01732 759725 34 information, extracting metadata, validating content and routing data into business systems, ERP environments, document management platforms and cloud applications. Importantly, AI does not always need to begin as a complex custom project. Many IDP solutions now provide AI‑ready workflows, pre-trained document understanding and automation capabilities out of the box. This allows organisations to adopt AI with lower risk while focusing on outcomes rather than experiments. There is also an important reality the industry must confront. Adding software to a website does not automatically create a solutions business. Real transition requires more than expanding a product catalogue. It demands a strategic and philosophical shift across the entire sales process. The conversation moves from “What device do you need?” to “What business challenge are you trying to solve?” Building long-term customer relationships The objective is no longer winning the sale and returning years later at renewal time. It is building long-term customer relationships. Workflow reviews become recurring engagements. Automation becomes an ongoing discussion. Business processes evolve and the reseller remains part of that journey. For iTS, this transition represents an important opportunity. Across Europe, iTS is helping resellers move beyond traditional print engagements and develop solution-led conversations around intelligent document processing with solutions like Umango. Their role increasingly extends beyond distribution, helping partners build consulting capability, workflow knowledge and long‑term solution strategies. The future may still include hardware. However, the next opportunity for the channel may not sit beside the printer. It will sit within the information, workflows and business processes surrounding it. And that creates a very different future for the industry. www.printandcopycontrol.com with it? What remains manual? Where are the bottlenecks? Which systems are disconnected? Most importantly, what would the customer change if they could? One of the mistakes often made in solution selling is trying to solve everything at once. Successful engagements start with a single agreed pain point, deliver a measurable outcome and then build upon that success over time. These discussions often reveal opportunities that would never emerge during a traditional print engagement. Importantly, information volumes continue to grow even while print volumes decline. Orders still arrive, contracts still require approval and forms continue moving between departments. However, business information now enters organisations from many directions including incoming emails, electronic documents, hybrid and remote workforces, regional offices, cloud repositories, contracts, PDFs, Office files, mobile images and shared folders. The challenge is no longer digitising paper. The challenge is understanding, classifying and making decisions around information regardless of where it originates. This changes the role of the MFD itself. The device remains an important touchpoint, but it is increasingly becoming part of a broader information ecosystem rather than being the centre of it. Modern workflows may begin from a multifunction device, but they can just as easily start from a field worker capturing an image on a mobile device, an emailed invoice arriving from a supplier or documents uploaded directly into cloud platforms. Reshaping channel conversations This is where IDP is beginning to reshape channel conversations. Customers rarely ask directly for IDP. Instead, they describe frustrations such as manual entry, repeated handling, lost information, slow approvals, disconnected systems and limited visibility. Modern IDP platforms help address these challenges by classifying For many dealers, the traditional model has been familiar. Win the hardware opportunity, secure the lease, provide support, then reconnect at renewal time. That approach served the industry well, but customer expectations are evolving. Organisations are increasingly looking beyond hardware and asking how they can reduce manual processes, improve information flow, automate repetitive work and extract more value from business data. At the same time, AI dominates boardroom discussions, yet practical implementation remains a challenge. Industry research continues to show many AI initiatives struggle to move beyond pilot phases or achieve broad operational deployment. The challenge is rarely a lack of interest. It is identifying practical use cases that deliver measurable outcomes. This creates an opportunity for the modern reseller. Dealers need to lead conversations Waiting for customers to ask for automation, AI or intelligent document processing (IDP) opportunities is guaranteed to fail. Dealers need to lead those conversations. The discussion no longer begins with speeds, feeds and device specifications. It begins with understanding their business processes. Where does information enter the organisation? Who interacts Andrew Wade, Global Channel Manager and Co-Founder of Umango, argues that the next big opportunity for the print channel lies beyond the printed page. Over the past decade, resellers and manufacturers have navigated shrinking print volumes, the rise of hybrid work, ongoing consolidation and relentless pressure on margins. Hardware still matters, but many partners are now asking a broader question – where does future growth come from? Beyond the page OPINION Andrew Wade
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