What’s the Word on NER’s Print4?

If you’re like me NER Data’s Print4 MPS program is one of the best kept secrets in the MPS world. At least if you’re someone like me who writes frequently about the traditional copier industry and hasn’t had an opportunity to find out about them until now. Or if you’re a traditional copier dealer since that’s a channel that NER is still looking to develop.

What about NER? The company has a long diverse history. Originally founded in 1971, NER’s roots trace back some 100 years in the imaging business via various acquisitions. Its legacy businesses were ribbons, toner aftermarket remanufacturing, and printer parts. It was through their manufacturing of large-format ribbons that NER was introduced into the data center. Over the past 25 years supporting IT infrastructure has become a significant part of NER’s business as the company has become a major player in data center infrastructure management. They also provide professional services for that segment along with products that support optimization. Given their history with IT and imaging devices, managed print services via the Print4 MPS program has been a logical progression.

NER’s Print4 MPS program encompasses all of NER’s services, solutions, and product offerings from a cloud-based application suite, to supplies, hardware, dedicated help desk, a nationwide service network, and operational support. Print4 has been engineered with business rules that NER says provide seamless process integration into any print environment. It’s all about managing assets, capturing data, and acting on that data.

Scott Steele, senior vice president with NER explains that NER has a product management strategy and a go-to-market strategy, both of which tie nicely together. “We don’t do business direct,” he says.

NER’s primary focus is on their existing channels. “We don’t want to be all things to everyone,” says Steele. “I don’t think there’s anyone who’s been successful doing that. At the same time we’re very much oriented to being able to support different reseller requirements in a simple platform in different ways.”

The primary channels of distribution for Print4 are resellers, systems integrators, and VARs. Customers are mostly found in Fortune 2000 companies.

“Because our system is cloud based it makes it easy for them to effectively manage their customer base from no matter where that customer service or assessment person is,” states Steele.

An important component of NER’s MPS strategy is the ability to integrate with third-party service technicians. “We don’t want to cause more disjointed delivery of services and products and any questions they have can be answered through the system first,” adds Steele.

Although resellers are a delivery model for MPS services and supplies, NER steps in and handles those components when asked. They’ll also place service techs onsite for customers with heavily centralized operations.

“We have resellers who are looking for us to provide the technology and platform to them,” says Steele.

Those resellers then use NER as a platform, service, or components and NER delivers on those pieces which are not core to what that reseller provides.

“Our technologies enable us to provide all of the components necessary to support our resellers,” adds Steele. “We have our own proposal generation system that’s a rationalization and proposal application, which takes information from a data collection tool and turns it into an end user solution. Through this reseller-enabled system resellers get an understanding of what to do for that customer. We also have a mentorship program and a sales support program that’s a learning management system which allows resellers to understand what customers and end user requirements our and integrate that into their business process and selling motion. We look at ourselves as the only independent platform that is both technology and execution oriented.”

For managed services providers NER provides solutions and services in combination with them. The focus here is on document workflow and integration with NER’s systems for managing the print environment from a central environment. “In that bucket we’re heavily technology and services oriented and less product oriented,” reveals Steele.

NER also provides MPS through United Stationers to the office products dealer channel, which isn’t surprising since NER has a minority stake in the company.

Looking at the segmentation of its MPS customer base, Fortune 1,000 customers and the midmarket are covered by the IT VAR channel while United Stationers focuses on small business since that market is more independent reseller oriented.

Then there’s the BTA dealer.

“Historically that’s one of the one of the areas we haven’t focused on,” says Steele who acknowledges that’s a channel of opportunity, especially as more dealers in that channel are transitioning into hybrid resellers.

NER has done well with MPS and Steele reports the company’s MPS business was up 70 percent year over year last year. This year as they move into the second and third quarters Steel expects growth to be in the 40+ percent range overall with much of that coming from their current channels as well as managed services resellers.

The key to NER’s success with Print4 is service. “If you think about it when you’re moving from a transactional based business to a contractual based business, you have to make sure that your customer’s service levels are the highest because the customer believes and should believe that you’re going to take care of them. From my perspective that is where we’re trying to help our resellers have the highest quality of service in the industry at the most effective rate possible,” states Steele.

That service element is what Steele says provides differentiation for resellers among end users.

Beyond the Data Center business and the growing MPS segment of their business expect to see NER launch different applications and systems over the next three to nine months in response to the mobile revolution, all of which only enhance their MPS program.

“For us people can go with their mobile devices, up to their device, see the device they’re looking at, request services, and order supplies, with support of the different mobile applications through our cloud-based system,” notes Steele. “All of those things can happen today. Integration with the devices and some of the other things is what you’re going to see an escalation of over the next three to nine months. If you look at the number of people no longer working in their cube anymore and as it accelerates you need a solution because otherwise you’re not going to be supporting your customer and losing revenue and your customer base.”

For more about NER visit http://www.nerdata.com.