PrintIT Reseller - issue 58

01732 759725 VOX POP 44 ...continued “The case for diversification was once compelling now it’s a necessity, if you aim to survive. There are massive opportunities in IT and telecoms with Audio Visual and Document Management also gaining significant traction. “I don’t expect any significant developments around MFP hardware. But they will connect to more solutions making them even more important in the new office. “All in all I don’t expect a radical year, just more of what we’ve seen in the last couple.” www.midshire.co.uk Nigel Allen, Marketing Director, Automated Systems Group “I think as we enter into 2019, we enter a year where the statement around the economy is easy. It is more unpredictable than at any time in most of our lifetimes! At the time of writing with all the uncertainty Brexit is causing business, decisions are taking longer as there is caution in the market. Suppliers however have to follow their business principles and continue to do what they do well. The more progressive suppliers will continue to diversify their offering to capture more from each customer whilst minimising their risk by creating multiple revenue streams. “Within the print reseller market the last few years have seen tremendous change – first with the change in ownership of some of the major OEMs and latterly the acquisition of the majority of the large independent resellers. This has led to mid-market resellers taking the opportunity to capitalise and a handful, such as ASL, accelerate their growth through acquisition, organic and diversification, to take a larger share of the market. “I think when you look at the list of the top resellers at the end of 2019 and compare it to two years ago, the difference will be striking. With more activity from OEMs in the direct market, it will be interesting to see the stance that a few who previously focussed more on the channel, support the resellers who still are very important to their ongoing success. It is a difficult balancing act to pull off. “In terms of the end-user, despite the uncertainty, the trend to look to simplify the supplier interaction will increase with customers wanting more control of their monitoring of their IT solution whilst looking to further rationalise their range of suppliers. I also believe that the big hype of the last 18 months, GDPR, has gone into hibernation somewhat on the agenda, but it will only take a few significant cases in the SMB market for those companies who have lapsed into old ways and just thinking it was the ‘big boys’ who will get caught, to change their attitude and approach, thereby creating demand to reawaken the market opportunities. “So in summary, Brexit, exchange rate fluctuations causing price issues/ opportunities, market consolidation, rise of new ‘mega’ dealers, continued diversification in product and service offering, OEMs dealing with new approaches to markets internally and from their competition, will all create a 2019 which will keep everyone on their toes. Can’t wait! “ www.asl-group.co.uk David Tulip, MPS Programme Director, Network Group “What a year 2018 was for the print market! I recall twelve months ago posing the question: ‘will we see more of the Manufacturer/Resellers created’? Well that came to bear – just a year or so after the swallowing of Danwood by Apogee, they in turn are swallowed by HP. “I’ve always coined the phrase ‘there are no print manufacturers’, it has and will always be about ‘dots on a page’ of course, manufacturers looking to secure their lifeblood – ink and toner sales. For the many of us who sit in between – the cogs in the wheel it is business as usual, although it will be interesting to see what ripple effect this (and previous) acquisitions have. What must Ricoh be thinking and how will they react? What is the channel thinking about what had been to date a ‘channel focussed’ HP model? HP has certainly achieved what they set out to do – disrupt. “How this affects the end-user customer is another matter altogether, all they require is a good service wrap which allows them to focus on running their business. Office print is still not sexy, but credible managed services businesses who enjoy partnerships with their customers are well placed to add value, for example, isn’t it really time that the discussion was around the value of documents being output as opposed to cost? Are fractions of a penny really that important if the document the customer is printing is part of bid for a contract worth tens, hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds? “It has never been cheaper to print I believe that the big hype of the last 18 months, GDPR, has gone into hibernation somewhat on the agenda David Tulip Nigel Allen Julian Stafford