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Print.IT Reseller
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opinion
Opinion
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New generation
Olivetti’s recently launched Gateway
Partner Programme is designed to recruit
enthusiastic business people who are
interested in becoming first-time Olivetti
dealers. The Gateway Programme aims to
build a new generation of Olivetti resellers
and promises to provide those who join with
all of the help, support and direction they
need to succeed.
The comprehensive support available
to Gateway dealers includes dedicated
account management; sales, technical and
demonstration training that includes an
intensive lease-finance course; technical
and service support; Olivetti’s Direct Delivery
Service; as well as access to Olivetti’s
marketing team who will help provide
product information through the provision of
product workshops and sales guides, price
lists and promotions. Interested parties can
find out more by emailing Carole Gordge at
c.gordge@olivetti.com.
The Gateway
Programme aims to
build a new generation
of Olivetti resellers
with flair and vitality...
Print:
The new frontier
By Chris Cowell, Sales
Director for the Office
Equipment division at
BNP Paribas Leasing
Solutions
Going back five or six years, Managed
Print Services had a very different
meaning to how it’s being viewed
now by the major print and copy
manufacturers. Back then, MPS
was simply a way to combine the
maintenance of all hardcopy devices
under one service agreement
outsourced to a print specialist.
In recent years, with the advent of
advanced document management solutions,
MPS is taking on a different meaning. MPS
is now promoted as a way to effectively take
control of the entire document handling
process within an organisation. The primary
drivers for most organisations looking to
implement what I call ‘advanced MPS’ is to
reduce print overheads, improve document
security given the heightened compliance
environment most businesses now face and
encourage collaboration between teams.
Then there’s the environmental dimension –
natural resource conservation is a top priority
for all leading companies.
Document management solutions, like
capture, workflow, distribution and retrieval,
are designed to deliver these benefits and
the market opportunity for print resellers
is huge. Market data shows that for many
SMEs, print remains an uncontrolled cost.
Estimates suggest that some organisations
spend between 1- 6% of their annual
Chris can be contacted at
chris.cowell@uk.bnpparibas.com
Chris Cowell, Sales Director. Office
Equipment, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions
...natural
resource
conservation
is a top
priority for
all leading
companies.
revenues on print related costs, whilst a
Gartner study recently estimated that most
companies could reduce their printing costs
by 10-30%.
Advanced MPS
If resellers are to be successful with
advanced MPS, new skills in software
implementation and configuration
are essential. All of the major print
manufacturers I talk to have invested
heavily in providing training and support
to their channel partners, to help them
successfully transform their businesses from
basic to advanced MPS. The latter requires
new skills and a different sales approach,
one that’s more consultancy led. Inevitably,
partners can expect to see an increase in
the cost of sales.
At BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions,
we’re working with our partners to help
them develop an integrated print solution
model combining the document hardware,
software and ‘soft cost’ elements – often
referred to as professional services
– without denting their cash flow. If
anything, we’ve developed a suite
of solutions that can accelerate our
partners’ transition to advanced MPS
and simultaneously reap high margins
that come with software delivery and
associated professional services.
For example, we can finance 100%
software only transactions. So a partner
wishing to add new document management
functionality to an existing customer with a
financed print fleet can do so easily.
We’re also able to finance professional
services. Typically we’re seeing day rates
for professional services being charged at
around the £1,000 mark. So by including
this charge into the overall finance solution,
the partner is able to monetise this service
whilst being viewed as an all inclusive
provider by the customer.
The print market is shifting at a rapid
pace and new technologies like cloud
and mobile are causing print volumes to
decline. But whilst there will always be
room for print hardware, the future does
increasingly point towards businesses
adopting document management solutions.
Now is the perfect time for print resellers
to embrace the changing landscape and
remain successful.