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and mobile printing, to stay up to date
with the market and continue to offer the
solutions that the market demands. Dealers
that ignore mobile and BYOD printing will
rapidly be left behind.”
Colin Griffin:
“I think the biggest
challenge facing our sector is adjusting
to the potential impacts of Brexit. At
Blackbox, we don’t conduct much trade
with Europe directly, but of course we’re
operating in a global economy and
elements of our supply chain are located in
Europe. Obviously, Britain’s future access
to the single market, the current currency
fluctuations and threat of inflation, all
have the potential to affect our business,
and the UK economy as a whole, but it
remains to be seen what the effects of the
referendum result will be.
“We’re now seeing caution and
increased price sensitivity among some
of our customers. Due to the uncertain
economic climate, it’s only natural that
businesses will exhibit more caution when
it comes to investment in new technology
and pay closer attention to their
expenditure, including print and IT costs,
which has potential to squeeze our profits.
“However, business’ caution also
presents opportunities for us to sell other
services, such as print management
software to help businesses keep a better
handle on their print costs. I think we’re
going to hear a lot about ‘efficiency’ and
‘productivity’ over the coming year!”
Clive Hamilton:
“Recruitment of good
sales staff that have the ability to add real
value to customers rather than just sell on
price.”
Steve Hawkins:
“Broadly, there are of
course concerns about Brexit. But many
companies, especially those that have an
international presence, will probably press
ahead with their plans anyway. Overall
though, I think the channel will have to
prove how and where, it is adding value
against a backdrop of tighter budgets.
“I think that both distributors and
resellers will face the ongoing challenge
of demonstrating to customers how they
can differentiate their services. Agility will
be key, too; how quickly can the channel
either anticipate or respond to customers’
changing needs.”
What are your print
predictions for 2017?
What do you believe will
be the major trends and
developments within the
print and IT sectors?
Mark Smyth:
“We see market
developments with managed printing
solutions as the platform and foundation
for digital transformation. This customer
journey can really start to make business
impact, improving business processes and
efficiency, combined with increased security
controls as data protection and new
legislation is introduced and tightened.
“With organisations in their second
and even third generation of managed
print, our prediction is that clients will be
focusing on digital transformation, quality
of service, as well as costs, and I do not
believe cost will be the only driver as was
previously the case.”
Phil Powell:
“My print predictions from
reading the trade press, would suggest
that page volumes will fall. I have been
expecting to see this for the last three
years or so, but so far the average revenue
billed per customer has remained steady
and this is despite reducing page costs.
“Page volumes are also remaining
steady per device, the biggest positive
impact to our business has been the move
to colour as more and more customers
print and copy in colour which is typically
eight to ten times more expensive than
black and white.”
Matt Goodall:
“The reduction of waste
through software control, on and offsite
printing and mobile solutions. In the IT
sector, the expansion of single point cloud
storage and the unification of data, will
form a large part of the challenges in
2017.”
Colin Griffin:
“I think we’ll continue
to see businesses expanding their
investment in cloud technology. We see
that many businesses want to support
their increasingly mobile workforce with
solutions that enable employees to access
and print information from their devices,
irrespective of where they are.
“While some companies have been
slow to take-up cloud storage and
document archiving solutions, many are
realising the advantage of cloud-connected
printers and this trend will continue as
more businesses cotton on to the benefits.
“As a result of the current economic
climate, we’re also seeing businesses
seeking to consolidate and streamline the
number of suppliers they use. Following
the launch of our IT division earlier in the
year, we’ve picked up plenty of accounts
for IT services with our existing document
solutions customers, and we’re also able
to market MFDs and bolt-on software
solutions to our IT clients. Ultimately, I
think print vendors will need to offer IT
services and support in conjunction with
document solutions, or risk losing clients to
competitors that do.
“The print industry has already faced
years of disruption due to the advent of
many new digital technologies, which
means information is increasingly read,
shared and distributed online rather than
on paper. Further innovations like 3D
printing promise to shake-up the market
further. That said, print still remains an
incredibly popular format and over the
coming years, we’ll see manufacturers
work to improve the way they connect
their print offerings into the digital and
online world.
“This is already happening, with
mobile and cloud printing and smart
I think
that both
distributors
and resellers
will face
the ongoing
challenge of
demonstrating
to customers
how they can
differentiate
their services
...continued
Clive Hamilton,
Group Managing Director,
Pinnacle Complete Office Solutions
Phil Powell,
Managing Director,
Midshire Group
