PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
41
VOX POP
Of course
there’s an
element of
control you
won’t have
when you
partner with
another
provider
You have
to start
somewhere
and taking
that leap
of faith is
a bold but
important
step
Scott Walker,
MPS Business
Development
Manager,
ZenOffice
partners with the skill sets and investment
already in place to deploy the solution.”
Scott Walker:
“I certainly think that
through time, investment and organic
growth, the potential to provide direct IT
services is something that can be achieved.
“However, with the calibre of third-party
IT providers out there today, is it essential?
Of course there’s an element of control you
won’t have when you partner with another
provider, but in the same respect, it can
be a lot less time consuming and resource
heavy. It can also prove to be more
efficient and effective to allow your partner
to do what they are specialists in, whilst
you concentrate on what you specialise in
as a managed print service provider.”
Simon Riley:
“I think the best way
forward is to have a very good professional
service team in-house that look after what
we do as an MPS provider very well, but
partner with an IT expert to look after the
clients’ everyday needs. There are a lot of
IT providers who are white labelling their
products and services that we can use.”
Rob Cavill:
“When it comes to the
question of how best to grow an IT
offering, we found that there is a strong
mix of both organic growth and identifying
suitable acquisition opportunities. In our
business, our growth from being a print
dealer into a provider of print, document
and information management solutions
was a labour of love over a ten year period.
It seemed like the natural progression for
all things ‘document’ related.
“The obvious fact that all of the
hardware and software that we provide
sits on an IT platform that needs to
be correctly installed, configured and
maintained. We therefore sought out an
acquisition opportunity with an IT support
business. Throw in telecoms, mobile phones
and CRM systems, and you end up with a
wide (yet perfectly complementary) mix of
expertise.
“However, such acquisition is not
without its challenges. We are now two
years into our partnership with The One
Point and, inevitably, we have had to
overcome hurdles in respect of working
practices, sharing resources and merging
two groups of people together. But
thankfully, and now we are all under one
roof, we can now truly integrate our sales,
finance, consulting, engineering support
and helpdesk functions, with working
practices aligned, to deliver enhanced
service and value to clients.”
Derek Russell:
“Historically, a
combination of in-house and external
partnerships have worked well for us.
As such, we’ll continue to traverse this
preferred route. An open relationship
and collaborative approach to marketing,
typically provides opportunities for the
involved parties.
“We’ve found that the integrity earned
by IT service providers, with their existing
client bases, instantly builds trust for us
when we’re in joint negotiations. In most
instances, it also kicks out competing print
focused businesses. This means value and
service offering takes centre stage rather
than discussions around price.
“You do need to have in-house skills
as a print equipment reseller, but building
strong relationships with partners is the
fastest route to market. Acquisition can be
highly disruptive to both business models
with major risks.”
Julian Stafford:
“We have always grown
our business organically we have never
acquired a business. For us therefore it
was about building an in-house team. The
benefit of this is they soak up the DNA of
Midshire and promote our core values. It’s
really important to me that our IT offering
was very ‘Midshire’ from the start.”
Mark Smyth:
“The initial challenges
are making that first investment – that
can be difficult for some resellers as it
potentially comes at quite a cost. Therefore
considering a strategic partner is often a
worthwhile option and there are many
to choose from, including some of the
major and top vendors that have extensive
resources and capabilities. And it’s a great
way to minimise risk, utilising services and
resource only when you need them!
“You have to start somewhere and
taking that leap of faith is a bold but
important step when the time is right,
and that must be when you have won
some business that can support your
investment.”
Terence Hargreaves:
“The main
challenge is to keep pace with such a
fast-moving marketplace. We do this by
developing our skills in-house and working
with carefully selected specialists, to react
at speed to new developments.”
Mark Smyth,
Operations Director,
Vision
