Print.IT Reseller - issue76

continued... During the COVID period we have ensured we remained relevant with our customers and broader ecosystem; now more than ever, we need to continually innovate to deliver the services and solutions that they need to ensure their success in the post-COVID world PRINTITRESELLER.UK 43 VOX POP to support a vast array of market and business needs. “Since COVID emerged, we’re hearing more from customers about how their priorities are having to evolve in order to overcome their business challenges. Questions such as “How do I reduce or recover my costs?”, “How do I ensure my workplace is safe for my teams?”, “How do I support a workforce that is now distributed and works remotely?” are all questions top of mind for business owners returning to their new norm. We see these business challenges as an excellent opportunity for both ourselves and our channel to add real consultative value around solving these customer pain points “During the COVID period we have also ensured we remained relevant with our customers and broader ecosystem; now more than ever, we need to continually innovate to deliver the services and solutions that they need to ensure their success in the post-COVID world. As an example, we took the opportunity to completely overhaul our sales and technical certification training for a remote audience. As a result we have seen enrolment and pass rates around the globe increase by a factor of three compared to the prior year. “Additionally, we looked for ways to help our partners become even more relevant in the new remote world. We developed a new channel focussed software platform to gather actionable insights into our partners’ customers’ print environment, enabling them to identify device faults and warnings, initiate remote device configuration and changes, view service contracts and have the ability to link directly into their software stack for remote changes. These new tools are provided as a complimentary benefit to our partners and are a great tool to initiate those deeper consultative customer conversations.” Martin Randall: “Whilst this year has presented a greater challenge than most of us have ever experienced, dealing with change and overcoming adversity in business is of course not a new concept! It’s vital to remain optimistic and only by doing so can we adapt and overcome the challenges presented. We’ve already made great progress in adapting our approach and I have no doubt that our team’s collective desire, energy and positivity will see further progressive transformation.” Phil Jones: “Our business is well- placed to adapt to the outcomes of the pandemic. As a vendor, we not only provide enterprise-level office printers, but also home office, mobile and labelling devices, which means we’ve done very well throughout lockdown, as people have had to quickly equip for working at home. We feel confident that the breadth of our product and services portfolio can fit the shifting working patterns we can see emerging.” Emma Davies-Carolan: “For some businesses previously reliant on in-house hardware such as servers or confined workspaces, there’s an array of logistical and practical considerations that’ll need addressing before employees can return. The potential for localised, smaller scale lockdowns are also causing concerns for businesses who may suddenly be required to temporarily close their doors to employees. James Reed, Managing Director UK&I – Endpoint Solutions, Tech Data: “The pandemic put everyone in the channel out of their stride initially, but I think that over the last few months, everyone has adjusted and while they may have reset their targets to some degree, they are starting to get back on track. “That is certainly the case with Tech Data. Our ambitions for the year are largely unchanged. Some areas of business – such as cloud, client devices and home printers, for example, are now growing faster than expected. Others have been slowed due to project work being delayed or adapted to suit new working practices, but we are starting to see this pick up again.” Frank Hulshoff: “We are very optimistic. We see that circular IT is becoming an ever more logical choice for companies when they invest in IT hardware. The quality, price and importantly, the positive impact on sustainability goals are triggering this trend.” Steve Holmes: “One of the advantages of our agile approach, is that we have the ability to anticipate and respond to market and customer changes dynamically. Being able to develop intuitive solutions on a broad range of devices, operating systems and infrastructure platforms ensures we can deliver a wide range of functionality PrintIT Reseller: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future and your business’ ability to pivot and adapt your services to accommodate new workplace requirements? James Reed Alpesh Unalkat