10
PRINT.IT
01732 759725
Interview
PrintIT:
Is the price pressure
you mentioned leading
resellers to use compatible
supplies more?
KS:
We aren’t seeing as much
of that in the UK or US as we
expected. In the UK, 52% of
channel partners say they only
use OEM supplies; 30% say
they use both; and 13% say
they only use compatibles. We
thought there would be more of
a 50:50 split between originals
and compatibles. The reasons
the ratio’s not higher seem to
be that there are a lot of quotas
that partners have to hit and
that, due to a perception of
value, customers will pay a little
more for OEM toner to ensure
devices operate at optimal
performance.
PrintIT:
What don’t end users
like about MPS today?
KS:
Overall, they feel vendors
are doing a pretty good job at
device management, and they
feel they are doing a pretty
good job at service delivery.
But there is a big gap when
it comes to stuff that moves
them from being a vendor to
becoming more of a partner
with a customer. Generally,
end users are telling us ‘MPS
is great; we understand that
value proposition. But we need
our partners to understand our
front line business, to address
revenue questions not just the
bottom line cost question’.
PrintIT:
So the push for
services isn’t just coming
from resellers?
KS:
The ‘per page’ billing
model the industry adheres to
doesn’t lend itself to helping
customers optimise their
business processes, especially
when it comes to digitisation.
I’m talking to a number of
OEMs about that now: Why
aren’t partners picking up
on document management
as much as you want them
to? What’s happening with
business process outsourcing?
I think the billing model is out
of sync with how a partner
is going to help a customer
reduce volumes and move to
a more efficient workflow that
doesn’t involve as much paper.
PrintIT:
What billing models
are pioneers introducing?
KS:
In the US, one of our MPS
leaders has a ‘per bed’ billing
model. They work specifically
in healthcare and instead
of charging per page or per
device, they align themselves
to the customer billing model,
which for hospital systems here
is revenue per bed, revenue
per patient. That’s how they
have aligned the whole cost
savings model and adjacencies
like information security that
they are moving into. Another
billing model we are starting
to see some consultants
work with is a per seat model
directly aligned with IT reseller
practices. It allows the partner
and end user to have a better
conversation about what the
real costs are and allows the
partner to make money by
adding other services that don’t
necessarily revolve around
paper or toner.
PrintIT:
Why is there still so
much paper in businesses?
KS:
A piece of paper is just
a convenient conveyance
for information, so there are
two things going on: one, it’s
convenient and cheap; and two,
with all the technology we now
have access to – think about
your email for instance – how
likely is it that you are going
to copy something and put it
in your desk for later, rather
than printing it, showing it to
somebody and then throwing
it away, knowing that you can
reprint it. We have a culture of
disposability. From an end user
standpoint, you never really
see the cost of your prints, so
printing has no financial impact
on you as an employee, which is
why print management software
has become more and more
popular.
PrintIT:
What are some of
the trends we are going to
see over the next 12 to 24
months?
KS:
The big question in more
mature markets is that MPS
has to have actively managed
components, people have to
be engaged in the process.
High value providers will
adopt the paradigm of having
highly trained, highly skilled
consultative individuals who
can offer high value to their
customers. At the same time,
we are seeing a convergence of
platforms that allows resellers
especially, but OEMs as well, to
be predominantly high volume
suppliers. They get the benefits
of centralised purchasing,
buying from this massive
platform – like an Amazon for
MPS.
OEMs are starting to say
that, for them, channel partners
are going to be product-centric
and their direct customers will
be the high value plays that
they make. They will let channel
partners decide how they want
to do business, but there’s
going to be this concept of ‘We
are going to add technology
to the mix and really enforce
automated toner shipments
and automated service
fulfilment and a lot of electronic
transaction between us and our
customers to help minimise the
cost of all that’.
The other trend that is
becoming very interesting is ink
versus toner. HP and Epson
are already making a play in
this area and we think that
over the next 3-5 years these
two players could significantly
shift market share positions
and the bias customers have
for laser. We are already seeing
inkjet prices drop to a level
where they are actually better
than laser and inkjet printers
become as sturdy as laser
devices. What’s holding it back
is the idea we all grew up with,
which is that laser is better
than ink.
Finally, I think we are going
to see even more channel
convergence. You hear
about this all the time, but
I think people have to stop
thinking about the heritage
of the partner being in office
equipment, office supplies
or IT system integration and
think more about their current
capabilities. That’s what’s
going to make them effective
in tomorrow’s marketplace.
Today’s leaders may not be
tomorrow’s leaders, and
channel partners are going to
see a steady erosion of their
business if they don’t really
engage with customer-centric,
cost of lifecycle selling.
PrintIT:
Finally, what will
people get out of attending
Transform Europe?
KS:
It’s a great opportunity to
hear what the best practices
are, what the best-of-breed are
doing out there and how they
are overcoming the challenges
that pretty much everybody
has to face. Secondly, I think
its a great opportunity to
expose yourself to new and
innovative ideas. There are
going to be some great learning
lessons there. We are trying
to focus on offering as much
value to various stakeholders
as possible through either
channel-type tracks or through
advanced services-type tracks.
Beyond that, Prague is a great
place to visit, so why not spend
a couple of extra days there
and have some vacation time.
For more information on
Transform Europe 2014,
please visit
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