Print.IT Reseller - issue 57

01732 759725 VOX POP 34 Continued... The print industry is changing. Against a backdrop of hardware commoditisation, low growth, squeezed margins and a buyer landscape that will be less dependent on printing, print vendors are having to seek new ways to increase sales and profitability Finding new opportunities THE CHANNEL Mark Smyth, Chief Operating Officer , Vision : “We have been promoting IT and cloud-based services for some time now alongside our core offerings of managed print and managed document services and we find this is far easier with existing clients and where we have a well-established and trusted partnership and relationship. IT Services complements our current services and there are some distinct synergies with our core business, when we provide contractual products and services in IT. That said, you must recognise in business, what areas you know and understand and stick to what you’re good at!” Zana Gradus, Managing Director, Systems Technology : “While MPS is our core business, diversification is essential. The declining price and volume of print means that we have to do around 20 per cent more business every year just to stand still, increasing the necessity to diversify our portfolio of services. “This decline, coupled with the industry’s appetite for acquisition, has presented some of our competitors with the opportunity to sell while encouraging clients to move towards dealers with more customer-centric environments, from which we’ve benefited. In our diversification efforts, we purchased a software house, employ our own in- house developers writing code and are working on truly innovative projects for coveted clients like the NHS. As a result, we have a very promising technology services division that is set to match the income of our print annuity – and we’re not stopping there. We’re in the market for further technology and ITMS solutions. Watch this space!” Alastair Adams, Director of Commercial Group and Divisional Director of its MPS business : “We always try to evolve, and to reinforce our own credentials with customers, helping them to move beyond MPS and deploying technology to make them more efficient. “It’s essential that we extend our offer into information management, and broaden our service to enable us to work with our customers at the heart of their operations. We want to work around our customers’ key processes, and unlock savings for them far in excess of MPS. “Customers increasingly want a Diversification in this rapidly evolving landscape presents the most opportunities for boosting sales and profits. Introducing new products, services and developing new business models is a strategy that will help sustain and drive growth, enabling vendors to capture a greater share of spend from existing customers, as well as win new business. Quocirca Analyst and PRINT 2025 author, Louella Fernandes, says there is no question the print industry must reinvent and reimagine its product and service offerings. She said: “The successful players of 2025 will be those that are software-centric and innovative, and which embrace open partnerships. The workplace of 2025 will be drastically different and the industry faces tough strategic choices ahead,” With this in mind, PrintIT Reseller invited leading channel vendors, software providers and OEMs to provide comment on how important they rate the need to diversify, to provide ‘services beyond MPS’ as central to future growth. Mark Smyth Zana Gradus Alastair Adams While MPS is our core business, diversification is essential

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