Managed Print Services spike an increase in FMAudit installations

This article refers to "PrintSolv" in Australia, not the PrintSolv from Synnex, here in the States.
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Sydney, Australia - PrintSolv, the Australian distributor of FMAudit software and a leader in managed print services applications, has reached a significant milestone by distributing over 1000 licenses of the ‘FMAudit Onsite' application in April. PrintSolv resellers now extend the benefit of remote meter collection and automated toner fulfilment to over 15,000 end-users in Australia. PrintSolv

This remarkable growth has been facilitated by both advances in deployment capabilities and the rapid growth of the PrintSolv reseller base. "Photocopier and printer resellers Australia-wide are now turning to PrintSolv with high demand for vendor agnostic automation of meter collection and consumable fulfillment," says Andrew Tsiorvas, General Manager of PrintSolv. "These repetitive processes have traditionally been ‘pain points' for both reseller and end-user, because of the manual methods that were required."

The emergence of managed print services is also a major factor in the month-to-month increase of FMAudit installations. A land-grab for managed print service opportunities is currently underway - and by installing the FMAudit application, PrintSolv resellers are first in line to strike. Instant fleet visibility and the print volume data collected by the FMAudit application are crucial to any managed print services offering. "When it comes to MPS," says Tsiorvas, "I firmly believe that the FMAudit product range gives our resellers an advantage over their competition."

About PrintSolv and FMAudit.

Based in Mosman NSW, PrintSolv is the exclusive distributor of FMAudit products in Australasia and the market leader for print management applications in the region. FMAudit specialises in data capture and analysis software that enables print assessment, account reviews, automated meter collection and supplies replenishment. PrintSolv has over 200 active print and copier resellers utilising its products across Australasia. PrintSolv resellers currently service the following regions; All Australian Capital Cities, All New Zealand Capital Cities, Papua New Guinea, Newcastle, Wollongong, Tamworth, Orange, Kalgoorlie, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Gold Coast, Townsville, Geelong, Warragul, Ballarat and Bendigo.

MaNAgeD PRinT SerVIces - Does it Really Matter How WE Define It?

May 2009-

The first people who wanted to define Managed Print Services were, of course, the consultants. Define it, measure it, survey around it, create reports about it, and sell the data. Nice model.

Not far behind those folks are the "trainers" - oh yes, we all know those guys.

Anything new has got to be figured out - everything new has mystery about it, and as Max once told me,"...where there is mystery, there is margin..."

And when you act as an authority and have a track record of sorts, never mind that the record was based on an archaic and outdated, equipment model, people will pay big time to hear you tell them how to "succeed".

After the "trainers" come the "Providers" - BTA Dealers, copier manufacturers, VARs, and software people. Those who sling gear and sell CPC service agreements.

The last group are those who claim to "...have been selling and providing MPS for 8, 10, 20, 30 years..." - these are the ones who really crack me up, but they are in the "boat" too.

If one were to Google MPS just 12 short months ago, one may have found some hits regarding HP or Xerox and most certainly Photizo - but not Lyra or AIM or BTA, or Kyocera, Konica Minolta, or a great number of copier dealers.

Now, MPS is everywhere - dealers provide it, manufacturers provide it, software people provide it, marketing firms, toner re-manufacturers, and even technology providers talk MPS.

And today, more copier reps are on the street waving their dongles and selling the hot new product, MPS, than ever before. (Managed Prints Services - That "Hot, New, Thing...")

Synnex, Ingram, InfoTrends, and Water provide "MPS training" for the salesperson, the dealer, and the owner - honestly, I am a proponent of the "selling is selling, no matter what you sell..." theory. So even though all the MPS Sales courses are simply re-hashed "copier CPC" selling or "Solution Selling" subject matter, that's ok. Any knowledge is good knowledge.

I think the biggest and most significant issue to remember, and one echoed by Xerox's Ashby Lowry at the Managed Print Services Conference last month is that true MPS strives to REDUCE the number of prints and REDUCE THE NUMBER OF MACHINES(IN FIELD).

But how does this reconcile, for example, with Kyocera's need to find homes for more machines? Will they reduce production schedules because they now offer MPS?

How does OPS affect the number of Konica Minolta's vs HP's?

How does this balance with Ricoh/IKON's need to convert more Canon customers to Ricoh? Is there a significant, MPS-based reason to move from Canon to Ricoh?

How does real MPS jive with Xerox selling 3 Phasers with every copier?

Are they paying lip service to MPS or simply defining MPS for their own purpose?
Recently, Lexmark released data defining how much the government is wasting on inefficient printing policies and procedures. The results are not surprising; big government wastes tax dollars, duh. And the Federal Government is a great prospect for solid MPS.

But is it just me, or do you get the feeling that the next article is going to be about how Lexmark, by supplying only Lexmark gear, saved the taxpayer's gajillions?

Is there a good answer to this, no? Is it wrong that when Lexmark wins an MPS deal, it consists of Lexmark(or Xerox, HP, Konica Minolta, Samsung...) only gear? No, not really, because of how they define MPS. Their flavor is tainted with their machines - not a true MPS.
Real Managed Print Services is NOT a technique. It is not a product. It is not a marketing campaign.

Managed Print Service is a process. A process that reduces costs, over a period of time, and enhances the overall, business process and workflow of any company/organization.

