such as Park Place being ideally positioned to deliver a better service for post-warranty and legacy hardware environments, together with significant cost savings. Understandably, partners don’t want any conflict with OEMs, particularly those that have accreditations and advantages such as MDF funds, for example. But partners need to put customers first and have an objective view what is best for them; staying with the status quo may not always be the most beneficial option. TR: How have you changed/ are you changing business operations to exploit new opportunities? IA: In terms of our business operations, we are changing some of our internal processes and systems, which we believe will bring positive results for all our stakeholders. We understand that to stay competitive and to ensure we increase the opportunity to win deals, both for ourselves and our partners, we are making system and process changes that should result in faster quotes, faster onboarding and a faster response to and resolution of tickets. TR: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing channel businesses today? IA: Two areas impacting the channel are choice and AI. Partners have great choice in who they work with and who they place their business with, and while variety is healthy, having too much choice can dilute existing relationships as partners shop around for the best deals to enable higher margins. Partners have more diverse suppliers to do business with, but with a lack of scale and depth, these relationships can become merely transactional rather than a true collaboration. AI looms large, and many partners are still thinking about how AI will affect their internal operations and processes, while also exploring how it can be implemented into their services and service delivery. The lack of consensus on – and centralised regulation of – AI, together with the rapid expansion of its capabilities, such as Agentic AI, means that partners may be reluctant to explore, implement or discuss AI with their suppliers and customers. This may mean a segment of the industry gets left behind, particularly if AI adoption rockets as expected within the next couple of years. TR: Could vendors and distributors do more to help overcome these challenges? And if so, what? IA: The channel community could come together as a panel or body to consider first and foremost AI’s impact on the channel and give partners an opportunity to discuss the challenges and possible solutions with industry peers. Regarding the question of too much choice, this is subjective to the partner, but those partners who believe in true partnerships should look at long-term value in relationships vs short-term transactional benefits. That said, all partners are looking to grow their businesses, so we realise this may be difficult. TR: Are customers becoming more demanding, and if so, in what ways? IA: Customers are demanding more from partners and those partners have limited resource, including in pre-sales consulting. At Park Place Technologies, we have strong pre-sales solution architects who can take some of the load from partners when designing a support and maintenance solution. TR: If you could change one aspect of your job, what would it be and why? IA: Additional hours and days to spend more time creating new services in conjunction with partners to solve their customer challenges...Just don’t tell my family, as I’m sure they would want the opposite, enabling me to spend more time with them and go on more trips! www.ParkPlaceTechnologies.com Beyond Print: How Ricoh’s Digital Automation Portfolio is Powering New Revenue for Partners Ricoh may be best known for its leadership in print, but today, it’s our digital portfolio that’s turning heads and driving revenue for resellers across the UK. In a workplace defined by hybrid teams, evolving compliance needs, and relentless efficiency demands, we’re investing heavily in technologies that help our partners solve modern business challenges and help futureproof profit streams. Our Process Automation portfolio is specifically designed for today’s workplace (and tomorrow’s expectations). Importantly, from a reseller’s point of view, these aren’t experimental tech bets or untested software add-ons. They are integrated, battle-tested platforms, trusted by household-name partners like Softcat, CCS Media, and SCC. At the heart of the offer is DocuWare, a cloud-first document management and workflow automation solution that’s quietly become one of the UK channel’s best-kept secrets. And for good reason. Recurring Value, Real Results DocuWare is more than just a file repository. It streamlines processes across departments like Accounts Payable, HR, Sales, and Operations by automating workflows, enabling secure access, and simplifying document handling. For our partners, this subscription service delivers predictable, recurring income month after month. Whether customers are digitising invoice processing, automating employee onboarding, or streamlining compliance, DocuWare becomes the backbone of their back‑office. And as they scale, so does the partner opportunity. Being able to offer a solution like DocuWare is also critical in developing long-term client relationships. As expectations shift, customers increasingly look for innovation, solutions that incorporate AI, workflow automation, and actionable data insight to help them work smarter and drive efficiency. Partners who can deliver on these demands are better positioned to win and retain high-value accounts. But technology alone doesn’t close deals. That’s why Ricoh pairs every partner with our UK-based specialist team, offering expert presales scoping, demos, deployment support, and ongoing customer success. We act as an extension of your team, helping you land opportunities faster, implement confidently, and retain clients long-term. Expanding Beyond DocuWare Beyond document automation, Ricoh’s Axon Ivy and Natif platforms extend our offer into advanced AI data capture, enterprise-grade process automation and process orchestration. Whether it’s building intelligent workflows or integrating legacy systems with next-gen solutions, our digital toolkit enables resellers to support even the most complex digital transformation projects. Importantly, all three platforms offer robust security, flexible deployment models (including cloud and hybrid), and simple user adoption, ensuring they don’t just get sold, they get used. We Are Here to Help You Grow Ricoh UK’s message to the channel is simple: we are here to help you grow. Our process automation portfolio unlocks new revenue, increases ‘stickiness’ with customers, and differentiates your offer – all backed by our industry-leading support infrastructure. With proven solutions like DocuWare, Axon Ivy, and Natif, Ricoh is helping resellers tap into new revenue streams through workflow automation and digital document management. These are mature, market-leading technologies already relied upon by major UK partners, supported by Ricoh’s dedicated expert teams throughout pre- and postsales. For resellers, it’s a chance to futureproof their offer and deliver real, lasting value to customers. To find out more about partnering with Ricoh, visit: www.ricoh.co.uk/partnerships or email [email protected] RICOH technologyreseller.co.uk 15
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