Kevin Morris, OneDOC
When it comes to doing business, companies fall along the lines of three different mindsets. There are those who follow trends and others who ignore them, while there’s a third that prefers to set their own.
OK, so you can make an argument that the second and third trends are somewhat alike, but there’s a point to the case building. When a company buys into a certain trend, it is at the mercy of a) being a step behind the bleeding-edge/advanced people and b) running into a traffic jam of other companies seeking to attain the same proficiencies. Managed IT is an excellent example as is, to a lesser extent, managed print.
Then there are those companies who switch to four-wheel drive and go completely off the map. Take Kevin Morris, president and CEO of OneDOC MPS of Oklahoma City. This pure-play specialist isn’t content with walking the chalk. He has been exploring managed energy as a differentiator, noting that the greatest competition for this offering lies in the enterprise space (which is not OneDOC’s client space) as opposed to SMB.
“That’s the difference between having success and profitability,” Morris said. “I try to be different from everyone else—when my competitors turn right, I turn left. I’m trying to find a different way to market, a different way to impact our business. If our salespeople can’t walk in the door and show them how we’re different from everybody else, then it comes down to price. It’s as simple as that.
“It amazes me how people complain about margins. If you’re doing a me-too scenario, that’s how you’re going to be. We try to do everything we can not to be a commodity.”
Hiro Imamura, Canon
Cloud Considerations
Hiro Imamura, the senior vice president and general manager of the Business Imaging Solutions Group at Canon U.S.A., believes that cloud content management and collaboration solutions will continue to offer strong growth. Such tools, Imamura notes, boast workflow organization with security controls that companies demand in a digital environment.
“The cloud helps organizations tackle network and on-premise storage issues, which otherwise eat up time and money,” he said. “Additionally, the cloud continues to be adapted to work with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and fits within the office of the future. Cloud services also offer an added layer of security to protect digital assets, which will be a great selling point for dealers as we see security as the other top trend for 2019.”
Imamura cited two examples, content management platform Box and cloud email management service MxHero, of solutions that help simplify workflow processes while addressing data protection. He believes this will continue to bring a lot of sales value for the dealer community.”
Bill Melo, Toshiba
OEM Activity
As 2019 gains momentum, one trend to watch from the manufacturer perspective is the proliferation of adjacent product and service offerings as OEMs confront a slow decline in the office printing market, notes Bill Melo, chief marketing executive for Toshiba America Business Solutions.
“Several OEMs are investing heavily in products and services that are far removed from their core business,” Melo explained. “Whether these ventures turn into profitable new revenue streams or merely costly distractions will be a major story in 2019.”
Melo cautioned dealers who are considering investments in new lines of business to consider the impact those same investments might have if applied to their current offerings. “For example, if you’re considering selling managed IT services requiring three additional employees, training and more, consider what that same investment in additional employees, etc. would yield if you increased your MPS or document solutions practice by the same amount,” he added.
Christian Pepper,
LD Products
No Status Quo
One thing is for certain. Change is in the air for 2019 for companies seeking to move the needle on revenue and profitability. Christian Pepper, president of LD Products Channel Partner Division, believes in the mantra that “the status quo is dead.” He notes the industry has an oversupply at every level, while competition is increasing, adding more downward pressure on the weakest of companies. This, he says, will push them to the brink of extinction.
“I talk to lots of dealers, OEMs and distributors, and nearly everyone is interested in learning about new ideas, opportunities and partnerships to assess if they have a winning hand or not,” Pepper said. “It is an exciting time full of opportunity, unless you are a large market share incumbent. Then, it’s concerning because it is hard to see a way forward that isn’t down.”
