Greg's Top 12 Events of 2008 - Managed Print Services, Edgeline and Napa

from 2008...

It's just my view. These are MY "top of mind" events and posts in 2008, in no particular order:

1. Ikon/Ricoh - Easily the biggest event of the year. After much rumor and guessing, Ricoh NOT Canon steps up. 

 2. WEB 2.0 - The Wild, Wild, West The BlogaSphere, social networking. From MySpace to LinkedIn. It is crazy out here. There are no rules, everyone is an expert on how to "monetize" your site, but nobody has a track record - it's all new. Anyone with a computer and an internet connection can instantly become an "expert' - I do not understand this phenomena and I have practically given up trying.

Photizo Group Appoints Datum Inc. to Represent MPS Leader in Japan

Press Release - North America, Europe and now Japan -

Expands industry-leading MPS research and consulting services for Asian market

Lexington, KY ­­– December 17, 2008 – Photizo Group and Datum Inc. announced an agency agreement to make Datum the exclusive distributor in Japan for the Photizo Group’s information products and services. The agreement goes into effect immediately.

The Photizo Group is the leading provider of consulting and multi-client research services for the Managed Print Services (MPS) market. Eight of the top ten firms in the imaging industry are Photizo Group clients, and the company has established itself as the authority on this rapidly growing segment of the imaging industry. The exclusive Photizo Managed Print Services tracking studies for North America and Western Europe are the only on-going research of its kind targeting the MPS market. Datum is an established research and consultancy company based in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in providing IT marketing information to Japanese companies requiring data on overseas markets.

"This agreement with the Photizo Group provides clients with unique insight into the market and opportunity for outsourcing hardcopy fleets under Managed Services contracts," commented Shuji Hirooka, President of Datum Inc. "Our customers will now have access to the best insight and expertise on this key growth market, with full back-up and support available in their home country."

Photizo Group CEO Ed Crowley added: "We are excited to be partnering with Datum Inc. and look forward to ensuring our Japanese customers receive the most insightful information in the Managed Print Services market backed up by a full service support operation based in Tokyo."

# # #

About The Photizo Group

The Photizo Group is the market’s main source for ongoing business intelligence about the rapidly growing opportunity of Managed Print Services. Since its landmark MPS study released in April 2008 to ongoing research covering North America and Europe, Photizo has emerged as a leader in dynamic business intelligence about the MPS market. Clients include eight of the top ten imaging manufacturers in the digital marketplace. Vendors, dealers and enterprises can find MPS information and resources at http://www.managed-print-services.com.



“Photizo” is a trademark of the Photizo Group. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

HP Printers Sold in Iran - The Unholy Alliance -

"HP has a policy of complete compliance with all US export laws.", David Shane, a spokesman for the HP.

He would not say whether HP plans to stop sales of its printers in Iran.

In a story first broken by Farah Stockman, at the Boston Globe, and now breaking all over the internet, HP, through a third party distributor, Redington Gulf is reported to be selling printers in Iran.

Lot's of printers.

According to sources withing Iran, HP holds 41% of the printer market, this, in the face of a comprehensive embargo that prohibits HP from sending its products to Iran.

There is a good argument that selling consumer based goods may not tip over into a national security issue, but neither do cigars and rum.

Indeed, HP is not breaking any laws.

Products being supplied to Iran are not likely to be mentioned in a specific "ban" list and the third party distributor provides insulation from legal harm. Of course, if HP is sufficiently aware of Redington Gulf's sales in Iran, it may be in violation of US export laws.

Andrew DeSouza - US Treasury Department, said US companies are barred from selling their goods to a distributor if they have "knowledge or reason to know" that the goods are intended for Iran.

But what of the publicity damage? Xerox may provide answer.

After reviewing the Xerox website in February of 2006, SEC contacted Xerox, asking about the third-party distributors Xerox used to sell its copiers in Iran, Sudan, and Syria.

"We note from your website that you may have operations associated with Iran, Syria, and Sudan, which are identified as state sponsors of terrorism by the US State Department and subject to economic sanctions imposed," stated the letter from Cecilia D. Blye, chief of the SEC's Office of Global Security Risk. "We note also a public media report that Xerox products are sold in Iran."

Xerox said they had entered into legal distribution agreements with foreign distributors who were within their legal rights to sell in Iran.

By August, Xerox announced an end to the those distributor agreements.

HP is on the right side of the law on this. Whether Hurd acquiesces to the predictable media attention remains to been seen.

Sourced article, Boston Globe by Farah Stockman, here.

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Ricoh In Times Square - Wind and Light, wind and light

Its "green", has windmills, solar panels, and is printed...

Ricoh is putting the first green, self powering billboard in Times Square - the $3 million sign will be completely powered by wind and sun.

The eco-board weighs in at 35,000 pounds and will be 55 feet off the ground at 3 Times Square, wrapping around the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street.

The sign will be the first of its kind on Times square. Ricoh has a similar board in Japan.

Fitted with 16 wind turbines and 64 solar panels, Ricoh spokes person, Ron Potosky, says the unit will produce enough electricity to power six homes for a year. This green "spectacular" also eliminates 18 tons of carbon released into the atmosphere each year.

