Print.IT Reseller - issue 78

PRINTITRESELLER.UK 39 TRENDS The MPS landscape has never stood still. It is in a constant state of evolution. But no one could have foreseen the extent to which COVID-19 would disrupt the market and in the process our personal and professional lives too. Here, Kevin McNally, UK Sales Director, Asolvi shares his thoughts on MPS trends for 2021 MPS trends for 2021 COVID-19 has forced us to revisit some basic principles. How much time do we and our clients spend in the office? How much time should we commit to visiting customers on their own premises? How can we and our clients cope with fewer team members if they’re either ill or unable to get to work due to local, regional or national lockdowns? Like most parts of the economy, the MPS sector is based on interactions and relationships that have been forged over many years. We press palms. We shake hands. We go out for dinner. We connect. But 2020 has forced us to change. We have had to distance ourselves. So, how do we strengthen relationships with our clients when we can’t meet up? How do we make it easier for them to succeed when we can’t explain our new ideas face-to-face? How do we tell them that we’re evolving in ways that will help them continue to thrive? Given all this uncertainty, we thought it’s an opportune time to look at a few key trends to ground our thinking, help us keep our heads clear and get us through these next few tough months. Remote working You don't need to look much further than the uptake of home working to see how COVID-19 has impacted our professional lives. Many offices are now working remotely. This has had a significant impact on the traditional A3 click and inevitably provides a challenge. But it also offers an opportunity for traditional dealers. Having spoken recently to several customers and prospects, the control of consumables is critical. Do customers let their employees purchase ink from a supermarket or an online retailer with no control of how this is used, or do they engage with their already trusted MPS partner to control both consumables and print? Remote working has also meant those people using cloud or software as a service (SaaS) applications have been able to continue business as usual. The ability to connect from anywhere with an internet connection has made remote working a reality. Automation How should businesses streamline and automate their back-office processes – doing more with less? Since COVID-19 hit, we have seen many MPS businesses adopt our solutions at a much earlier stage of their business journey than was traditionally the case. Today’s dealers are looking to have as little manual intervention as possible. This could mean implementing a DCA (Data Collection Agent) to monitor equipment remotely or to flag consumables orders and machine failures or to seamlessly integrate this data. At Asolvi, we work with the majority of the primary leading European DCA providers to ensure our customers can design their own best back- office ecosystem. Integration is key to automation. We provide a comprehensive suite of APIs to allow this to happen in a straightforward and cost-effective way. For example, not only do we support off- the-shelf integration to the leading DCAs at the beginning of the process, but we also seamlessly integrate to the leading finance packages. Security Security is important on many levels, not least of which is a desire on the part of many of our clients to free themselves from unnecessary time- and resource- consuming activities so that they can concentrate on what they do best. The rise of cloud computing and SaaS solutions such as Vantage Online has enabled many businesses to leverage their software supplier’s vast knowledge of security and data centres. In the past, having to spend internal or outsourced time to maintain in-house servers was expensive and generally fraught with issues. These included installing the latest patches and ensuring back-up resilience. A distributed workforce model makes this challenging if using traditional client/server applications. But it can be simplified and become more seamless with native cloud or SaaS applications. Outsourced service delivery model Many Asolvi customers utilise distributor automation which enables seamless API integration. But will more MPS providers Continued... Kevin McNally 2020 has forced us to change. We have had to distance ourselves. So, how do we strengthen relationships with our clients when we can’t meet up?