In tandem with this month’s State of the Industry report on managed print services, we’ve culled the thoughts of several major manufacturers about how dealers can optimize print management in the wake of the pandemic and the challenges it has visited upon end-users.
The panel consists of Chris Bilello, director of business solutions and market development for Konica Minolta; Clark Bugg, sales director, North America copier channel for Lexmark; Scott Dabice, vice president, pricing and strategic markets, Ricoh Americas; Scott Robinson, vice president of managed print services, Toshiba America Business Solutions; and Jim Joyce, vice president, U.S. channels unit, managed print services, Xerox.
Chris Bilello
Director, Business Solutions & Market Development
Konica Minolta Business Solutions
In these unprecedented times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, freeing up IT resources to allow customers to focus on their core responsibilities is more important than ever. IT professionals no longer want to manage print servers, drivers or queues. To them, it’s a necessary evil. Now more than ever, our clients are asking for cloud-based print architecture.
For most companies, the printing environment is invisible in the sense that it completely blends in with their everyday work lives. It only becomes visible when it doesn’t perform as hoped; users complain, and then it eventually becomes an annoyance and an unwanted distraction. Companies and organizations both large and small want to spend less time managing their print environments so they can focus on streamlining their critical line of business applications such as ERP and CRM. And for IT professionals, the rapid increase in the technological evolution and complexity of applications and emerging technologies means that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to stay up-to-date with their IT systems—especially against the background of scarce IT resources, the constant cybersecurity threat and limited budgets.
There are many advantages to transitioning the management of the printing environment to the cloud:
- Improved efficiency
- Reduced capital and operational expenditures
- Optimized, simplified workflow
- Assured compliance with all necessary data and security regulations
With cloud printing, customers can use printing provided as a service without having to deal with infrastructure and software management. Konica Minolta provides multifunction printers with hybrid print solutions, unified technology of on-premise and cloud printing to add more value—such as print management, secure printing and print-from-anywhere, including the home office to make remote work efficient. These hybrid solutions and services allow for a smooth digital transformation from on-premise to cloud that keeps pace with each customer’s maturity level. In addition, Konica Minolta offers solutions to utilize the new Universal Print from Microsoft, a modern print solution that organizations can use to manage their print infrastructure via the cloud from Microsoft through a subscription-based service. Konica Minolta’s bizhub i-Series MFPs support direct printing through Universal Print.
Clark Bugg
Sales Director, North America Copier Channel
Lexmark International
As your customers’ business needs evolve and their print needs become more diverse and dispersed, it becomes more challenging to manage their print infrastructure. The rise in remote work exacerbates the challenge, as there are more locations for IT departments to cover, driving up cost and complexity. Now is the time to move from traditional, premise-based management tools to a more efficient approach.
Lexmark managed print services customers have long benefited from the built-in IoT features of our devices. The rise of cloud-based tools has essentially turbocharged IoT. That’s because IoT and cloud together enable implementation of time- and cost-saving measures without adding physical server capacity or making any changes to existing networks.
One way to leverage this powerful combination is through Lexmark Cloud Fleet Management (CFM), which enables you to manage Lexmark devices from anywhere, without the need to go on-site or even be on the same local network. This ability to easily configure printers, capture cost-saving metrics and keep devices current from any location means you can deliver better service to your customers and reduce your travel-based costs. And reducing on-site visits is a notable benefit when faced with today’s highly dispersed environments.
Through CFM, you can increase your insight into your customers’ needs and provide remote device configuration to ensure the device is up and running quickly. The tool also enables automatic checks for firmware updates, pushes helpful shortcuts for fax and email to all devices and deploys Lexmark-embedded apps and app settings as part of a standard configuration.
The expansion of IoT through vehicles including CFM improves both the customer experience and those who serve them. The consistent user experience, reduced downtime due to maintenance and service, decreased burden on IT staff and increased capacity all result in higher productivity, faster delivery and increased satisfaction. And, ultimately, that is both the goal and the key to future business success.
Scott Dabice
Vice President, Pricing & Strategic Markets
Ricoh Americas
As we move into a more digital environment, accelerated by the onset of COVID-19, the needs of MPS customers are evolving. Managed print has traditionally centered on print output. Today, however, managed print services centers less around the printed document itself and more around information. A large percentage of the workforce is now working from home consistently, or at least more frequently. They’re sharing information between corporate devices and home and individual devices at an increasing rate, which makes it paramount to effectively and securely manage information.
This changing environment creates another new requirement—large, customized print jobs are still in demand, but existing office devices might not be set up to manage that type of output or information, which creates an opportunity for diversification.
