Heartbreak and glory - the times are changing universally. One turn in my personal metamorphosis is stepping down as President of the Managed Print Services Association.
My involvement with the MPSA started at the very beginning, back when a room full of folks voted to form the association at Photizo 1. I am honored to have served and proud of all the accomplishments we've achieved - it has been a great time.
Congratulations to the new Managed Print Services Associations executive board:
President: Kevin DeYoung, Qualpath - owner, managed print services visionary, leader Vice President: Doug Bies, Canon USA - new, passionate, cutting edge philosophy Secretary: Sarah Henderson, West Point Products/Clover Technologies - stalwart, foundational, dedicated Treasurer: Lou Stricklin, Muratec America - solid, fresh, tactician
Today, as I exit the Oval Office, relegated to a Board of Director, I am free from the yoke of compliance, broken are the shackles of other's stunted and spun opinion, open to express my opinions based on observed behavior, not Survey Monkey or the corporate drawer statement.
I am unencumbered by concerns about how a potential sponsor or customer might feel.
Free to ignore conversations geared around the ROI of donating $10,000.00 for a corporate membership.
We were not lying when we said your ROI is measured by your contribution to the industry, not shelf space, or tossing our membership into your sales funnel.
The shackles of self-censorship have fallen away...
UNLEASHED...
My managed print services observations or better yet:
The World According to Greg
Managed print services is Dead and the OEMs killed it -
That's what I said.
It was called 'managed print services' not 'managing printers & service'. Leveraging the 'services' model to increase MIF is disingenuous and prospects see right through the scam.
Customers do not care -
Speaking of customers, they don't give a rip about the toner remanufacturing process. They don't care about the seven steps of xerography, and their eyes gloss when you speak of ink vs. toner; color vs. B/W, or mobile print. Stop doing that.
Find something else to talk about - say business-oriented, like employee morale, the impact of BYOD, and managing print servers.
My advice to the incoming MPSA Executive Board -
Change the definition of managed print services and the direction of the MPSA. Move away from toner, printer, and hardware - to a "Managed Services Association". Expand the horizons, and blow the minds of millions.
Do not fall victim to the procedure, meeting paralysis, Roberts Rules of Order planning on how to do something without ever doing anything.
Once a member proclaims, "...that's not the way I operate..." they've volunteered. The association, like our industry, is at a crossroads. Like times in the past, both glory and ruination await.
Ideas are bulletproof -
Not only is the world on a path to less paper, but the new world will be populated with self-healing devices - no need for as many service technicians.
Managing services for your clients is the future. This core idea is unflappable in a turbulent sea of rhetoric, incorrect research, and marketing talk.
The world of MPS, like life, holds promise and doom - fortune, glory, and tragedy. False promises? Yes. Self-interest? Of course.
When haven't we experienced both?
To make a move, a real move, we've got to take that leap of faith...again and again, and again. Heartbreak, then Glory. Glory, then heartbreak.
pariah |pəˈrīə|
noun
1 an outcast: they were treated as social pariahs.
2 historical a member of a low caste in southern India.
It wasn't long ago, the darling of the dance, managed print services, was filled with wonder and promise. Like Carrie's senior prom, that bucket of toner came crashing down spoiling mood and prom dress alike.
Yes, it is true - managed print services has become the industry pariah - oh how the mighty have fallen. Supplanted by help desk, email, and disaster recovery the lowly printer has left the stage.
Managed print services has ended up meaning little more than service and toner delivery leveraged to lock customers in, expand shelf space and drop more machines in field. But that wasn't what MPS should have been.
It had the potential for so, so much more but we couldn't handle it. True mps is huge, expansive and all inclusive; a concept including printers and wireless routers, scanning, digital workflow, and the paperless life.
Too Big for Most People's Mind -
They invited managed print to the prom, put her on stage. Then, in a pre-planned scheme, they attempted to shame and belittle. Unlike Carrie's story, the devious ones here understood the overwhelming power of a new business model. Instead of simply embarrassing the concept, the sought to destroy it. They've succeeded.
Self-centered.
"...And the raven was called sin..."
The prom is over. But there is always another dance, another Carrie.
Let's try something that isn't tied to OEM hardware. Indeed, let's start proposing and selling ideas that ROMOVE hardware from the equation(one possibility derived from mps). The scary truth is your prospects and customers are doing it right now, with or without you.
Would you like to learn more about how your business could move away from OEM driven quotas?
