Achilles‘ heel, noun – a fault or weakness despite overall strength
In the early days of MPS, one of the biggest challenges resellers faced was the management of locally attached devices. Industry leaders offered many solutions to resolve the issue from right-sizing the environment and removing all the locals, to a desktop push of local management software, followed by network switches being added at all workstations with a local or private printer. None of these solutions really solved the problem and the industry continued to struggle with large numbers of local USB attached devices that defied all the remote management promises of MPS. After a decade of effort, locals are still the Achilles’ heel of MPS, and the reality is they won’t completely go away until printing no longer exists.
Many of the complex questions raised by dealers regarding MPS have been successfully addressed over the years — tools have been built, algorithms developed, processes defined and automation delivered. Yet, the local/USB printer issue still seems to mock the entire MPS process. So what options are available? Local devices make up 30 percent of most fleets, and while that might be small compared to the entire environment, print is forecasted to continually decline, so we can’t afford to pass up any opportunity to capitalize on available page volume within existing accounts.
Building the Right Model
There are a few things to consider when building a process to deal with local devices. Do you bill by pages or sell cartridges in a transactional model? If by pages, how do you account for the cost? How do you get meters from your client? How do you make sure you don’t over ship? How do you ensure your customer doesn’t run out of supplies? If you’re selling in a transactional model, are you really managing the local device? What is to stop the client from shopping your deal, and how do you handle break/fix service? Do you build a website for the client to order toner for their locals? Do you use that website to collect meters? See where this is going? Seemingly endless questions with no answers. Just like the Achilles’ heel, locals are your weak spot that will never go away. But, there is a solution.
OPM or OPI
You’ve heard of OPM — other people’s money. The solution for managing local devices is OPI — other people’s infrastructure. There are MPS infrastructure providers who can take on the risk associated with managing local devices and offer your customers access to web portals and break/fix services on your behalf. As the reseller, you can work through the details of SLAs to maintain client satisfaction and essentially “pass the buck” to the provider.
Is this hitting home? Are locals your weakness in an otherwise strong MPS program? You can choose to absorb and deal with it or find a partner who can tackle those problems on your behalf. Look for an infrastructure provider that has depth and experience in managing local devices and who can provide a comprehensive package of services including, but not limited to:
- Portal for end-user communication to avoid unnecessary calls
- Ability to manually upload meters
- Comprehensive product line to ship on your behalf
- Complete service desk with phone triage and break/fix service
- Efficient distribution system to provide seamless delivery
The right infrastructure provider can be just what you need to protect that vulnerable heel.
