IKON to cut 250 jobs: "Business as Usual"

LDS, Legal Document Services

Ikon is reducing the number of LDS locations in the US and Europe.

"The company expects related pre-tax charges of about $7 million, a significant portion of which is expected to be taken in the fourth quarter."...

"The total pre-tax charges associated with these actions include severance expenses, asset impairments, and contract costs estimated to be approximately $7 million, a significant portion of which is expected to be reported in Q408. The estimated after-tax cash expenditures total approximately $4 million and consist primarily of severance payments and lease termination costs. IKON expects to complete the actions described above in Q408."

So, business as usual means this reduction was being planned for a while - and LDS had always been of to the "side" and been going through reductions for a while.

What Next?

Never Forget

9-1-1

EDS - Mangaed Print Services????

EDS an HP Company

Found this the other day. EDS is now in the Managed Print Services business.

Yes, inevitable - but seeing it for real is making it real.

I wonder if EDS is hiring any ex-IKON peeps.

From the literature:

• "EDS' Services include:
  
  Assessment Services — Helps you understand current usage, find hidden costs and develop a business case for change:
  • Industry Benchmark Assessment
  • Optimization Assessment
  • Managed Environment Assessment
  • Eco Printing Assessment
  • Workflow Discovery
  • Discovery and Design
  
  
• Financial and Procurement Services — Helps you manage to the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), from planning and acquiring technology to retiring and replacing it. Reduce and manage capital outlay, manage older equipment effectively and environmentally, and simplify hardware procurement (HP and multi-vendor):
  • Hardware Procurement
  • Multi-vendor Hardware Procurement
  • Customer Fleet Acquisition
  • Asset Recovery Services
• Transition and Implementation Services — Helps ensure the right equipment is installed and end users know how to use the devices:
  • Management of Change and Education
  • Deployment Management
  • Hardware Installation
  
  
• Management and Support Services — Enables ongoing Return On Investment (ROI) through fleet uptime and optimization, award winning support and supplies management. Account delivery management provides a single point of contact and accountability as well as visibility into usage trends, capacity utilization, and expenditures for ongoing planning and management:
  • Account Delivery Management
  • Hardware Support
  • Multivendor Support
  • On-site Administrative Services
  • Priority Phone Support
  • Supplies Management
  
  
• Document and Workflow Services — Helps automate paper-intensive workflows, as well as to continually improve and better manage the underlying infrastructure:
  • Technology Solutions
  • Industry Solutions
  • Consulting Services"

The integration or assimilation of EDS into HP.

First Annual Managed Print Services Conference - April 26th through 28th, 2009

Managed Print Services: Hitting Mainstream

Ok, here's the deal.

Managed Print Services is just about the hottest issue out there - with prospects and industry insiders.

And right now, MPS is still the frontier of cost reduction for both clients and providers - everything is being created today, in the here and now, without a "template".

Clients are not sure how MPS works. Providers are struggling with the concept, the services, how to best articulate the benefits and how to manage a Print Management Services program.

With this in mind, the first annual conference dedicated to Managed Print Services (MPS)will be held in in San Antonio, Texas on April 26th through 28th, 2009 and sponsored by the Photizo Group.

Now, for me, the Photizo Group is one of the very first groups, if not THE first group, dedicated to researching MPS and it's impact on the market. In addition to monitoring the market, the Photizo Group has defined the basic structure and phases of MPS -

1. Control
2. Optimize
3. Enhance

These match my definition of the stages of MPS. I have incorporated these three stages into my talk-track. More importantly, I see evidence in the field that the above model is viable.

Having said that, I STRONGLY recommend everyone who is now in or thinking about getting into MPS attend.

- With the turbulence in our industry and with hardware dominating most vendor's and client's discussions, the most challenging task many face is differentiation. MPS is a differentiater - and the Photizo Group is out there on the leading edge -

The conference features three tracks.

"The first track is for those who are in the initial stages of an MPS engagement and who are trying to control or optimize the hardcopy (printers, MFP's, and copier) fleet.

The second track is for those who have implemented an MPS program, and who are now looking to drive business process optimization through advanced MPS services such as workflow consulting, document management optimization, and other activities to enhance the firms business processes.

