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mps
Print.IT Reseller
30
Centralised
management
strategies
continue to
be difficult
when applied
to the
world of the
decentralised
office.
a criteria for partner selection. Data is pretty
clear that price erosion is occurring and that
customers may be having a harder time
making a choice. Thus, they default to price
as a key point of difference.
Q.
What are the main factors
businesses consider when choosing an
MPS provider? Does it all come down
to cost?
A.
We continue to see that reliability, price
and flexibility are the top three partner
selection criteria. Customers are placing more
weight on price today than in years past, but
reliability continues to be the top factor in
most segments.
Q.
If cost is important, do
manufacturers have a built-in
advantage over the channel?
A.
OEMs do have the ability to be the most
price-aggressive on a per unit basis. This is
why savvy channel providers have always
competed on different value pillars. Our
research continues to support the fact that
price is not the only motivating factor in the
buying decision.
Multi-vendor or
homogeneous fleet?
Q.
Are MPS customers happy to
standardise on equipment from a
single vendor or do they favour a
multi-vendor approach?
A.
The entire notion of multi-vendor support
really sprung from the customers’ desire to
protect existing investments or functionality.
Our research indicates this is especially so in
enterprise customers, while small customers
don’t seem particularly attached to their
devices (aside from brand preference).
Q.
Does this extend to production
print as well? Or do businesses prefer
to keep the print room separate from
office printing?
A.
Absolutely not! Overwhelmingly, CRD
customers have unified their contracts.
Q.
Does standardising on equipment
from one supplier make it more
difficult to change supplier at the end
of a contract?
A.
Not really, but multiple lines of business
do make you more sticky with your
customers.
Print optimisation or business
process improvement?
Q.
How successful have MPS providers
been at expanding existing MPS
agreements to incorporate elements of
business process improvement?
A.
This is an area that we are watching more
closely than ever. Sadly, we haven’t seen
channel providers be as good at expanding
into business process and workflow offerings
as we had hoped might be the case. In
some cases, strong MPS providers are quite
happy with the money being made in MPS,
while others don’t feel comfortable that the
business model is as repeatable.
Q.
Is this something that tends to occur
in 2nd or 3rd generation contracts
or is it becoming a feature of first
generation contracts as well?
A.
We are certainly seeing customers really
asking for this, at least in the larger accounts.
That is, customers are becoming more
outcome-focused, so attacking an entire
business process is more attractive (and
perceived as higher-value). However, we see
a gap in what providers are offering and
what customers say they want – still.
Q.
Are SME customers interested in this
aspect of MPS or do most just want
device consolidation and optimisation?
A.
Most MPS customers are still very
interested in cost reduction and control. This
could be because of a true desire to reduce
costs or because there is a lack of awareness
anything else is possible.
Q.
Scanning solutions are available
from many different suppliers, from
mailing companies to VARs. Do MPS
providers have an advantage due to
the position of MFPs at the centre of
document workflows? Or is this of no
consequence?
A.
Those providers who are
beholden to a centralised
strategy are at a
disadvantage from
realising how to
positively impact a
holistic solution. This is
to say that sometimes
a strategy involving
an MFP is the right
choice. Sometimes it
is not.
MPS & page volumes
Q.
Is MPS accelerating the decline in
print volumes?
A.
MPS isn’t impacting the number of pages
being printed; so much as it is impacting how
much customers are paying for the pages
they are printing.
Q.
Are solutions and services
compensating for lower hardware
and consumable costs or is the print
industry eating itself?
A.
After living on all sides of this equation
for the past 10 years (customer, dealer and
OEM), I prefer to think of it as right-sizing
itself. This is the new reality we have to live
with.
Q.
What are some of the tactics
suppliers are adopting to make up for
falling hardware/supplies revenue?
A.
We are seeing OEMs take many different
approaches. Generally, these involve
expansion into adjacent markets or entering
new markets. Some are focused on business
as usual, clamping down on costs to leverage
existing investments.
MPS & print technologies
Q.
Has the rise of MPS influenced the
design of modern print devices in any
way?
A.
We believe that the broader trends of
transparency and standardisation have had
more to do with influencing modern print
devices than MPS.
Q.
Has it encouraged the use of
remanufactured and compatible
supplies by MPS providers?
A.
Yes. This has primarily been driven by
independent providers who are very profit-
minded.
Q.
Are business inkjets an attractive
option for MPS providers? If so, why?
A.
We are bullish on the new page wide
array technologies from Memjet and HP.
While overcoming laser-bias will be very
difficult, the quality, speed and costs quickly
match mainstream laser technology.
Q.
What challenges does BYOD present
to MPS providers and their customers?
And how are they being addressed?
A.
Centralised management strategies
continue to be difficult when applied to the
world of the decentralised office. Skype,
Webex and readily available broadband
access make teleworking more than possible
– it’s become preferable in many situations.
However, the cost-benefit barrier remains
difficult to bridge for SMEs.
MPS & security
Q.
Is data security a big driver for MPS
adoption?
A.
It is becoming a bigger part of the
picture. While security is at the forefront in
traditional IT sales, security isn’t an overriding
decision point. Most remain very fixated with
operational costs.
Q.
Do MPS and associated security
solutions mainly protect against
inadvertent or accidental mis-use of
data or can they also thwart thieves?
A.
Well, we’ve heard quite a few stories of
toner thieves losing their franchise.
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