Print.IT Reseller - issue 77

01732 759725 46 VOX POP perimeter has massively expanded, a strong cybersecurity offering is now absolutely essential to winning new business – trust is all important. “We have been working with our partners for a long time, focusing on diversification and flexibility, so many of our partners are already on a journey, moving solely from print into the IT services world. Business recovery relies on an ability to manage this journey successfully, and to implement information management technologies and the cloud into product portfolios.” Stuart Sykes, Managing Director, Sharp UK: “We know that all businesses value working with a partner that can bring innovative ideas to the table and deliver results, and this need will have only increased tenfold due to the impact of COVID-19. There will also be a shift towards businesses choosing to work with companies that can help them improve their workplaces, making them more flexible and efficient. At Sharp, that is exactly what we can achieve for our customers!” Alpesh Unalkat, CEO, Aura: “We believe business recovery will be mixed post-COVID-19. Some organisations, dependent on their business sector, the maturity of their technology adoption and their business culture will recover quickly and adopt new working practices to recover and indeed thrive in the post-COVID world, whereas others will potentially struggle. “Our own business has traded well throughout the pandemic with significant new business wins across EMEA in April, May, June and July, and we see that increasing further as some form of normality resumes. Furthermore, we are an acquisitive business and see more opportunity to consolidate in both the collaboration and managed print markets, something incumbent owners of high quality MPS businesses can benefit from and something we are well positioned to deliver.” James Reed, Managing Director UK&I – Endpoint Solutions, Tech Data: “We’ve seen sales accelerate in some areas while others have been held back, but we are seeing a return to something like normal levels of activity now. I think the recovery will be gradual. Most customer organisations are still reassessing how their own needs have changed and what that means in terms of their IT investment. As they do that, we are likely to see more of a shift towards cloud, collaborative tools, products that enable improved productivity for home workers, and security and services that will provide the necessary management and support for these new infrastructures.” www.flexitdistribution.com www.papercut.com www.visionplc.co.uk www.brother.co.uk www.ecisolutions.com www.paebusiness.com www.pinnaclecos.co.uk www.workflo-solutions.co.uk www.synaxon.co.uk www.asl-group.co.uk www.canon.co.uk www.sharp.co.uk www.aurafutures.com www.techdata.com Nigel Allen, Marketing Director, ASL Group: “Although heavily affected, the fact that alongside the strong SME focus, we have a very strong education base at ASL is going to aid the recovery. We know that it is a government priority to get children back into schools (even if it does mean pubs closing again!). Therefore that sector will recover, coupled with the fact that there is more demand for services such as document management and touch free secure printing which will help those companies who are able to advise and sell. “Both of these services have been around for a long time but we are seeing a rapid rise in adoption as the pandemic has really accelerated companies’ digitisation strategies. Ultimately it will be a long recovery and companies with resilience will survive as it is very hard to forecast a smooth recovery path due to the unpredictable nature of the pandemic and further potential outbreaks.” James Pittick, Partner Channel Director, Canon UK: “Business recovery will be based on showing support for the hybrid office, where workers are more distributed than ever before. Being able to support this environment will be critical. It will also be important to have security at the core of your offering. With people working from home, the security There will be a shift towards businesses choosing to work with companies that can help them improve their workplaces ...continued Stuart Sykes James Reed Nigel Allen James Pittick Alpesh Unalkat