This leads me to a simple list of qualifying questions:

If you sell only toner, are you in MPS?
If you sell only Ricoh's, are you in MPS?
If you sell paper, are you in MPS?
If you sell data storage, are you in MPS?
If you sell marketing materials and production of those marketing materials, are you in MPS?
If you sell single-function laser printers, are you in MPS?
If you sell and service only one hardware manufacturer, are you in MPS?
If you sell power control and monitoring devices for the data center are you in MPS?
If you sell directly, exclusively, and strictly to the Purchase Agent of any company, are you in MPS?
If you sell fax servers, are you in MPS?
If you sell laser printer service, are you in MPS?
If you sell contract negotiations, and bid management, are you in MPS?
If you sell office supplies, are you in MPS?
If you sell archiving software, are you in MPS?
If you sell leasing and financial services, are you in MPS?
If you sell into a CRD environment, are you in MPS?
If you sell your business expertise and cost reduction acumen, are you in MPS?

Any one of the above, indeed perhaps a score or two more, can qualify as a component of MPS - that is of course except for one. There is one item in the above list, that completely, unequivocally disqualifies you as an MPS provider and negates your membership as one who plays in the MPS niche.

Care to take a guess at which one?

For us on the "inside" the definition of MPS, of course, is complex. Because MPS can be any one of the answers from above - MPS, true enlightenment in MPS would include ALL of the above and more. But once this is achieved, it no longer is MPS it becomes MIS.(back to the beginning, again)

The ultimate One Throat To Choke.

Back to my original question, "Does it really matter how WE define MPS?"

NO, it does not.

I am reminded of a statement made by Randy Elliot from Dow Chemical at the recent MPS conference. For him, he really didn't care how we defined MPS - it is unimportant to him, as a customer.

Wow.

That should truly sum it all up - what matters isn't how we define MPS, what matters is how our prospects and clients define MPS.

Samsung, Xerox, PrintAudit, NER, Great America, Nationwide Insurance, Bob Jones, Kearns, DOW - Managed Print Services CON'09: Oh, what a Time We Had..

5/2009

I have never seen a better, "home-made" crop circle tattoo - ever.

The first annual Managed Print Conference ended a bit ago, and although I have enough notes to choke a horse, I have been holding off writing about the meeting.

Waiting and looking for indications that what I saw, the conversations I had, the passion, or the lack of passion I observed, somehow could be found in my everyday MPS world.

The Conference did represent MPS Nirvana - but out here in the real world, it's different.

It's a world of competitors waving their little "dongles" around, jumping up and down spewing 5 year old Gartner facts and pitching MPS as "the hot new PRODUCT" - gag, upchuck the boogie...

So it takes some heavy Korn tracks TwistedTransistor, to name one, to dislodge my apathy and write - God help us all.

About the time of the Lyra conference in Palm Springs, the first time I met Ed and really started to get to know the folks from Photizo, the future of the Managed Print Conference was realistically in question. Indeed, just a few months later, at the beginning of ITex, questions were still lurking.

But all it took was a walk through the floor at ITex, to see MPS was everywhere and was the "new black".

That's when I knew the conference was not only going survive, but be a success.

Ed and I walked the show, shaking our heads in awe. The market was truly coming towards Managed Print Services - that is at least from the vendor side.

After Xerox stepped up as a Platinum sponsor, credibility grew as did the list of sponsors. Weekly, more and more firms jumped in - a larger room was soon needed for all the vendors.

Our work as judges for the first annual MPS Awards grew as well - page after page from nominated contestants arrived in my in box. There was a good deal of work that went into those 4 awards.

And as the big day grew closer, that anticipation increased. Ed even received his first "troll" attack on the MSP Mentor site; you know you're on the right track when someone tries to attack your credibility. As of today, the Troll has made no subsequent appearances.

The beginning of the conference went marvelously with introductions to new people and re-intro's to familiar faces.

The tone was set early.

As the group of attendees was not huge, around 174 people, it was easy to get to see and talk to many people. Not so many as to be overwhelming but more than enough to lend credibility to the MPS market as a growing and significant niche.

Make no mistake, if you were unable to attend, it's ok- MPS will be growing and there will be opportunities to get together with industry leaders again.

If you were there, you know.

Which brings me to a personal and at least for me, a very interesting observation.

I am sure that there have been times in your life when you belonged to a group of friends or an organization of sorts when it felt like you knew a cool secret - and that only you and the members of you group understood.

For me, it was Paintball and the society of "early adapters" within the sport. It was weird, but we all knew each other, even if we had never met, because we shared a common passion for a game, a sport, not many knew of and fewer even understood.

It is like a secret fraternity.

Well, I felt a tinge of the same, "wink and a nod" feeling.

Sitting in front of a pretty good sized crowd, especially for the end of a conference, and looking out at the faces looking at me and my colleagues, I could tell that this was a special moment in history.

Albeit a moment in MPS history - for whatever that's worth.

We all felt part of a collective, a group of people who understood something that some of our peers would never be able to truly "get" - because they weren't there.

Is it as good as hearing Bell say, "...Watson...I need you..." or watching 12 seconds of the Wright Brothers first 120 feet - no, it is not.

But still, it's something positive. Something created out of nothing - and that is usually a good thing.

I must tell you, the times were good.