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user’s business while also addressing other
areas of concern amongst end-users, with
security being a hot topic.
“The art of selling will become much
more collaborative as dealers work closely
with vendors to bring together packaged
solutions that deliver real results to business
and solve problems. No longer should
we pigeon-hole multifunction printers
according to how fast they can print or
whether they’re A3 or A4. Instead we need
to look at devices as the enabler; what can
they do for the end-user and how can they
enhance productivity, develop collaboration
or allow truly mobile working?
“Sales and solutions need to keep pace
with customer demands. Only those dealers
who change their perception of what they’re
selling will be successful, especially those
who take advantage of new opportunities
by highlighting the power of today’s print
and document management solutions. The
benefits of using the latest technology are
wide-ranging so dealers need to ensure they
provide relevant solutions that tie hardware
and software together.
“As dealers are now providing
solutions, market insight will become
ever more important. When it comes
to education, for example, effective
school management is all about juggling
financial and human resources. Dealers
can therefore focus on the cost reduction
and efficiency benefits of managed print
solutions and talk about automatic
replenishment of toner, hassle-free
scheduled servicing and monitoring of
print output that means devices can be
interchanged if one’s being used less
than another. And that’s before they start
to discuss intelligent three-tier pricing,
management of mono and colour output
and the cost-saving benefits of follow-me
printing.
“It’s this sort of specific information
and solutions that dealers need to be
sharing with their customers and then
delivering with the support of their vendor
partners in order to be successful in today’s
super-competitive environment.”
Mark Ash,
Head of Print,
Samsung
“2015 really brought to life the possibilities
of smart technology and I expect this
theme to continue in 2016 as we see the
rise of the Connected Workplace. From
your car predicting at what point you’ll
arrive in the office, ensuring that your
desktop is up and ready to go upon your
arrival, to your phone communicating with
your computer and organising your agenda
for the day, all technology in the workplace
will be connected. In short, the Connected
Workplace will enable efficient and
effective working and is key to business
transformation.
“Print will play a huge part in making
the Connected Workplace achievable. End
users won’t be restricted to printing just
from their desktop; they’ll be fully mobile,
printing directly from the device, remotely
from their phones, tablets and smart
watches, accessing data that’s stored in
the Cloud. The same will apply to scanning
– documents will be scanned into editable
documents that can be stored in the Cloud
and accessed remotely.
“Whilst print won’t define business
transformation, it will enable the
Connected Workplace, which will in turn
have a huge impact on the way businesses
operate for years to come.
“We also expect to see consolidation
in the market, as traditional print vendors
find it increasingly hard to exist without a
converged offering. This plays to Samsung’s
strength and we expect our position to
grow and to take market share.”
Simon Hill,
Sales Director UK & Ireland,
Nuance Communications
“High profile security breaches, both
in the UK and overseas, will be a big
influence in 2016. I anticipate that more
organisations will take a new look at their
security policy, procedures and deterrents
and will work to ensure that web-enabled
devices connected to their network, like
multifunction printers, have their security
reinforced, so that they are protected from
hackers and no longer present a weak link
in the security chain.
“From a document security perspective,
we’ll see pull printing build on the
customer base it has established so far, as
more companies work to prevent sensitive
information contained in documents from
being left unsecured and unattended on
devices.
“But while security will be front-of-
mind for many companies, they won’t
lose sight of that business perennial – the
need to lower costs. With office printing
the single most unaudited business
expense, I believe more companies will
look to deploy a managed print service
which can help reduce print costs by up
to 30%. However, there is still work to
be done in educating end-users that an
MPS isn’t simply about the automated
replenishment of consumables; too often
companies have fallen into that trap and
have not seen the promised return on their
MPS investment. In 2016, vendors, the
channel and providers of a truly effective
MPS will have to do more to push the
message that for an MPS to be effective
and deliver on the projected cost savings,
it must take a comprehensive view of
print fleet management, encompassing
proactive device monitoring, qualified and
experienced helpdesk support, managed
document services and, of course, device
and document security.
“In the drive to further reduce print
costs, I anticipate a healthy demand for
intelligent print management solutions
like Nuance Equitrac, AutoStore and
SafeCom, which enable companies to track
print costs, by detailing who is printing
and when, and see which devices are
under- or over-used. This information is
useful for establishing whether a print fleet
can, or should be, rationalised. Detailed
reporting of information also ensures that
departments, individuals or clients can be
billed for their print more accurately.
continued...
We expect
to see
consolidation
as traditional
print vendors
find it
increasingly
hard to exist
without a
converged
offering.
Shaun Wilkinson,
Managing Director,
UTAX (UK) Ltd
Mark Ash,
Head of Print,
Samsung
...continued
Simon Hill,
Sales
Director UK &
Ireland,
Nuance
Communications