Passive Sign -

This is a "passive" sign - it is not populated with bulbs or light-emitting diodes. 16, 300-watt floodlights will illuminate custom-printed opaque vinyl sheeting.

Bullish on MFP's? Good News in a World of Bears?

"By leveraging the multi-functional devices (MFDs) they already own with software that expands its capabilities, you can add measurable value to your clients’ existing investments. More importantly, you can build loyalty by helping them to be successful in times that are as challenging for them as they are for you." - Laurel B Sanders

Great report over at imageSource Magazine, here.

The Death of the Copier Sales Person - The Return

I wrote about the struggles of a copier salesperson back in August. As the year comes to a close, I am vividly reminded how difficult Selling is by a string of posts over on Copytechnet.com- one simple transaction through the eyes of a customer. I think anyone can view the string at "First-time copier buyer, need advice.." - I will summarize. It seems that a small software developer finds itself with some extra money at year's end. In an effort to shelter some of this excess, capital investment(s) back into the company abound - From the forum: "...originally they wanted to buy a color laser printer (HP) and a document scanner (Fujitsu). then they said that it would be nice to have a copier in the office. so I did some research and came to the conclusion (right or wrong I am not sure) that a color multifunction will be best. the speed requirement also came from them. it is probably an overkill, but the owner needs to spend money by the end of the year (also getting three 52" LCD TVs, server, laptops, phone system expansion, etc)..." The poster has been charged with "making the decision" on a new copier 0r printer or scanner based on a $7,000 budget and some rudimentary specifications dictated by the "owner"(oblivious to print, copy, scan, and the overall impact to the bottom line of each). After at least three separate "flip-flops" the company's final decision was to go with a Kyocera TASKalfa 400ci color system. The Kyocera was ordered without a service agreement. The decision evolved through a single-function color laser with a separate scanning unit, Canon and Ricoh color, finally to the Kyocera. In the final act of this odyssey, I posted the following comment: "AVI, I must commend you for posting the history of your transaction - waving your dirty laundry out like that is exceptional, even in the age of "internet anonymity" Congratulations should also be extended to your "boss" and CFO - for sheltering a few thousand dollars at year-end. Unfortunately, this is as far as the congrats will go...I personally have not been involved with a "simple" transaction like this for over a year now, and I find myself even more relieved after witnessing your company's decision process - indeed, I even feel a little sorry for you. Put aside manufacturer representations, "dual scan" capabilities, service, output quality, or even first copy out times(gag) - the internal PROCESS you let us view is invaluable. Your company just helped commoditize an industry. You say: "I highly recommended that we get a maint contract, and if we do not want to, we should just get a plain color printer, but both the owner and the CFO overruled me... They want to "control their costs". it is their money after all. -avi" Again, thank you for your transparency. I know I am not the only one shaking my head as I read your post - technician, sales, or end-user, I am sure that most of us have seen this too many times - usually, AFTER the purchase, coming in to clean up the mess, debate why the service call is so expensive, and then decide to never deal with a small-time, yahoo again. But, no service agreement in order to "control their costs"? It's so laughable, I won't even bother going into it. By the way, what kind of Kyocera dealer sells his product without a service agreement? Is this the ilk that becomes Kyocera dealers? Does Kyocera certify anyone with "a pulse"? Customers like this cheapen the industry and the talent within, but primarily because we inside the industry allow it. Whoever sold this machine saw a quick 6k out the door before year-end - no concern about customer service, no discussion of "true" costs, no value-add. However, one of the smartest sales managers I have had the privilege to work with once said, "...we tend to over-complicate this. Sometimes, a sale is just a sale..." Yeah, sometimes you need to dumb it down, hold your nose, and take the order... See also,

Damn The Torpedoes, Fire Your Customers!

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Amazon Declares - Best Ever Season???

The Death of Print, may be a little premature...

Until you see that Amazon's best season, has little to do with books.

AMAZON called its 2008 holiday shopping season "the best ever," despite a series of predictions that even online sales would weaken as US consumers cut back amid the recession.

Amazon said that on its peak day, December 15, it received more than 6.3 million orders, at a record pace of 72.9 items per second.

This is a surprise of sorts, when viewed through the prism of "recession".

Amazon said top-sellers from November 15 through December 19 included Nintendo's Wii, which dominated the videogame category.

According to reports from the Wall Street Journal, Australia:

"...Among toys, the best-sellers included Jakks Pacific's Eyeclops night-vision goggles. In the electronics category, Samsung Electronics’ 52-inch LCD High-Definition television and Apple's 8-gigabyte iPod Touch led the gains.

Also a strong seller was Acer's Aspire One 8.9-inch netbook. The devices, which have little processing power, screens between nine and 12 inches wide diagonally and typically cost less than $US500 ($729), have been rising in popularity, according to technology-research firm iSupply.

Among DVDs, Amazon said Wall-E, The Dark Knight for Blu-ray and The Dark Knight sold well. Top sellers in books included The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling, and two works by Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn.

Amazon didn't comment on its selling prices or margins for the 2008 holiday season..."

Not a mention of books or the Kindle.