The third track provides a focus on small and medium businesses and their specific MPS implementation issues."

There will be speakers, best practice presentations, case studies, market data, and many other sessions designed to provide attendees with actionable tips and techniques for the success of their MPS program.

You can register here.

Check these out:

For Those of Us In Managed Print Services - Wow!

A new look over at Managed Print Services Resource Center

Inaugural issue of MPS Insights Hits The Streets

New Report Delivers Definitive Analysis of the Managed Print Services Market

Click to email me.

Open Text to Acquire Captaris

Consolidation Everywhere.

Waterloo, ON and Bellevue, Wash. - 2008-09-04 - Open Text™ Corporation (NASDAQ:OTEX) (TSX: OTC), a global leader in Enterprise Content Management (ECM), and Captaris, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAPA), a leading provider of software products that automate document-centric processes, today announced a definitive merger agreement in which a wholly owned subsidiary of Open Text will acquire Captaris. Under the terms of the agreement, Captaris shareholders will receive cash consideration of approximately US $131 million in total, or $4.80 per share in exchange for their Captaris stock. The companies expect the transaction to close by the end of the calendar year, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Captaris’s shareholders and anti-trust approvals.

Captaris’s software products include leading document and data capture solutions that let customers convert paper documents to digital content, and manage associated processes. The acquisition will expand Open Text’s partnership offerings by creating tighter integration with Open Text's invoice management solutions that work with SAP and Oracle. Captaris also offers business information and delivery solutions built on the Microsoft .NET framework which integrate, process and automate the flow of content.

Who's The Boss?

I am always amused when "Sales Managers" push getting a proposal in front of the prospect as soon as possible.

It is my humble opinion that one should "earn the right to propose" before throwing numbers and "closing techniques" at a prospect. I feel it's amateurish at best and more likely unprofessional.

So I ask you - WHO IS YOUR BOSS?

Is it Mark Hurd? Is it Espe? Is it the stock holders of your company? Is it the owner of the dealership you currently work with? Is it Obama?

I say to you NO.

This is a personal opinion, and for all you "bosses" out there this is for you too.

Your "boss" is the most complicated person in the world, the most befuddling, and confusing and although you have known this person all your life, you probably don't know as much about he or she as you should.

The "boss" I refer to is the person who looks back at you each morning while you're shaving or putting that stuff on your eyelids - you.

You are your boss.

Now, I ain't no Tony Robbins, loved him in Shallow Hal, but this isn't that difficult of a concept to get...your current place in life is a direct result of all the decisions you have ever made prior to this point in history - not Obama's or Espe's.


This epiphany can be liberating - but does carry a heavy burden for you- now you need to take complete responsibility for your life, the good and the bad - YIKES!

It's like the Matrix - once you "get it", you may ask yourself, "why oh why didn't I take the Blue pill..."

Ignorance is truly bliss - If you want proof, ask your manager.

Click to email me.

RiKON - XerGlo - KonDanka - What is an HP Dealer to do?

During an interview the other day, I was asked some good questions...Questions I really could not answer.

1. How will Canon survive losing 30% of US sales?
2. What will happen with all the existing, independent Ricoh dealers?
3. How many independent dealers still exist?
4. How many locations does CBS have?
5. What will the industry look like in 5 years? 10 years?
6. How does this affect the RBS channel?

Wow. As the dust settles, the huge significance of what just happened is almost more than we can bear.

The questions posed to me illustrated how much I really don't know.

How is Canon going to respond to losing 30% of its US sales?

Dang, that is a good question. From the Canon Business Solutions web site, there are only 53 locations in the US.

And Ricoh says it is going to convert IKON's Canon base into Ricoh MIF within the next 3 years...oh really? Do you think Canon might have other plans for those "Canon customers bobbing in the wake of corporate takeover"?

And, how is RiKON going to survive losing nearly 60% of it's business? Or not being able to service those existing customers after the de-certification?

Wowzie.

The bigger question - Why have all these manufacturers purchased the channel to begin with?

I don't see Ford or IBM buying up dealer associations - cereal makers buying grocery chains, or cattle herders purchasing McDonald's restaurants.

What gives?

The old manufacturers' beliefs were,

"...we manufacture and we manufacture very well...we don't have the infrastructure or the knowledge to successfully market, sell or support our finished goods, to the ultimate customer..."

