Last August, I attended a panel discussion on MPS best practices at COMPtia’s ChannelCON. One question to the panel was about the most critical aspect of setting up clients who are new to MPS. Two panelists jumped on the question with the same answer — setting the client’s expectations as to what will change due to the engagement. They both went on to explain that for every minute spent upfront on “change management” at least an hour of time is saved at a later date. Remember the book, “Who moved my Cheese?”
Barney Kister
There are as many definitions of managed print as there are companies offering the service, but for most, a promise to take over the “care and feeding of devices” is a central theme, thereby relieving IT & administrative resources to focus on more mission-critical tasks. When speaking of “care” we mean proactive device service and by “feeding” we mean supplies replenishment. All companies not active in MPS have an existing process to manage these tasks. The process may be written, assumed, understood general knowledge or just a free-for-all. Regardless, it is still their process.
Honey where are my car keys?
My wife and I both believe that everything has its place and should be returned to that place after use so when we look for it again, it’s where it should be. The only issue we have is that we don’t always agree as to where that place is for all items. Take car keys for example. We have this nice little key holder by the door closest to the garage. My wife religiously places her keys there as that is where she believes keys belong. I, on the other hand, believe car keys should be left on the counter next to my cell phone, or next to the stove, or the fridge or on top of the washing machine as I enter the house from the garage. The next day when getting ready to leave for work, I futilely look in all the usual places followed by a yell “where are my keys?” to which she replies “did you check the key holder?” After 22 years of marriage, she still moves my keys. When will she ever learn?
Supplies and Service Management
MPS supplies management, when transferred from traditional manual procurement to an auto-replenishment process, moves a lot of cheese. Supply cabinets and stockpiles of inventory ordered under a process that may have existed for years go by the wayside (including the process of product making its way to ebay). Most folks respond well to change provided they understand the new process and its benefit. Does your program have a fully documented change process outlined? Have you helped your customer or internal sponsor craft messages they can distribute internally as to how the MPS engagement will benefit the company and what tools are available to simplify the management of the fleet? What changes in service will occur? How do they reach a tech for a non-functioning printer? What is service triage and how does it work? Answering the known FAQs up front saves time and frustration for the customer and reseller alike!
First Impressions
We have all heard the statement, “you only get one shot at a first impression.” So you are about to move the cheese for all the employees of your largest client and they are all just waiting for you to fail. How you communicate up front can lead to a smooth transition and a long, profitable engagement. Failure to be redundant in the change management process will create havoc and lost revenue at best, and a lost client that will share the horror story with all who will listen at worst. Remember, MPS is not just a billing change. It’s a migration of responsibility for your clients’ document output assets. Plan ahead or plan to fail. Below is a check list of items to cover when implementing a new MPS deal.
This is the dealer list to consider prior to implementation:
• How supplies fulfillment will happen
• Where to view supplies shipments and estimated ship dates
• How to escalate supplies or service issues/needs
• How to place a service call
• How to view status of a service call on a device
• How to manage printer moves or info about the printer changes
• How your clients can assist themselves on service issues after hours
• How your clients can access reporting around their print environment
• Local devices – is the order process the same or different
• Ensure all printer address, location, asset ID and part #’s are known and mapped prior to go live date
• Communicate with all levels of the organization the go live date and what to expect
These are the items to document and distribute to your clients:
• Changes in the way supplies are “ordered”
• Local device supplies process, if different than networked devices
• Where to view upcoming and historic shipments with tracking
• Anything special about the shipments – Supply Routing Labels, etc.
• How to communicate a service need and the process for phone triage and onsite service
• Process for ongoing management – Moves, Adds, Changes, Deletes (MACD)
• What to expect going forward – QBR’s etc. – report and deliver on what you promised
Change can be exciting, beneficial, empowering and gratifying. On the other hand, it can lead to unpleasant disruption. So if I could offer just one bit of advice, if you’re going to move their cheese, start by offering a detailed map with instructions on how and where to find it.
