Print.IT Reseller - issue 68

01732 759725 IT 22 Konica Minolta has introduced a European partner programme focused on enabling partners to offer Workplace Hub to customers. The announcement was made at the company’s European Leadership Campus (ELC) 2019 where Morgan Leucat, Director Europe WPH Go-to-Market, spoke about the value of this all-in-one IT platform for the indirect channel Connecting partners to Workplace Hub Opportunity for the channel Acting as a central hub that simplifies IT, by combining infrastructure, services and software into a single fully managed IT service, Konica Minolta says that Workplace Hub drives efficiencies by reducing the overall costs of IT management and service provision, and provides real-time data-driven insights that help to improve business processes. Business’ pain points include managing multiple vendors, ageing IT infrastructures that aren’t scalable and new security challenges, which according to Leucat, presents an opportunity for the channel. “Organisations are looking for increased productivity and cost savings. They're also looking to streamline the number of vendors that they have to partner with. Security of both their infrastructure and their data is of paramount importance particularly in light of GDPR. They also need the ability to scale and be flexible, which outsourcing the management of their IT infrastructure provides them with. “Businesses are looking to partner with a local provider, but they also need assurance they will receive high quality service – that’s what Konica Minolta and its partners can offer. Workplace Hub will transform your customers’ businesses, making life easier with an all-in-one managed IT platform,” he said. Workplace Hub is an IT infrastructure solution, one that is bespoke and configured to deliver exactly what the business needs. “We need to work together to ensure the solution is delivered in the right way so that customers can benefit the most from it. The overall goal is to make things simpler for the end customer, by leveraging the experience we have gained from delivering it within our direct operation, through our new partner programme, Workplace Hub can be a profitable new revenue stream for partners,” Leucat explained. European partner programme The programme is structured in such a way that Konica Minolta will initially lead new opportunities, working in partnership with its partners. Workplace hub is a complete ecosystem, combining IT infrastructure, managed IT services, as well as modern tools for customers. There are two existing models – the Edge which is a rack mounted server, and the Hub, which is the server integrated with a Konica Minolta first introduced Workplace Hub – a new disruptive IT category in 2017, and up until now it was sold exclusively through its direct business. Now, after enjoying some success within its direct operation, it is opening up the platform to partners. Workplace Hub was designed to address growing IT complexity by providing more efficient and effective management of the disparate array of tools, services and devices used by organisations today. At ELC 2019, Leucat said that the platform is at the heart of the connected workplace and an essential driver for digital transformation. In a seminar entitled HowWorkplace Hub will evolve your business he announced the platform was now available to partners, provided a snapshot on the value for the indirect channel and outlined details of its new European partner programme – ‘connecting you to the workplace hub’. Security of both their infrastructure and their data is of paramount importance particularly in light of GDPR continued... Morgan Leucat