VOX POP
PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
31
Jeremy Spencer,
Marketing Director,
Toshiba
Paul Gaiser,
Director MPS,
Channel Partner
Operations,
Xerox
PART 1:
THE VENDORS’ PERSPECTIVE
Do you see the wider adoption
of cloud managed services by
businesses as an opportunity
for channel partners to secure
a new recurring revenue stream
and increase their stickiness with
customers?
Pete Munday,
Global Experiential
Solutions Marketing Manager,
Xerox
:
“Yes. And to help, Xerox ConnectKey-
enabled MFPs can be cloud-connected and
have the ability to create customised cloud
connectors through software platforms
such as Xerox App Studio.
“We also offer a range of solutions that
partners can sell to help their customers
utilise the cloud platform even further, such
as Xerox Mobile Print Cloud, Cloud Fax
solutions and more.”
Paul Gaiser,
Director MPS, Channel
Partner Operations,
Xerox
:
“Managed
print services is another offering that can
be delivered from the cloud, decreasing
the need for specific MPS developments
or tool integrations by channel partners
delivering a professional MPS service to
their customers, enabled by a large MPS
provider, such as Xerox.”
Paul Young,
Head of Technical Services,
UTAX
:
“The opportunity for resellers who
think beyond simply shifting boxes is huge
and continues to grow. Organisations
are looking for cloud-based solutions
that streamline operations, control costs,
improve employee productivity, secure data
and improve efficiencies while protecting
intellectual property.
“We’re constantly working with our
channel partners to deliver solutions that
drive positive change within a business.
This does have the benefit of generating
recurring revenue, but it also positions
those partners as trusted advisors to whom
decision-makers will return when they have
additional needs.
“Stickiness also comes from ensuring
the relationship between reseller and
end-user, as well as that between reseller
and managed service provider, is on-going.
It’s not good enough to roll-out a solution
and then walk away until it’s time to renew
the contract. Nurture that business and
continue to deliver enhancements to the
organisation and the relationship can last
for as long as you want it to.”
Chris Hale,
Solutions Product Marketing
Manager,
Sharp UK
:
“Very much
so. Sharp is keen to see our partners
improving customers’ business processes
through use of our umbrella of service and
product offerings, all of which optimise
collaborative requirements and provide
more instant access to data.
“This is important when thinking of
new revenue streams, as it’s expected by
the growing number of millennials in the
workplace. We recently introduced the
Sharp Integrated Technology Programme,
focused especially on cloud collaboration
to meet the appetite among Sharp partners
for more meaningful, solutions-orientated
approaches when engaging with their
customers.”
Jeremy Spencer,
Marketing Director,
Toshiba
:
“We see cloud services and
solutions becoming a key part of MPS
development in 2016. Companies are
looking to outsourcing and supplier
rationalisation as they seek to become
more efficient. So, yes, you could argue
that MPS demand will grow, but whether
it will look and feel like the managed print
services we have been delivering across the
last five years remains to be seen.
We ask leading print vendors and resellers for their thoughts on the wider
adoption of cloud managed services, the case for outsourcing to third parties
and whether there are any associated risks
Cloud and managed services
“I suspect channel partners will
encourage a stronger degree of integration
with other solutions, software and
platforms, with companies that can cope
with this demand growing their MPS share
sustainably.”
Have you seen many partners upskill
so they have the necessary in-
house expertise to support clients’
cloud migration plans and manage
their IT infrastructure, or are they
outsourcing to a specialist IT support
partner?
Pete Munday:
“Yes. Many partners are
re-skilling to use basic tools such as Xerox
App Studio to create cloud connectors
or to better understand and utilise the
Xerox App Gallery ‘ready to use’ apps
(such as document translation, digital
fax, document repurposing and storage)
that connect into cloud services from our
alliance partners.
“In 2015 we launched a programme
call ‘Personalised Application Builder’ (PAB)
where partners have the opportunity to
download and use the Xerox Software
Development Kit (SDK), enabling them to
create new and unique applications for
their customers. We are finding they are
using existing resources in-house but re-
training them to be able to use the SDK.”
Paul Gaiser:
“In relation to underlying
managed print services, many channel
partners have upskilled to be able to
offer these cloud-based services to
Companies
are looking to
outsourcing
and supplier
rationalisation
as they seek
to become
more efficient.
Continued...