Billing models are also changing as a result of today’s fluctuating print volumes and increased digitalization. Gone are the days when all-inclusive CPC or flat-rate billing models only reflected the output of the device. Today, customers need to see value embedded into their monthly fee that is consistent, easy to understand and covers the full management and life cycle of the device, not just the volume of print on paper.
Ricoh is addressing these changing and evolving market factors with our dealers in mind so they can build back better for their customers. Much of our MPS program is focused on print security and putting mechanisms in place to make both devices and information secure across multiple networks and between various systems. We offer an all-in-one printing flat-rate program that considers the full health of the device and information management system beyond mere output. And we provide access to experts and training for dealers, as well as discover opportunities to explore new markets, organized so dealers can take advantage of today’s business while simultaneously ramping up for future opportunities.
Scott Robinson
Vice President of Managed Print Services
Toshiba America Business Solutions
Remember when change used to occur over a few years? Doesn’t seem that long ago, does it? In today’s world, change can occur in a week, a day or mere hours.
Such rapid and continuous change makes this the ideal time for managed print services support, as many customers are operating with fewer IT staff members to support print environments. Shifting to the new work-from-home model is leaving many in IT unsure how to best manage new fleets. More than ever, organizations require expert advice and support from professional services organizations capable of handling these quickly changing needs.
Here are a few thoughts on approaching new MPS clients with flexible options to help their new work environments:
- When approaching your MPS strategy, look to establish shorter-term contracts enabling financial flexibility for both parties.
- Fleet assessments should reflect upcoming return-to-office plans, which may shuffle historical usage levels, requiring greater volumes using more-expensive devices. Consider including security assessments as well, since work-from- home devices may not adhere to corporate standards.
- Be mindful of low-cost models that may revert to high-volume, low-return agreements.
- Consider charging flat-rate fees for low-end devices unlinked to electronic data collection methods when writing contracts allowing for renegotiation after the first calendar year. While this strategy may force a purchase decision in 12 months, it may also minimize any financial impact to your dealership.
Perhaps you already have current MPS contracts in place? Now’s the time to review every contract to maximize your profit margin. Current contracts likely have base volumes above your client’s current needs. Those base volumes enable our industry to maintain trained technical staff to support servicing needs and should be sustained. When receiving requests to review or alter client base volumes, review all cogent options. Also, identify the highest cost-per-click (CPC) devices within a client fleet while pinpointing which devices to upgrade to reduce your overall cost for toner, service and parts. Careful fleet assessments are paramount to both your current profitability as well as your future income.
Above all, be certain to partner with an OEM that is fully capable of supporting your MPS efforts. OEMs with support services for their reseller partners are vital in today’s MPS world and likely will tip the scales for establishing favorable customer experiences. OEMs that support multi-vendor MPS offerings also provide more flexibility when optimizing current fleets without the need to overhaul them.
Today, ask your OEM what they can do to support your current MPS efforts, then choose wisely as the MPS landscape will surely continue to change.
Jim Joyce
Vice President, U.S. Channels Unit Managed Print Services
Xerox Corporation
There’s no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work today. Across industries and institutions large and small, there’s consensus that the world as it once was isn’t returning—at least, not any time soon. According to Xerox’s The State and Fate of Small and Medium Business, 71% of the SMB leaders surveyed acknowledged their businesses have fundamentally changed as a result of the pandemic, with nearly three-quarters of respondents indicating they expedited digital transformation plans in response to COVID-19.
To keep up with these shifts in the workplace, the services we offer must evolve. Our clients are facing new challenges and must act accordingly: combating security threats, moving infrastructure to the cloud and creating collaboration opportunities for a dispersed workforce.
Our channel partners offering managed print services (MPS) could not agree more. Their focus has turned to helping existing MPS clients through enhanced services centered on this new hybrid workplace. A dispersed workforce combined with impacts to the volume of printed pages mean we collectively need to offer lower touchpoint features. For example, imagine the utility of device-embedded DCAs with less dependency on server-based monitoring tools—even cloud-based device monitoring and management enhancements.
It’s critical that partners extend their focus beyond pages. For businesses today, success is increasingly dependent on having effective workflows. Take advantage of remote security-based device configuration and management to add value for clients; this is a pain point for them. Consider offering advanced cloud-based content management services, centralizing critical customer documents, and providing access via apps and the web to create customized workflows to meet client needs.
These services will expand the conversation to new customers and represent incremental revenue opportunities. Because they’re cloud-based, the cost of entry to partners is significantly lower compared to the client value.
Operational efficiency has been critical to our partners’ business survival over the past year. They’re highly resilient; adapting their businesses in an economic environment none could have anticipated. Those who embraced cloud, remote diagnostic and resolution tools, and advanced analytics have fared well during this pandemic and will emerge even stronger.
