PrintIT Reseller - issue 58

01732 759725 38 PRINT PREDICTIONS with our PAE BI toolset – what started off as a Dashboard to make it easier to spot trends in our device management suite – is drawing information from accounts packages, service applications and CRM. We will be launching Predictive Modelling in 2019 which was a very unexpected development. “Closer to home in the office equipment sector we will continue to see consolidation as dealers are acquired. Most of them will not be on the scale of Apogee and HP but we saw lots of activity in our customer community during 2018 and expect it to continue in 2019. “An interesting development for us was the increase in the IT resellers acquiring companies with a cost per page model. They bring a different approach, different back office systems, and different skills and working practices to the market. It will be interesting to see how they develop, and I predict we will see more of this type of acquisition in 2019 bringing a different perspective to our market “One area where the IT VAR differs is in billing for professional services. We have adapted one model that is prevalent in the world of IT – Seat Based Billing. We have been working on it in the North American market for 18 months and it is really starting to contribute to the success and profitability of our partners in that market. In 2019 we are going to introduce the toolset and programme to the UK market – and believe with our Premier Programme we can align the dealers’ and their customers’ objectives to create a new model more suited to today’s dynamic marketplace. “Whatever 2019 throws at us I am sure the creativity and skills in our sector will ensure we move forward and continue to develop in an unexpected way.” www.paebusiness.com Michael Burke, Managing Director, Purpose Software “I expect the high level of merger and acquisition activity to continue over the coming year resulting in further industry consolidation. In addition, there will be significant acceleration in the need for resellers to provide sophisticated, tailored solutions built around hardware, software and services to deliver true managed print. “However, the success adoption of this new approach will require a change in mind-set for dealer principals as well as salespeople. Whilst some may be unable to make this change, those that do, will need to review the systems they use to ensure that they can continue to operate effectively in this new environment.” www.purposesoftware.co.uk Stacy Leidwinger, VP of Product, Imaging Division, Nuance Communications “With respect to automated security and compliance, today’s information streams are moving much more quickly, introducing more opportunity for human error and sensitive data compromises. Automation can help ensure these flows are executed and completed in a secure, compliant way, while taking undue responsibility away from workers so they can focus on more strategic ends. “Data security breaches are not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘when’ – given the inevitability of breaches, we are seeing the focus extend beyond preventing breaches, to addressing content when breaches do happen – understanding exactly when and what content may have been exposed and responding appropriately and quickly. “Organisations have been spending inordinate amounts of time and money on audits. They will look for tools and techniques that allow them to collapse these timeframes and reduce costs, while still demonstrating compliance. The more you automate, the more compliant you can be. “Organisations are now striving towards achieving equilibrium between worker productivity and data security, through more efficient information flows featuring automated security and greater auditability. These flows help elevate the quantity and quality of work performed.” www.nuance.com Richard King, Channel Partner Manager, iTS “Undoubtedly, cloud computing is still a hot topic. Although this is not a new thing, we are certainly seeing a shift in approach and new-found confidence levels to cloud hosted MPS software. Whether it be a multi-tenant public cloud offering with Software as a Service or a simpler end-user Azure hosted installation, it would appear that on- premise server installs may be a thing of the past (or certainly within various industry sectors with most notably SMEs leading the way). “Of course, many other areas will still need to be considered, not least GDPR regulations and licencing, so it will be interesting to see where manufacturers and MPS vendors take the inevitable ‘cloud’ offering that is being driven by IT Systems Administrators up and down the land. “ www.its-group.com Tim Waterton, Director of UK Business, M-Files “As the nature of work changes and employees demand greater flexibility with remote working options as a standard, business success will become inherently linked to the application of technology that meets that need. Adopting simple and flexible intelligent information management solutions will ...continued Michael Burke Stacy Leidwinger Organisations have been spending inordinate amounts of time and money on audits