The $HPQ Way : Destroy All Channels Except One

8/14/14

"My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"

I've talked about HP Instant Ink before  -

"This is the plan; make printing so cheap the act of printing is as thoughtless as watching TV.

Friends, I give you one possible timeline for the Future of MpS - self-imposed irrelevancy. Rejoice and make mirth for the sun shall shine on our faces forever!

So be it.

Just because the Motley Fool thinks this is a bad idea, doesn't mean it won't work(mopier). We all know how innovative HP can be (TouchPad) and their commitment to customers (2007, product delivered to the highest volume accounts only), employees(25,000 layoffs), and suppliers (thousands of canceled laser engine orders to Canon) is beyond comparison (pale)." - GRW, 2013

Well here we are, not even a year later and HP is bringing its brand of MpS to the SMB  - without you.

Death of the Copier: The Return

"Why in the hell would you come back?"  

Truth is, I never left.  The bigger truth is that the book is launching and I figured it would be nice to get the word out here where it all started.

A funny thing happened on the way to "blogdom" - I started re-reading entries from six years ago and THEY STILL MADE SENSE!

What seemed like a few years, was nothing more than a blink of the eye.  Whats more, the cast of characters hasn't changed - except for sons-of-old-guys returning home with marketing degrees - I see all the same faces, ideas and ways.

Sad.

But then another turn.  I caught the trailer for The Walking Dead now in its fifth season.  The show premiered on October 31, 2010.  Again, it seems like a million years ago since Rick rode into Atlanta - on a horse. It got me remembering, I published my first post, "Managed Print Services - That "Hot, New, Thing...", TWO YEARS before Walking Dead premiered.

Good lord, I am old.



Back then, I was selling managed print services and traveling the Wild Wild West of MPS. Everything was possible. No benchmarks, few experts, just a handful of tools - Excel, a clipboard and colored dots - and No Rules.

Has anything changed over the last 72 months?

In a way, nothing has changed.  Today:

• Everybody talks about managed print services
• Everybody is an expert
• We still argue about the paperless office
• The OEMs continue to believe they drive the market
• Fax machines are still around
• Nobody listens to the customer - we just talk to each other

And yet, there are some things that are different:

• Everybody sells MpS
• Customers are on their second or third MpS agreement
• The A4's
• Nobody talks about Stage 3 MpS
• Everybody talks about managed IT services
• The OEMs have cornered the definition
• The analysts have sliced and diced managed print services into demographic segments
• The paperless office is here

Well, one thing is sure.  There is plenty to write about and go off on.

Get ready, the end is here...



"In here you're not the greater good...you're part of a system..."

Death of the Copier: The Book is Here

It is official - at least in the E*Book version.  Death of the Copier, the Book is available on Amazon and iBooks as well as other places(SmashWords) and the print version is days away - just in time for the holiday season!

Unavailable on Google Play.

Not only are my words and ideas presented but the best and brightest in our industry contribute great insights.

Forward by Ed Crowley,  Founder and CEO of the worlds premier, managed print services consultancy shares views and insights about managed print services and beyond.

Afterword, Mike Stramaglio, President and CEO of MWAi, a forward thinking, gentleman of industry, talks about the future and a dramatic generational change ushered in by the imaging industry.

Introduction by Robert Newry, past Managing Director of Newfield IT, a cutting edge, visionary of stellar proportions, introduces the section about assessments and tools.