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28
VOX POP
The market
told us it
wanted an
A4 device
that had the
functionality
of A3, so we
created one
PART 1:
THE VENDORS’ PERSPECTIVE
Where have you seen the biggest
growth this year, and do you expect
this growth to continue?
Steven Hastings,
IT Distribution Channel
Director,
Ricoh UK
:
“At Ricoh, we have
seen the biggest growth in the corporate
reseller and public sectors. We have a
strong and growing footprint in this area.
There is also a huge opportunity for growth
in the field of local government, as we look
to sell more of our desktop printer range
and MFPs.”
Mark Ash,
Head of Print,
Samsung
:
“The
biggest growth we have seen this year is
in managed print services, especially with
our Android devices. This growth has been
exponential, with key wins in all major
verticals. We expect this trend to continue,
largely due to the fact that the open
architecture of Samsung’s Android devices
allows us to seamlessly integrate with
our clients’ existing mobility strategy and
applications.”
Jason Cort,
Director Product Planning
and Marketing,
Sharp
:
“Sharp is having
a lot of success with its new-generation
colour MFPs. Features like OCR and
advanced scanning capabilities are helping
companies reinforce digitisation. We have
raised the bar in this area, and it has
become a key differentiator for us against
our competitors. Interactive whiteboard
sales continue to grow strongly, both in
education and the business sector.
“With the wealth of different
solutions now accessible to SMBs –
video collaboration, mobility, interactive
whiteboards – SMBs often find it easier to
have fewer suppliers who can help them
work smoothly across these different and
complex environments. They know there
is a lot of technology out there that can
help drive their business, but they need a
partner they can trust to give them advice;
someone they already buy hardware from
has a great head start.
“We are enjoying success with our IT
services offering, where we support SMBs
in managing their IT environment, provide
consultancy on what solutions they need
to maximise their business’s potential and
help them adopt/maintain these products.”
Shaun Wilkinson,
Managing Director,
UTAX (UK)
:
“We recently announced
our sixth successive year of double-digit
growth and this has been driven by success
across the board.”
Nigel Allen,
Marketing Director,
KYOCERA
:
“This year so far, we’ve
continued to see a rise in our managed
print services take up. This is becoming
far more popular for public sector
organisations wanting to make cost
savings and looking for a headache-free
solution across multiple sites.
“We’re also seeing a lot of growth in
sales of A4 devices, following the release
of our new TASKalfa range earlier this
Plenty of room
for further growth
year. These devices have the capability of
A4 devices, but with benefits normally
only available on A3 machines, including
sophisticated paper handling and finishing.
“These devices filled a gap in our
portfolio that we had identified through
market research. We spent time listening
to people and developing the range to
meet changing user demands. The market
told us it wanted an A4 device that had
the functionality of A3, so we created one.
Adding the range to our portfolio means
we are one of the only document solutions
companies able to offer 100% coverage of
B2B market segments.”
Wayne Snell,
Product Manager,
DSales
:
“Document management software
continues to be a key driver for sales
and is an excellent opening gambit for
our dealers to re-engage with existing
customers or prospect for new business.
“Customers do not want just a
hardware device. They want a complete
software and hardware solution to meet
their need for document workflow,
electronic archiving and so on. With
Develop’s Convert+Share 4, for example,
customers can easily set up scan capture-
process-connect workflows to automate
scanning and simplify archiving.”
What can we expect from your
company in the coming months?
Steven Hastings:
“We will be adding
new models to our SP150 printer range,
tapping into the consumer, SME and
home office market. Our new products
will be colour laser printers and will have
a new level of specification and quality of
performance.”
Mark Ash:
“We’re looking forward
to bringing new technologies into the
market. As we move into H2, Samsung
will appoint a dedicated Innovation
Team to work alongside our colleagues
in app development and R&D to ensure
that we bring new ideas and innovation
to the market quickly and build upon
This month, we ask our panel where they have seen the biggest growth
and what they are doing to increase sales further
Continued...
Jason Cort, Sharp
Steven Hastings,
Ricoh UK
Wayne Snell,
DSales
