End Users, Clients - Technology Challenges

The weakest links in any system are the people. It's Friday, I saw this, and couldn't resist -

The best is the gentleman who gets toner blown all over him and then takes the monitor over to the copier to make a copy of his screen!

glumbert - Bad Day at the Office

Enjoy - Click


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Edgeline...and the BreadCrumbs...

A seemly trivial function "wows" the end users. AutoNav.

How many times have we walked past a copier that has been "tagged", a sheet of paper taped to it with the "Broken AGAIN!" message written on it?

Or, how often have we gone to the connected copier "de jour" to pick up a print job, and find not a stapled, 43 page Powerpoint presentation but the "blinking wrench of Death" on the control panel?(I know I shouldn't revel in the misfortunes of others but, HA!)

Or, who in the office becomes the "Chosen One" to Clear Jams"?

Or, how many support calls come into our IT Help desk from the folks in HR who can not print out next weeks company picnic agenda because the Toshiba/Canon/Xerox/Ricoh/Konica/Sharp is jammed?(first level support cost is about 20 bucks per call, additional if IT staff is dispatched to HR)

Well, HP saw this too often. So the scientist(I call them "Propeller Heads", and it is a complement) noticed that most, not all, errors at the copier or driven by mis-feeds coupled with the end users' perception that "they can not fix it" - the end user walks away!

That's right, the end user WALKS AWAY. Want to learn more? Click Here.

Enter Hansel and Gretel and the Bread Crumbs

Never mind that the Edgeline utilizes a new, 4 billion dollar in inkjet technology, or that it is built like a tank, or sets up and connects as easily as the HP LaserJet II, or that the 10 inch diagonal, color VGA control panel shows video of somebody clearing the exact jam the machine is currently experiencing - nope, users love to be lead around the machine by a series of yellowish LEDs!

It's like a mini-field trip.

Small LEDs placed all over the unit light up in sequence leading the end user directly to the source of the problem. And with Edgeline, the paper is usually in the finisher or stuck between the engine and finisher. Once the objectionable sheet is removed(or more) the system walks the user out the same way. And the the Edgeline recovers completing the original job.

As impressive as this is during the product demonstration(as is everything covered during the demo) the lasting and most significant features are the ones remembered and experienced 30, 60 days or 36 months after install.

Salute the Propeller Heads...and Gretel...

PS - this must work, the feature is on the newest color systems, the CM6030/40 - by the way, if you see the "M" in the model number, it denotes the common user interface for the control panel - CM4730, CM8060, CM6040.

I Know One Name - Canon

Should Canon buy IKON ? The rumor has been around for at least 4-5 years; Canon is going to buy IKON. I have no facts to back this up. Only guess work and conjecture.

Imagine:

The mature copier industry is consolidating; more mergers and acquisitions will take place. Kyocera? Sharp? Toshiba? Panasonic? We all know Oce is partly owned by the Dutch government, so very unlikely to be purchased.

Consider Canon - CBS:

With the purchase of IKON CBS becomes the largest provider of Electronic Document Management software and solutions in the US - with a very large staff of highly trained Professional Services people.

And don't forget the small, Canon facilities management presence - with the addition of the IKON FM client list, Canon FM becomes a large force to contend with.

And consider Ricoh - Canon could in one motion, force Ricoh to lose it's largest distribution channel. Both Canon and Ricoh have stated the IKON (at one time) represented a majority of their business. As in nearly 50%.

Of Course, the price. Apx 3.0 billion?

What about the investment firm that owns some IKN stock ? I wonder what they think...

More to come...

KonicaDankaIkonHP - Fallout?

IKON - the only large, nation wide, independent distributor of printers, copiers and MFPs in the U.S.

From one of the most respected industry analysts in the world, "...This deal, which comes just one year after Xerox's $1.5 billion dollar acquisition of Global Imaging Systems, will have significant ramifications throughout the U.S. enterprise print market.

HP is not likely to stop distributing its products through Danka (although its long-awaited Edgeline products could be affected; HP is reliant on Danka with these products, which have a high-touch sales model).

But Canon USA can be expected to stop selling products through Danka. Though Danka accounts for 5% of Canon USA's revenue, such a move would be consistent with Canon's stance when Xerox purchased Global..."

The report goes on to recommend to existing Danka customers, "...You must soon choose to:1) stay with Danka and switch to Konica equipment, or 2) keep your equipment and switch your service and supplies to someone else (Canon direct sales or dealers or IKON)..."

For Those of Us In Managed Print Services - Wow!

I.T. is taking over the fleet...This article is very revealing and confirms pretty much what I and my collegues are seeing in the field every day.

I have taken some excerpts - the data was revealed after interviews of both MPS providers and clients; approximately 100 companies interviewed in the first quarter of '08.

Ed Crowley Founding Partner and CEO of the Photizo Group -

“Perhaps the most interesting detail is what is happening within brands. Each brand’s dynamics are unique, and it is important to understand what levers to pull -- awareness, consideration or product offering -- to improve your brand’s performance,” said Crowley... “For decision makers in both IT and non-IT roles, HP is the leading brand in terms of unaided awareness and consideration for printers and MFPs. While HP and Xerox are very close in terms of brand consideration rates, HP has almost twice the unaided awareness of Xerox as an MPS vendor among IT decision makers...”

