Canon signs global partnership with Volkswagen for managed print services

 

May 14, 2014
Canon Inc.
TOKYO, May 14, 2014-Canon Inc. announced today that the Company has signed a global service agreement with German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen AG for the provision of multifunction office systems and solutions. Over the next few years, Canon will serve as a global partner to Volkswagen, providing managed print services through Canon multifunction office systems and solutions to Volkswagen group operating bases worldwide.

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Through the comprehensive agreement, Canon will deliver Canon multifunction office systems and laser printers to global Volkswagen group offices and factories and provide assorted solutions and services. About the partnership, Mr. Andreas Wiedemann, Head of Printing Service Governance, Volkswagen AG, said, "VW are very pleased to be working with Canon for the supply and management of our printing requirements across our sites globally."
Enabling Canon to win this major account was its advanced technological capabilities and highly reliable equipment, which make possible the same solutions in any region around the world, as well as the new development of applications tailored to meet unique customer needs. Another factor contributing to Canon's win was the Company's proactive initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, including efforts to develop products that deliver high environmental performance.

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In recent years, as business machine suppliers have had to satisfy the increasing office equipment demands of global corporate customers, the ability of these suppliers to provide unified services and information security that meet international standards, along with centralized purchasing, have gained in importance as selection criteria. Additionally, social contribution activities and other corporate social responsibilities have also been attracting increased attention, with companies choosing their suppliers based not only on product performance, but also the corporate bearing and initiatives of the supplying company.

In 2004, Canon launched the Global Account Management project as a dedicated organization within the Company tasked with responding to the business machine needs of customers with global business operations. In January this year, Canon renamed the organization the Canon Global Services Division and has focused on enhancing the Division's service offerings, including the launching of a dedicated website. The website, accessible in some 23 countries worldwide, highlights the benefits of Canon Global Services and will be updated with the latest pertinent information.
Canon will continue its efforts to provide customers with multifunction office systems and solutions tailored to meet the ever-evolving needs of the modern workplace.
 Japan

Lexmark Quarterly Business Roundup

Lexmark Quarterly Business Roundup

LEXINGTON, Ky., March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- News Facts Corporate News Lexmark's fourth quarter financial results were highlighted by double-digit revenue growth in the company's high value areas of Managed Print Services (MPS) and Perceptive Software, which comprised more than 25 percent of the company's total revenue in the quarter. Highlights also included a record gross profit margin percentage for the fifth consecutive year, solid cash generation and the ongoing execution of the company's capital allocation framework. Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE: LXK) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013. To access the earnings news release, click here, and for the earnings presentation, click here. Lexmark's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share of Lexmark Class A Common Stock. The dividend is payable on March 14, 2014, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 3, 2014.    After the close of the markets on Jan. 28, 2014, Lexmark entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement (ASR Agreement) with The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank). Pursuant to the terms of the ASR Agreement, the Company will purchase $21 million of the outstanding shares of its Class A Common Stock from Scotiabank.  Customer News and Company Recognition Lexmark has been recognized as a Leader in smart multifunction products (MFPs) by the IDC MarketScape 2013 Smart MFP report, which analyzes the strategies and current capabilities of companies providing smart MFPs. Lexmark's Perceptive Software announced that its Acuo vendor neutral archive (VNA) platform was ranked by global market research and consulting company MarketsandMarkets as the world market share leader among all independent and PACS-affiliated VNA solution providers. Lexmark's Perceptive Software announced that Catalyst, a provider of secure cloud-based software addressing the e-discovery, compliance and regulatory needs of Global 2000 corporations and their legal counsel, has licensed Perceptive Document Filters as a key component of its Catalyst Insight platform. Doosan Infracore International selected Perceptive Software for AP Automation for a $1.6 million total contract value. The U.S. General Services Administration has awarded a blanket purchase agreement to Lexmark as part of phase two of its MPS program, which is a major component of its Federal Strategic Sourcing Initiative for Print Management. Products, Software, Solutions and Services News Perceptive Software launched Perceptive Media Connector, which allows Perceptive Content customers to easily and securely capture, store and manage large and diverse rich media files. Lexmark was inducted into The Mopria Alliance, Inc., a global nonprofit membership organization comprised of leading global technology companies with the shared goal of providing intuitively simple wireless printing from smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation has again recognized Lexmark's commitment to equality in the workplace. The Foundation's 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) ranks Lexmark among the top companies with a perfect score of 100. Lexmark has been recognized on the index every year since 2005. Community News Lexmark presented one teacher with INSPIRE: Lexmark's Teaching Award. Bethany Neel, a math interventionist/resource teacher at Cane Ridge Elementary School in Paris, Ky., was recognized as an outstanding educator in the area of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Perceptive Software and the University of Kansas School of Engineering presented two educators with Educating Excellence awards. Kirsten Rhoads, a chemistry, physics and engineering instructor at Basehor-Linwood High School in Basehor, Kan., and Lewis McKenzie, a mathematics and engineering instructor at Ruskin High School in Kansas City, Mo., were honored as outstanding STEM educators. John Gagel, corporate manager of sustainability at Lexmark, has been named to the Manufacturing Leadership Council's Board of Governors. Supporting Resources: Additional content is available on Lexmark's News Blog. About LexmarkLexmark is uniquely focused on connecting unstructured printed and digital information across enterprises with the processes, applications and people that need it most. For more information, please visit www.lexmark.com. Lexmark and Lexmark with diamond design are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc., registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All prices, features, specifications and capabilities are subject to change without notice. SOURCE Lexmark International, Inc. Investor Contact: John Morgan, (859) 232-5568, jmorgan@lexmark.com; Media Contact: Jerry Grasso, (859) 232-3546, ggrasso@lexmark.com

