This week we check in with Brian Gertler, vice president of LDI Color Toolbox based in Jericho, NY about what’s hot and what’s not in LDI’s markets across the country.
What’s hot?
Gertler: MPS, production print, and visual communications. From a MPS perspective we just signed one of the biggest deals we’ve ever had. We’re supporting just under 4,000 devices in seven different campuses for a [major healthcare organization]. The reason why we got that was because of our reputation for service delivery. They’re ecstatic about us and have now given us the MFP piece as well.
If you’re willing to put a good team together and understand how production print differs from an MFP sale, there’s a lot of money to be made in that. You’re teaching people how to in-source rather outsource, giving them more control in terms of turnaround, and more capabilities surrounding their make ready. Given the right environment it’s a profitable deal.
Sharp, to their credit, was one of first manufacturers to engage the dealer network with interactive whiteboards. They really opened up the door with bi-directional communication between the MFP and the display. It made it a natural to sell that in our environments and we’ve built on that with our Samsung relationship who have also opened the door and allowed us to sell visual communication. We’re selling interactive white boards, visual communications, and getting involved in content management systems.
What’s not?
Gertler: Some manufacturers and vendors have gone so far over to the digital side that they’ve stopped doing some of the development in technology that supports print. They’re putting more resources on their e-discovery side. I’m mixed and feel bad that there’s still not more development for a technology that’s not going away and everybody is trying to ride that next new wave.