And something that reflects what I see all the time:

“...It is important to note that the decision making process is less collaborative than might be expected. The market is shifting to an IT-controlled, printer-based MFP-centric environment, and study results indicate that IT is winning the battle to make the MPS decision for the entire fleet, including printers, MFPs and copiers..."

Interesting...

I.T. and Facilities and Your Copier

Big companies are learning what the SMB market has known for a few years: the people who purchase the unit should be the ones to support the unit.

"Convergence"

All copiers connect to the network "just like" printers. In the beginning, the decision criteria for copiers was the sole responsibility of either a facilities or purchasing department. That is to say, the people in charge of finding the cheapest roofing contractor at 9:00AM are the same people determining what device is going to hang off the corporate network, copy and print and scan at 1:00PM.

Purchasers have the company's best interest at heart; choosing a copier isn't Brain Surgery it's Rocket Science! But in some P.A.'s world, vendors fit in a cell on a great big spreadsheet and with copiers, one column on that spreadsheet is labeled, "first copy out speed". And the lowest bidder, the Winner, is highlighted in yellow.

Once the P.O. is issued, the agreement signed, and delivery scheduled - IT is notified. And then one day, "poof" and shiny, new Bland Brand copier shows up waiting to be connected, configured, end-users added, authentication, scanning installed and tested, user folders set up on the copier, user folders set up on the network somewhere, and drivers installed at each workstation. And then end-user and admin. training scheduled.

Who is in charge of ordering supplies? Who does the end-users call with print questions? Do we call the vendor directly or do service calls go through the corporate Helpdesk?

"...you better start swimmin', or you'll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin'"

So why are I.T. departments moving into the "copier" decision process? Basically,

- The units are Networked
- I.T. needs Central Control
- Network, Document Security
- Standardization - "one throat to choke"
- Compliance
- End-User support- "PC load letter...what the heck is that?"

What is new to I.T.?

Cost Per Copy programs.

- Most laser printers have a one-year on-site or can be upgraded to 3 or 4 years i.e., HP's Service Packs. What I.T. people are not familiar with is an agreement that includes all the supplies and the service calls and the maintenance parts for a monthly amount. Most information service departments are used to the "buy, connect, forget about it and let the departments order the supplies" model.

Leasing.

- Why lease an HP laser printer? And how does that leasing thing work? Check this post.

Output management, scan job management, Color management

- These new systems can do an awful lot of "stuff", is this good for the network?

Right-Sizing the print fleet

- Faster machines, volume changes, and machine refresh or retirement

Service Calls

- The concept of printer jam support calls has got to throw a chill down the spine of helpdesk operators everywhere.

End-user driver support

- A possible increase in ID 10T support calls

Last but not least:

- End User Culture Shock - Sales VP to IT tech, "no way are you taking my DeskJet 500 off my desk, no way."

Here's the challenge in a nutshell.

Purchasers know how to get the most out of vendors for the least amount of money.

I.T. folks have the depth of analysis and technical savvy to sort out the "riff-raff" and match first-level end-user requirements to technology but don't know that a "Dollar-Out" is going to cost more monthly than an FMV lease. And overages are routinely discussed in the Purchaser's world but are as strange to an I.T. person as a Tribble is to a BSG fan.

Fear Not

Just like everything else new, things have a way of sorting themselves out. This change in the business world is driving changes in the IT Services realm as well. Managed Print Services is the hot subject right now and lots of very good players are getting into it. And to fill this need, IT Firms are brushing up on the "copier" world dynamics - lookout. This is just a sample of what the copier salespeople's requirements might be.

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How Green Is My Money..."Will Going Green in Business printing go the way of OS/2?"

"Green is In" If you call it "Green" or "Sustainability" people listen. Some listen with a smirk on their face until you point out the savings as a result of going "Green".

Here is a quick 3-Step recommendation by Dan Costa at PC Magazine. And I bet there is a 12 Step Green Program out there somewhere. (if not, I shall create one)

Does it feel like "Green" is the fashionable thing to do right now? With fashion, one season open silk shirts are all the rage at the clubs, next season it's T-shirts made from organic materials.

The question is, "Will Going Green in Business go the way of OS/2?" and "What is the SUSTAINABILITY of the Going Green movement?"

Remember when duplexing was sold as a way to save paper? It really wasn't about saving paper, it is about saving money. And this is the trick. We aren't becoming Green to save the world, the whales or the Cheerleader - it is now and has always been about making more money by saving more money. Capitalism not Environmentalism.

There is a convergence of "Buyers" and "Technology" and "Profit" driven towards reducing costs. And specifically the cost of Energy. Profit is driving the Green movement - NOT corporate world citizenship.

What I find interesting is how long HP has been going green - prime example, Instant on fuser - it's been around since 1993 and is often a target for the competition. The argument would go something like, "why would you want your printer to draw power all day long?", the copier pitch would continue, "my system truly sleeps and is only on when you need it."

Bah! Since 1993, the HP "Instant on Fuser" has reduced Co2 emissions by 4.1 million tons! This is the equivalent to removing 870,000 cars from the road for one year. Since 1993.

Check this HP page out.

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