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Print.IT Reseller
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channel mps
14
“Selling
MPS is not
just about
pushing
hardware on
its own...”
MPS without the pain
Having spent the last two years
building an MPS infrastructure and
cutting its teeth on a series of MPS
engagements, including a high
profile implementation at Defra, Oki
is inviting IT resellers, value added
resellers, stationery suppliers and
other service providers to use its
expertise to deliver managed print
services to clients.
It has devised a flexible programme that
enables channel partners with no in-house
expertise to deliver the three main types of
MPS – Managed Page Services (fixed cost
per page with consumables delivery and
support), Managed Print Services (print
audits, assessment and fleet optimisation)
and Managed Document Services (workflow
analysis and optimisation) – with no
hardware investment costs, no stock issues
and very little cost.
Oki’s programme covers every aspect of
an engagement including Sales & Technical
Training; On site audits (inc. workflow
and process recommendations); Proposal
support and consultation; Access to solutions
architects; Finance; Flexible billing and
contracts; Implementation; Service delivery;
and Project management.
Partners can task Oki to deliver every
aspect of an engagement or just certain
elements. As Rob Brown, Oki Systems
(UK) business manager for MPS, explains:
“We can do it for you; with you; or we can
provide the tools and you can do it.”
Why MPS?
At the launch of Oki’s programme Arnaud
Gagneux, Research Director for IDC
Imaging, Hardcopy and Document Solutions,
emphasised what a great opportunity MPS
is at a time of falling hardware sales and
shrinking margins.
Oki has launched a new partner programme for managed
print services. James Goulding attended the launch
“A two, three, four, five year contract
in MPS gives long-term revenue and
embeds you in a business and gives you
the opportunity to cross-sell and upsell,”
he said. “Selling MPS is not just about
pushing hardware on its own. It’s also an
opportunity to push other solutions into
your account.”
He added that this is where the growth
is. According to IDC, the UK market for
Paper to Digital Document Management,
Device Management and Control and
Enterprise Output Management solutions
is set to grow from $256 million in 2011 to
$370 million in 2015.
Another advantage in becoming an
MPS provider is that margins for services
are still holding up. IDC research shows
that in the last five years the proportion of
partners reporting gross margins of 15%
or more has fallen from 58% to 30% for
hardware sales, from 58% to 38% for
software sales and from 72% to 65% for
services.
Gagneux added that there were also
opportunities in simple print services
consisting of unified billing, remote
monitoring and hardware, supplies and
servicing (what Oki calls Managed Page
Services). Between 2012 and 2016 IDC
expects these types of engagement to grow
at a CAGR of 12% compared to 9% for
more complex Managed Print Services.
According to the 2011 IDC Western
Europe SMB survey, just one in 10 UK
companies currently has some form of
print service, so the potential for growth is
enormous.
Just Jump In
In order to take part in this market, channel
partners can either develop their own tools
and expertise – expensive and slow – or
they can partner with a vendor that has
built its own MPS infrastructure.
“A small IT dealer might recognise
the benefits of MPS but not have the
expertise to put a proposal together or
work out per page pricing. We can do that
for them,” explained Rob Brown. “We are
also working with a number of very large
resellers who don’t want to dedicate their
own resources to MPS. They can maintain
their relationship with the client and we
will deliver the service on their behalf.”
What’s not an option, suggests Oki
marketing director Graham Lowes, is to do
nothing.“The only way you learn about this
business is by dipping your toes in. When
you do, you will learn far more than you
can by talking to people or reading about
it. Just jump in,” he said.
Why Oki?
Vendors are fighting to sign up resellers
and service providers, so what does Oki
offer that others don’t?
A key advantage is that unlike many
vendors it only sells through the channel.
Oki provides the resources needed to
deliver MPS but the service itself is
managed by channel partners who can
have complete confidence that they are
working in co-operation not competition
with Oki.
In addition, Oki has 17 account
managers nationally who are able to
support customer engagements and
teams of sales people tasked with finding
leads and pushing them back through the
channel.
Another reason to rely on Oki, says
Brown, is that it has already gained
valuable knowledge of the nitty-gritty of
MPS implementations that partners can
draw on from Day One. “If you have an
organisation with 250 sites, 350-400
machines and 20 machines per floor, how
do you know the right consumable reaches
the right device on the right floor on the
right day? We have processes to do that
for you.”
A less tangible attraction, but a
significant one nonetheless, is Oki’s
corporate culture and honest approach to
MPS. According to Lowes, this was a major
factor in securing the Defra contract. “Oki
was the wild card. One of the main reasons
Oki won was down to trust. They felt
confident with Oki people. We listened to
what Defra wanted and went back with a
proposal that met Defra’s requirements.
We said we would have to partner
with others to make it happen and they
appreciated our honesty,” he said.
As Oki aims to increase its revenue from
MPS to 17% of turnover by 2015, it will be
hoping that its channel partners feel the
same.