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RM1599 framework
10
At the launch of HP’s new range
of LaserJets (see page 12), Robert
Dinkelacker, Product Marketing
Manager for IPG EMEA, predicted
that in the next three to four years
“30-40% of all pages will be under
contract”. Many of these will be with
public sector organisations operating
under the new RM1599 framework.
In March, Government Procurement
Service (GPS) announced the successful
bidders for the RM1599 framework for
printing products and services, introduced
as a replacement for RM450 which failed
to deliver the desired cost savings or
transparency.
The new framework has four lots with a
combined value of up to £900 million:
Lot 1:
A limited catalogue of pre-specced
devices bought on a leasing agreement
with a click rate fixed for two years. Sole
supplier: Xerox;
Lot 2:
A full catalogue of MFPs and print-
room services, including installation and
training. Preferred suppliers: Canon, Konica
Minolta, Xerox and XMA;
Lot 3:
Managed Print Services. Preferred
suppliers: Canon, HP, Konica Minolta and
Xerox.
Lot 4:
Audit Services. Preferred suppliers:
Altodigital, Apogee, Bramble CC,
Danwood, EKM4, M2 Digital, Mike Wood
Consultancy, Newfield IT, Purosolutions,
Ricoh, Teamlogic, The DTP Group, Toshiba
Information Systems and Wyse Solutions.
Biggest savings
Lanning said that HP had focused on Lot
3, where it was one of four successful
suppliers out of a total of 11 applicants,
because that's where its strengths lie.
“We didn’t see the need to go for
Lots 1 or 2 because they have a very
copier-centric model. If you look at where
HP is successful, its skills lie in security
management, network management and
print and we can do more of that in Lot 3.
Lots 1 and 2 are purely lease and click,”
he said.
Lot 3, he says, is also where
Government bodies can make the biggest
savings – HP offers cost reductions of
at least 20% but in reality the scope for
savings is much greater.
Based on work HP has done with the
Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform
Group, Lanning estimates that on average
it costs a typical Government employee
£480 per year to print. “Our value
proposition aims to reduce that to £240 or
£200 per user, per year,” he said.
So how binding is RM1599? According
to Lanning, 17 Central Government
agencies have to go through RM1599 and
other public sector organisations are being
encouraged to do so. He said that in total
there were “16,000 buying points that can
access RM1599”.
Many local Government, health
and education bodies will already have
framework agreements in place, but
Lanning doubts they can match RM1599
for value for money. “Local Government
and education bodies don’t have to go
through 1599. But they should because the
click rates are more aggressive than other
frameworks,” he said.
He added that savings could be even
greater as the click charge is only a guide
based on certain assumptions used in
the tender process. “In calculating the
average cost per page, GPS asked us to
assume that 85% of pages were mono and
15% colour; that 95% were A4 and 5%
A3; and that there was a device to user
ratio of 1:20. Altogether, the average cost
works out at 2.5p to 3.5p per page and
we charge considerably less than that. One
university we deal with in the Midlands has
an average cost per page of 5.8p, so the
ability to go in and make savings for them
is dramatic,” he said.
Channel involvement
Lots 1-3 of the framework are dominated
by OEMs, the only exception being XMA in
Lot 2. There is greater channel involvement
in the provision of fleet auditing services
(Lot 4) but Government agencies don’t
have to use these as a precursor to MPS.
“The Government is hoping that if the
customer knows who they want to work
with (i.e. if they already use HP for their
infrastructure), I can go in and do the
audit. If they want to do a mini competition
and don’t know what the baseline is they
can use someone from Lot 4 to find out,”
he said.
Lanning believes that HP’s strength
in Central Government resulting from its
acquisition of EDS gives it an advantage
when it comes to MPS.
“HP is well entrenched in Central
Government and has contracts with DWP
(the Department for Work and Pensions),
the MoD, the Department of Justice and
the FCO. Now, we can go in and offer MPS
as well,” he said.
So, does this leave any room for HP
channel partners?
“All contracts under RM1599 are
contracted directly to HP,” explained
Lanning. “But one of the things we did
find is that there is a huge desire to work
with SMEs. We were encouraged by GPS
to incorporate SMEs in the supply chain
and logistics. In some cases we won’t just
be managing HP devices, because if a
customer has a lot of new Ricohs, say, it
is expensive to replace them. So we use
another company in our supply chain to
manage Ricoh/Sharp/Kyocera devices until
the leases run out and we can move over
to HP replacements.”
www.hp.co.uk
In the frame for MPS
HP is one of four companies selected to provide MPS under the
Government's new RM1599 framework.
PrintIT Reseller
spoke to
Dave Lanning, UK Public Sector Lead for HP PPS (MES), about what it
means for HP and the channel
The new
framework
has four
lots with a
combined
value of
up to £900
million