01732 759725 42 VOX POP of print devices into the hands of an expert provider, that’s one less thing that the IT manager or SMB has to worry about. This is especially true now that many more company-owned print devices are being deployed in the homes of employees, as organisations shift to hybrid working. “This is one of the factors driving the growth in managed print, and that’s going to be a huge opportunity over the next couple of years. From a partner perspective, the great thing about managed print is that it is relatively easy to offer. Tech Data’s own OpenMPS service can be switched on quickly and easily, providing an automated way for partners to monitor customer devices and preorder replacement cartridges. This takes the burden of managing print devices – whether they are located at home or in the office – off the customer and thus ensures that key technical staff are not diverted from more important and fulfilling tasks.” www.techdata.com Jonathan Wagstaff, Group Business Intelligence Manager, Exertis “The Gartner forecast looks at global ICT trends, so it will inevitably be weighted upon regional trends, some of which are faster growing economies. Looking specifically at Europe and the UK in particular, it seems reasonable to assume that managed services present a solution to CIOs either struggling to recruit FTEs due to wage inflation, skills shortages, or a decrease in international candidates driven by both Brexit and COVID – the irony of the former being that some MSPs offshore parts of their operations, or are international with the main service centres outside the UK. “Managed services also offer the flexibility of any XaaS model, with easier and faster scalability; given the critical nature of digital transformation for most enterprises to survive today and remain competitive in the future, being able to accelerate plans is key. “Services including white-label for the channel are a core component of any value-added distributor, and a part of what Exertis offers across a range of categories and vendor partners. We can help our partners to meet end-user requirements faster and grow that business with them over time, helping them to win business they couldn’t do otherwise without support.” www.exertis.co.uk Andy Ratcliffe, Managing Director, Key Digital “I would expect IT spend to continue to increase over the next three to five years, with the majority of that increase in spend going to managed service providers like ourselves. Organisations are now looking for expertise beyond their own internal remit to negotiate challenges such as integration, user adoption, legislation, future-proofing and the sheer breadth of technologies available to deliver the most effective digital strategy. “Our business has adapted over the years to offer a full technology-as-aservice (TaaS) portfolio, as our customers turned to us as technology experts. Delivering a successful digital strategy cannot be done alone, it requires multiple specialities and technical proficiency – that is where we see our opportunity and growth. “The disruption over the last couple of years has also created opportunities. policies and supportive structures. “This is all about making our business more attractive to talent and giving them every reason to stay with us. If we have the right people with the right skills, we help partners fill the gaps in their own capabilities. At the same time, many if not most partners will want a degree of autonomy when it comes to technical capability and will want to make their own plans to attract and retain technical talent. Being able to deliver the high level technical services is vitally important in today’s market.” www.techdata.com Chris Bates, Business Unit Manager – Print and Supplies, Tech Data “The skills shortage is a problem for end-user customers as well as partners. As Gartner has pointed out, this is driving up demand for skilled staff and compelling IT managers to rely more on external consultants and managed services providers. “While print devices are fairly simplistic from a technical perspective, they still need to be managed and maintained – and frequently need to be replenished with ink, toner, and paper. The last thing you want as an IT manager is the time of technical staff being taken up monitoring and managing the printer estate. If they can place the management continued... Chris Bates Jonathan Wagstaff Andy Ratcliffe
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