01732 759725
26
Q&A
up our operation to support the potential
roll-out of that.
PITR:
Kyocera make a big thing about
being 100% channel, but clearly lines
become blurred when they buy a
dealer that continues to operate as
an independent organisation. It gets
confusing…
Harman:
We’ll be putting down some
firm ground rules both to help the dealer
community support their clients and to
protect our clients. We are not going to
be going after the dealer principal clients.
There’s enough opportunity to target the
likes of Xerox – there’s 90% of the market
that we can all go after and grab. It’s a
great opportunity for all of us.
PITR:
At the moment you also sell
Canon and Ricoh. Is that mainly on
the production side and how will
that be affected?
Harman:
The Kyocera proposition at the
lower level has always been, and will
continue to be, a very good fit for the
market going forward. The market for
production devices is smaller and includes
Xerox, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Canon.
We need to make a decision on what
is going to be the best fit for us going
forward.
PITR:
Currently, what is the
breakdown of your business
between office print and IT services
& telecoms?
Harman:
IT services and telecoms/mobile,
where we partner with HP, Microsoft,
O2 and Mitel, plus the hosting services
business make up 15-20% of ongoing
sales and revenues and this is growing.
Five years ago, the list price of a 50 copies
per minute machine was a lot higher than
it is today and the cost per copy was a lot
higher. Annuities and overall revenues are
being driven down, so just to stand still
you have to sell 30% more today than
five years ago. Strategically, we made the
decision to look at new annuities and
new services because unless you embrace
additional services you are going to be left
behind. Kyocera have that in their strategy
too; they get that.
PITR:
The acquisition of Keltec
in 2014 gave you expertise in IT
services, but a lot of other dealers
have been slow to move into that
part of the market. Why do you think
that is?
Harman:
Because it’s not cheap –
it’s an expensive investment to go
into that market and there isn’t
a short-term return. And many
dealers want to follow and not lead.
Sometimes, they will be guided by
certain manufacturers who can’t decide
themselves what direction to go in. Then
you’ve got the big IT resellers coming
into the market, so the whole market is
getting consolidated.
I think we will see an acceleration
in the next 12 months. We are doing
a lot more cloud hosting deals;
that’s becoming very common in our
proposition to the client. IT directors are
looking to work with a partner that can
not only support them in the short-term,
but help them with their journey going
forward and take the pressure off their
day to day work.
PITR:
Is Kyocera’s own cloud
infrastructure, with Telehouse for
example, something that you can
exploit?
Harman:
One of Annodata’s big strengths
is our flexibility. We are nimble and we
understand the requirements of SME
clients. The idea of the big data centre, big
global accounts works for some clients,
but small clients need Annodata because
we are a lot more flexible, a lot more agile
and the client sweet spot we are selling
into absolutely fits the proposition we have
been developing for the last two years.
Kyocera see it as stage one – let’s really
embrace it and roll it out to our customers
and our dealer partners in the UK and take
it across Europe afterwards.
PITR:
Will you be staying with the
company for the foreseeable future?
Harman:
One of the things that’s
important for Kyocera and for me is
that the legacy of Annodata doesn’t
just continue but moves forward. The
management team is staying in place and
is quite excited by that. As regards me
personally, I am contracted to Kyocera for
the foreseeable future to make sure that
this works for both parties.
...continued
Framework success
Annodata services
IT Services:
WAN/LAN, IaaS, Virtualisation, Disaster Recovery,
Configuration and Support Services.
Unified Communications:
IP Telephony, HD Voice, Data,
Enterprise Mobility, Office 365 including Video, IM, Presence
and a host of collaborative tools.
Document and Content Management:
Print hardware
and software solutions, digital workflow management and
mailroom solutions including document archiving.
Managed services provider (MSP) Annodata, recently acquired
by Kyocera, has achieved a position on the Crescent Purchasing
Consortium (CPC) framework for Multifunctional Devices &
Associated Print Services.
The CPC aims to drive best value purchasing arrangements for the
education sector and broader elements of the Public Sector, by providing
members with specialist advice on best spending practices and by
producing EU-tendered purchasing frameworks covering a wide variety of
products and services.
To achieve a place on the CPC framework, suppliers are evaluated on a
range of criteria, including their ability to execute, pricing, support services
and service portfolio. Annodata was ranked highest of all suppliers on
Lot 1 (Multifunctional / Reprographic Devices and Associated Print Services
and Supplies) and also secured a position on Lot 3 (Managed Print and
Document Services).
We are
doing a lot
more cloud
hosting
deals; that’s
becoming
very
common
in our
proposition
to the client
