Print.IT Reseller - issue 62

01732 759725 28 BUSINESS UPDATE The Annodata acquisition has been good for business. Kyocera has doubled in size and now employs 508 staff across the UK. Just under 50% of revenue comes from its direct operation and just over half from its indirect operation. Kyocera’s indirect channel encompasses the servicing and dealer channel – 80% of the business it does in this sector is with dealerships like Annodata, it also has a distribution business with partners including Westcoast and Exertis and works with a number of systems integrators. The 2016 deal added significant capabilities to Kyocera’s overall proposition for the channel, not least of which was bringing in senior execs from the channel organisation including its CEO Tonna-Barthet. “As one of Annodata’s largest print suppliers, we built a relationship with Kyocera over many years, so we had a really good idea about what the business of Kyocera was all about and in particular, the alignment with the culture and philosophy of the organisation, which I think is a real After five years as President, Hironao Katsukura is returning to Japan to assume a senior corporate role with Kyocera Document Solutions, Inc. Rod Tonna-Barthet spoke to PrintIT Reseller about life at Kyocera post the Annodata acquisition, and how he is looking forward to taking the helm at the UK business Changes at the top competitive differentiator in what is a pretty crowded market,” Tonna-Barthet said. The state of play Commenting on the current state of play within the channel, Tonna-Barthet said: “We’re seeing an increasingly polarised indirect market. Companies are either deciding they don’t wish to invest in the organisation and therefore want an exit strategy, or they want to grow and are looking to benefit from the fact that there is an appetite for acquisitions.” He continued: “We have a fundamental understanding of what the print market is actually experiencing and the challenges within it. We know full well the issues around maintaining existing customers, the pressures on margins, where pressure points are etc. Plus, we’ve got a very good understanding of what the rest of the market is like from a competitor perspective. We have dealt with a lot those companies and their customers, so we know their strengths and weaknesses and that means we can bring real value to helping our dealer partners to provide other services to their customers.” One of the advantages of bringing Annodata into the fold was the fact that it had developed its offer and was successfully delivering ICT services. “We can really help partners that are predominately only selling print to be able to sell other IT services and solutions to end-users,” Tonna-Barthet explained, adding: “They’ve done the hard work. They’ve built up good businesses that have now acquired lots of customers, our value is about helping them to leverage the relationships with those customers and add more value to them. You do that by increasing the services you provide.” Wide range of services Kyocera has migrated all of Annodata’s skillset and expertise into the business. The leadership team encompasses the whole organisation. Its Reading-based head office features a full network operation centre and call centre that services all incoming calls, from direct customers as well as those who have third-party service provision with Kyocera, as well as centralised problem management, IT and professional services support. “If a customer or a vendor need support for any one of the range of services – that could be infrastructure IT, communications or content management, they come to Kyocera, they don’t go to Kyocera IT or Kyocera Print, it’s all centralised,” Tonna-