Xerox Unveils Future Plans

Xerox Corporation (XRX - Analyst Report) recently offered an overview of its long-term strategic plans to increase shareholder value through an optimum mix of margin expansion and growth in services, focus on vertical markets and innovative technology and services. The news boosted investor sentiment as the shares gained 4% to close at $10.69 on Nov 12.

The Key Initiatives

In order to better adapt to the evolving market trends, Xerox has continually realigned its business model by expanding indirect distribution channel and streamlining its supply chain and product portfolio. Going forward, the company expects to increase revenues from the Services segment to 66% of total revenue by 2017 from 56% at present.

To achieve this objective, Xerox is focusing more on vertical markets like healthcare. The company has already begun to reap huge benefits from Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS) through the successful implementation and CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) Certification in 31 state Medicaid programs.
In addition, proprietary software developed by its subsidiary PARC has gained wide acceptance in the industry to combat fraud, waste and abuse in healthcare applications. Xerox has also launched health insurance exchanges in Nevada, Kentucky and other states to further strengthen its position in the healthcare services market.

In tune with the increased demand for connectivity and mobility, Xerox is integrating its market-leading Managed Print Services (MPS) with its business process and IT outsourcing capabilities. MPS enables clients to gain visibility and control of printing to save money, improve productivity, boost environmental sustainability and document security. The integration will automate workflow with technology and consulting services to help clients meet the requirements of mobile workforce. 

At the same time, Xerox is continuing its thrust for leadership in Document Technology with innovative products in order to meet the demands of customized communications in digital printing. These include waterless and inkjet-based solutions that enable print providers to deliver tailor-made services.

Fiscal Outlook

Xerox also provided its initial guidance for 2014 and reiterated its guidance for full year 2013. GAAP earnings for 2014 are expected to be in the range of 93 cents to 99 cents and adjusted earnings are expected between $1.10 and $1.16. The company expects operating cash flow to range from $1.8 billion to $2.0 billion in 2014.

Xerox increased its authorization for share repurchases by $500 million to bring the tally to approximately $1.5 billion. The company anticipates spending up to $500 million on acquisitions and $300 million on dividends in 2014.

Headquartered in Norwalk, CT, Xerox is a leader in the development, manufacture, marketing, servicing and financing of document equipment across the world. The company also provides extensive leading-edge document technology, services, software and genuine Xerox supplies for graphic communication and office printing environments of any size.

Rule No.1 for Medium to Large business – Continue to build your MPS capability

Posted on November 4, 2013

MPS is growing both in size and scope, moving down market from traditional enterprise accounts where it began into large and midsize businesses. But with growth comes competition, and differentiating in a services business is always a difficult task. Meanwhile, the market has seen some commoditization of MPS – particularly in basic fleet-management services, where opportunities for differentiation are limited.

For the most part, MPS today is promoted as a means to reduce print costs, drive print reduction and, to some extent, improve overall sustainability. Most MPS providers take this narrow view on the MPS value proposition because it tugs at the heart of businesses focused on reducing costs. It is an effective message for capturing competitive devices, thereby increasing the number of pages under contract.

Most market research firms continue to position MPS as a growth opportunity, although the aggressive growth rates that were projected just a couple of years ago are no longer the norm. Of course, the future of MPS is tied directly to the future of office printing. If office printing is declining, what are the prospects for MPS?

There is no question that office print volumes are declining. The challenging economy has put pressure on businesses to reduce costs, and printing is one area that has seen a substantial impact. Hardware placements have declined steadily, and it is unlikely that we will see unit shipments reach prerecession levels ever again. Most market research firms are predicting slight declines in page volumes over the next few years, but market indicators suggest that we might see even more aggressive declines.