Has this changed?

Has Konica Minolta discovered how easy it is to sell to the ultimate consumer?

Do Ricoh and Xerox think they know better then the folks who have developed and maintained the current channel and selling model?

--- Maybe "yes" AND maybe "no".

To me, this consolidation proves one of my theorems -

"All copiers are the same - every single one."

Look at it, now there are only three main channels each driven by a "manufacturer". Manufactures of "xerographic" machines - they are all the same.

The differentiating factors will be interesting to watch - and the marketing will be fascinating.

Oh How the Mighty Have...Changed -

Like a caterpillar suspended in it's chrysalis, the metamorphosis of the copier industry moves into a new phase. What emerges will be the "Hybrid Dealer" you have started to hear about. Never before, in recent hi-tech history, has a channel been assimilated like this. Change is guaranteed.

I go back to the PC -

In the 80's the PC market was booming but not one manufacturer tried to own the channels - what changed? I mean "consolidation" occurred but through manufactures buying other manufactures and software companies adapting or going away. The channels responded, contracted yet remained intact. The number of distributors thinned as did the quantity of machines - but the channel remained.

It's the Economy - Stupid.

I guess if we look at this phenomena in a macro sense, from 10,000 feet, as an investment, these acquisitions look good.

The stock holders realize a tidy return on their investment, the folks who built the channels(Global, IKON, Danka) can retire rich. The remaining, small independent dealers can now start looking at Canon, Toshiba, Sharp, etc. as equipment competitors more willing to work with then just 12 months ago. Especially Canon.

As for the employees - they can hang on, or move into one of the smaller competitors and help them thrive on all the industry chaos.

Ah...but what about the Customer? -

How does the Customer benefit? Does all this consolidation mean a more competitive industry? Does this give prospects more choices? Will prices and margins be driven down even further?

Right now there is Xerox, Konica and Ricoh - the Very Big Three - and Canon all by itself. So it looks like the customer's choices have just been limited - is that a good thing?

In the short run Canon customers looking to upgrade can leverage this change over Canon possibly resulting in lower pricing as Canon defends the base. But RiKON will go after all the Canon customers with a price point designed to "buy the business" - this could be good for the customer; these two giants fighting over the customer.


By the way, speaking of all by itself - HP

The company with the largest number of MIF (machines in field) is now nearly transparent.

And Edgeline is the humongous gorilla in the room of every single sales meeting in every single IPG office at HP. End of year for HP is October 31st - and I am sure that upper management is "monitoring" Edgeline cycles down to the minute - HP is not use to being in the copier industry.

Competitive pressures were not fully appreciated and channel breadth might have been over rated. How can you expect to push 3,400 units - big, huge, wonderful, new technology units - through approximately 120 dealers? And convert "direct sales people" into document management consultants, overnight?

Edgeline is not a new laser printer; you can not sell it off a price sheet, over the phone.

The selling cycle for these types of units(copiers) is much more complex and usually triggered by an event - lease termination. And if you have no machines in field to begin with, every single unit is a new sale converting a competitor's existing lease.

The sale of an unproven, relative to all the copiers, technology from a "new" player only adds to the pressure. And if this isn't enough- HP sales people are swimming in a part of the ocean inhabited by some of the smoothest, most savvy, and ruthless Sales Sharks in the world - Copier Guys(or gals). The copier folks know how to talk CPC, leasing, 4 hour response time, real service levels and of course, first copy out time(yuck).

And then there is the HP channel -

I don't even want to go here, except to possibly repeat what has been told to me -

"OEM toner is way too expensive..."

"If HP is serious about getting into the copier industry, why do they price CPC so high?"

"Why is there no 3-hole punch?"

"...you mean this big machine can't handle glossy?"

" ...the rebates are too difficult for us to manage..."

To me, all these statements are just examples of lazy people whining. Blah, blah, blah...

Be that as it is, perception is reality. Again, not my reality.

Edgeline is a great platform, HP just needs to work through the "growing pains". Some very good HP partners are here who DO believe and are willing to "tow the line" - for now.

Well, as with everything, time will tell - history will judge. And as Selling Professionals, Agents of Change, we don't hide from history, we make it.