01732 759725
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`VOX POP
Dan Wogan:
“We see the most
opportunity in the business inkjet market.
There’s clearly a lot of appetite for these
cost-effective models, as demonstrated
by the fact Epson has registered a 40
per cent year-on-year increase in unit
sales. Over the next three years, we’re
going to allocate a further
€
185 million
towards PrecisionCore inkjet technology,
capitalising on the enormous market
opportunity.
“We also see more opportunities in
the green printing and recycling fields. We
have an environmental vision for 2050,
which involves all units across our business
abiding by green energy standards.
At CEBIT 2017 we demonstrated our
PaperLab innovation, a revolutionary
product which allows employees to recycle
paper instantly on site. The device removes
almost all the water from the recycling
process. Our belief is that one day everyone
will have a PaperLab device in their home,
allowing them to recycle instantly, bringing
an end to paper wastage.”
Matt Goodall:
“The biggest growth
opportunities lie with the combination
of the multifunctional products and the
various software options that control costs.
This ties in with my comments about costs,
customers want transparency, who is doing
what printing/copying? Who is doing
colour, who is wasting money? We supply
Papercut software and we have seen a
huge increase in customers seeking cost
control software.
“The simple integration process and
the choice of reports and analysis allows a
customer to see where they are spending
money. As a dealer, this new direction
allows another revenue stream and helps
to secure customers to your offering. This
combined with scan options, document
archiving etc. all allow you to secure more
product lines into your existing customers
and helps combat the ever reducing CPC.”
Mark Smyth:
“Our market has been
consolidating for some time, resulting
in less resellers and therefore less
competition, and some resellers are now
restricted in their technology offering and
the market requirements they can meet
and satisfy.
“Consolidation is driving change for
both customers and resellers and this
creates further opportunity. Customers
typically do not like change, therefore
contract renewal and tenders are often
the trigger point for the client to decide
it’s time for a new supplier. It’s at this
important time that we need to be highly
active in the market to potentially compete
and win!”
Mark Bailey:
“Incorporating additional
managed services, such as managed IT, is a
definite area for growth, and one we have
invested in. We believe that there is a huge
opportunity for businesses in streamlining
managed services, and by working with a
single provider they are able to improve
efficiency while reducing cost.”
David Tulip:
“So with the foregoing in
mind there are a number of opportunities;
resellers must differentiate to be successful
– the challenge is that much of the
messaging is the same and let’s be honest
the topic of ‘print and copy’ isn’t sexy. So
there is opportunity for those who can
provide Professional Services, who can not
only talk about but also understand and
assist customers with business processes
– who can integrate software to help the
customer get more from their investment.
“Opportunity exists to educate the
customer that the market has changed –
Epson RIPS and HP PageWide for example
are valid parts of today’s solution. I sense a
shift from centralised to local print over the
coming five years and businesses reaping
savings in not only productivity but energy
efficiency too.
“I think the market will continue to be
ripe for IT Managed Services companies
who have effective managed print
services as part of their portfolio to excel
and continue to win more business and
provide greater value to their customers.
I think a further development of this is
a cost per seat model that augments
well with existing IT Service contracts
where customers get not only a single bill
but a simple cost model which is more
transparent.”
Julian Stafford:
“The flip side of this
is the opportunity for print suppliers to
move into managing their clients’ IT
infrastructure. The potential to tap into
alternative revenue streams is enormous.
“In the past four years, Midshire has
moved into traditional IT, hosted desktop,
data storage, server replication and endless
other areas. IT is now the fasting growing
part of the group.
“I also expect to see a huge growth in
the sale of managed A4 MFPs and printers.
Copy costs on these products continue to
fall, some matching those of A3 devices.
For the past 10 years we have been
removing non-managed expensive to run
desktop printers and replacing with fewer,
strategically placed managed A3 MFPs.
“This is already beginning to turn
on its head, with us now just as likely to
replace non-managed A4 fleets with an
A4 managed fleet allied to even fewer A3
devices. Giving customers the convenience
of desktop printing with the benefits of
lower running costs and the ease of a fully
managed fleet.
“This will accelerate the removal of
non-managed A4 fleets and help managed
service providers capture all the pages in
their clients.”
The simple
integration
process and
the choice
of reports
and analysis
allows a
customer to
see where
they are
spending
money
...continued
Mark Smyth,
Chief Operating
Officer
,
Vision
Andrew Hall,
Marketing
Manager,
OKI Systems (UK)
Julian Stafford,
Managing Director
,
Midshire Business
Systems Northern
