas. Where we excel as a business is that we have always operated on SLAs, and that same support is still available on any number of deployments. “The main goal of XaaS is to give greater end-user empowerment, and we're able to offer that through bespoke, flexible solutions, whether that is a ‘bolt-on’ integration or a full managed services solution. “A potential downside of the availability to purchase services in this way is when businesses and organisations are using these services but aren’t being supported effectively. This often leads to them over paying and under-utilising what they have. We’ve seen this with services like Microsoft 365, where premium subscription packages are being used for only basic applications because they aren’t being supported properly by their existing vendor. continued... Andy Ratcliffe David Warrington