PrintIT Reseller - issue 69

VOX POP 01732 759725 42 Cloud-based print management is gaining momentum – 73 per cent of respondents to Quocirca’s Print 2025 study (second edition) expect to increase the use of cloud print management by 2025 Print management is moving to the cloud Adam Bishop, Strategic Marketing, EveryonePrint Channel vendors who are not already embracing the cloud should make it a focus for 2020. Cloud computing has come of age and many organisations have adopted cloud-first strategies. Extending the traditional MPS offer to include serverless cloud print management provides the opportunity for dealers to have conversations that are much more aligned with CIOs agendas. When you frame the conversation around the topline benefits of making print a true outsourced service – simplifying the print infrastructure, eliminating print servers, automating time-intensive, manual tasks that don’t have a direct business value-add, and significantly reducing the burden on IT, senior decision-makers will sit up and take note. Whilst MPS brings multiple business benefits, ongoing print management can still be a pain for IT – think supporting print servers, managing multiple printer drivers and security – keeping on top of patches, updates etc. all of these tasks take time and most importantly are chores that are not core to the customers’ business. Cloud MPS frees up IT to focus on other areas, it delivers industry-leading security, enables consumption as a service, and provides a consistent user experience. Channel businesses that can deliver on that promise, have an opportunity to get deeper into their customers’ organisations. From a dealers’ perspective, cloud print infrastructure solutions such as EveryonePrint Hybrid Cloud Platform can lower the cost to serve as well as create a new level of stickiness not to mention ongoing recurring revenue. There’s also a strong case to make in terms of motivating sales teams – cloud gives them the opportunity to change the narrative from devices, features and costs, to one that will differentiate them from the competition. With a cloud-based print infrastructure whether it’s on-premise, private cloud or a mix of both, creating a print environment on the HCP multi-tenant platform can be done in a matter of minutes and, remotely. With HCP, partners can deploy and control the entire printing infrastructure from a single web-based interface, completing end-user fulfilment and device provisioning automatically. That dramatically slashes the time to install and removes the requirement to tie up expensive professional services staff on a customers’ site. Moreover it makes ongoing troubleshooting and management seamless, taking lots of unnecessary steps out of the process. If a problem is reported, partners can simply log on to the system, access the necessary information and resolve the issue, promptly and hassle-free. Whilst in the main it is enterprises that are defining the scope, within the SMB sector, it is channel vendors who can really effect change and ultimately win new business. Moving print to the cloud really is a no-brainer – you’re providing customers with a future-proof, scalable and flexible solution that is always on, always up to date and always secure. www.everyoneprint.com Martin Fairman , Managing Director UK & Ireland, Lexmark Channel resellers provide essential services in supporting and maintaining print infrastructure for their customers. As IT complexity continues to expand, they must attend to the needs of infrastructure complexities across numerous customers, requiring broad knowledge and expertise. Traditionally, whenever a printer broke down, resellers dispatched their engineers onsite nearly all of the time, irrespective of the level of issue – meaning the resulting travel-time is both an inefficient use of technician time and frustration for the customer waiting to get back online. Furthermore, each customer visit significantly limits partner profitability. The core benefit of cloud print management is it enables resellers to reduce downtime and simplify device set- up all while improving customer service and reducing costs. Remote repairs and software updates such as firmware upgrades mean resellers can provide a more proactive approach to servicing Whilst the many perceived barriers to cloud adoption have not entirely disappeared, more and more organisations are embracing cloud to drive business efficiency and cut costs. PrintIT Reseller invited a panel of industry vendors to share how they can help channel partners to capitalise on the opportunity to deliver dedicated cloud print management services. Adam Bishop

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