01732 759725 VOX POP 46 ...continued “Partners will need to continue to offer products and services that assist customers when they are working from home, the office, or any other environment. Cloud technologies will provide much of the backbone of these products and services and bring the ability to manage dispersed workforces. Endpoint security across devices and platforms will also be a particularly important growth area, as customers will want to enable safe and efficient working practices. “In 2022, customers will also look to invest in robotic process automation to streamline operational tasks and save costs, enabling employees to carry out higher value, customer focused activities. “Overall, the new year will still have its challenges as we continue to adapt to hybrid working. However, for the savvy partner there are growth opportunities and reasons to be positive regarding the outlook for 2022 and beyond.” www.canon.co.uk Jason Cort, Director of Product Planning and Marketing, Sharp Europe Office working to bring short-term respite for decline of print. “The decline of print has long been anticipated by both suppliers and analysts, though we have seen some recovery over the past twelve months. This has been due to some pandemic-driven factors, including a backlog of delayed purchases and businesses refreshing their fleets as some normality returns. “The long-term reality is that print volumes will continue to decline, but this has been put into flux by more people returning to the office. The shift from office working to remote working, and now to hybrid working, has left businesses still trying to get the right balance for their print support. Once businesses have determined how often teams will be working in the office again, we’ll see just how central print is to companies and their day-to-day needs. Security services to become cornerstone of IT offering. “The IT space will continue to be very important for suppliers in 2022, especially as the industry looks to improve its offering beyond print services. Where hardware manufacturers have been hampered by supply chain issues, IT service providers have enjoyed a period of high demand and fast growth. IT has been a big winner in the time of COVID-19 and the need for scalable services is only increasing as many businesses adapt to support a hybrid workforce. Robust security is a key part of this, and for the whole infrastructure of a business. “Cybersecurity is of course important to all businesses, and the effects of the pandemic (such as IT staff shortages) has increased reliance on suppliers to provide holistic protection. With hybrid working especially, the IT infrastructure of most businesses has extended to employees’ homes and the number of vulnerable endpoints has risen significantly – increasing opportunities for bad actors. Now is the time for suppliers to incorporate security into their other services, such as physical and cyber protection policies for print hardware. It is an area of growth that I The uncertainty of the past two years has left suppliers looking to the financial benefits of annuity-based subscription offerings expect to see many customers looking to their suppliers for help with in 2022. Pandemic disruption leaves suppliers and customers looking to annuitybased packages. “The demands of the pandemic have led to businesses prioritising flexibility in their print and IT services. Similarly, the uncertainty of the past two years has left suppliers looking to the financial benefits of annuitybased subscription offerings. Prior to the pandemic, there was a clear trend toward ‘X as a service’ models from print suppliers as customers looked for greater flexibility managing their associated print costs. There is now an imperative for suppliers to extend these annuity-based, XaaS offerings to beyond print in order to secure new reliable revenue streams. “This has largely been driven by the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, with businesses looking for support that can be scaled easily in case of any future lockdowns or other significant changes to working. This is the case for both hardware and software, and this service model will remain crucial over the coming years. Simplification of cloud management for customers to become more important. “The evolution of cloudbased end point management systems has provided many benefits for both customers and suppliers. For customers, there is IT simplification and predictive support; for suppliers, there is greater insight into customer usage and data that can lead to the refinement of services and products. However, with businesses likely to use more than one supplier, dealing with multiple management platforms could become confusing and burdensome. “As we head into 2022, the value of a singular cloud management platform for all devices and services will be more apparent. For example, the sheer scale of IT endpoints in the hybrid workplace makes a clear case for consolidation of these management systems. This will be key to improving the customer experience, especially for suppliers that look beyond print to collaboration & digital signage display solutions and IT services, like Sharp.” www.sharp.co.uk Jason Cort
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