In short, today’s office printing market is saturated, with overcapacity and underutilization of current products to boot. This is one of the reasons why MPS resonates so well with customers looking to gain control of their printing fleet. Yet the overall market remains challenging for providers looking to grow their business. The installed base is declining slightly, with fewer pages printed per device. The result is a market with fewer pages, lower CPC rates and shrinking supplies profits.
http://theimagingchannel.com/articles/2013/10/01/palmer-mps-strategy.aspx

Samsung poised for ‘paradigm shift’ into printing

By Peter Nowak |

Conquering the world of smartphones and televisions would usually be enough for any one company, but Samsung Electronics has grander ambitions. The South Korean giant is readying a new, full-throttle foray into the exciting and sexy world of ... printers?

After announcing record quarterly profit on Friday morning of 9.5 trillion won (US$8.3 billion), a 47-per-cent jump from a year earlier, the move toward printers is unusual, to be sure, given the general sentiment about the business – that it’s dying.

Yet Samsung is aiming for $400 billion in annual revenue by 2020, or more than double its 2012 total of $187 billion. With market observers starting to doubt that the company can continue its momentum in phones, a key part of that projected growth will be expanding into previously untapped markets. That includes printers, or rather, "printing," as executives are keen to point out. There's a big difference.
"We're poised to lead a paradigm shift," says Hyusang Ha, vice-president of product strategy for printing solutions. "We feel the world of printing is changing."

Is printing dead?
Printing is indeed changing. On the consumer side it’s safe to say it’s drying up. Paper consumption has dropped off a cliff everywhere in the world, with the exception of China, since around 2007, which is – not coincidently – when the mobile revolution began in earnest. Since the arrival of the iPhone, consumers have finally been moving to the paperless existence promised by technology for so long. In North America alone, consumption has dropped by about 30 per cent over the past five years.
It’s easy to understand why. With smartphone and tablet apps dominating, people are finding fewer reasons to print out things like travel directions and boarding passes, especially with the exorbitant price of printer ink.

Samsung has fared decently in the consumer segment, claiming up to a quarter of the market, depending on the country. The company has about 5 per cent of the total global market, according to tracking firm IDC, after HP, Canon and Epson – three printing giants.
The problem, Ha says, is that the consumer segment accounts for just over a tenth of the total $200 billion market and, as the paper consumption numbers indicate, it’s flattening out. The enterprise side, on the other hand, is not only a much bigger market, it’s also growing at a healthy 7 per cent per year. That’s where Samsung wants to be.

The enterprise “printing” business is different than the consumer “printer” business because it’s about more than just hardware, Ha says. While consumers simply buy a printer and then refill it with ink every now and then, businesses require ongoing support, cloud hosting, set-up and maintenance, as well as continual supplies, all of which amount to regular revenue for the service provider.

NFC to be key
Pushing into the segment won’t be easy, since it’s currently ruled by established powerhouses such as Xerox and Ricoh. If Samsung has an edge, it may actually be its consumer electronics prowess.
The company is drawing on its mobile expertise by building near-field communications technology into the printers, the first of which will be available in North America in late July. The sensors will allow for a “tap to print” function, where the user will simply touch their phone or tablet to the printer in order to start a job, similar to how Galaxy S devices currently share photos.

Chin Yoon, vice-president of the commercial business group, says NFC is a technology that will soon be everywhere because it allows for quick, efficient and secure transmission of data. Putting it in printers will accelerate its uptake. “We expect that you cannot avoid it," he says.
Samsung also expects NFC will somewhat counter the trend toward paperlessness. Yoon points out that printing isn’t on the decline solely because people don’t want to do it, it’s just that they’re using mobile devices more and, so far, it hasn’t been very easy to print from them.

Ultimately, the company’s move into printing looks like someone driving a car in the wrong direction on a one-way street. While established giants such as HP and Epson are trying to lower their exposure to what conventional wisdom deems is a business in decline, Samsung is convinced there’s still gold in the printed page.

The problem that rivals are having, in Samsung’s view, is that they’re focusing on the wrong markets. Xerox and Ricoh are concentrating almost exclusively on Fortune 1000 companies, where there isn’t much growth, while HP and Canon are too tied to the shrinking consumer market. Small and medium-sized businesses is where Samsung sees the real opportunity. There is perhaps money to be made in those cracks, and as the established players look for opportunities elsewhere.

Staying the course with consumer printers, however, isn’t an option for anyone, Yoon says.
"We can only survive as a division if we're successful in B2B.”

2013 MPSA Leadership Awards Winners Announced

2013 MPSA Leadership Awards Winners Announced

22-Jul-2013 5:03 PM |

Charlotte, N.C. – July 22, 2013 – The Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) is proud to announce the winners of its 2013 MPSA Leadership Awards.

The MPSA Leadership Awards were established in 2010 to honor those companies that have excelled in various areas related to managed print. Winners serve as shining examples to the community of their commitment to and expertise in managed print services (MPS).

Awards submissions were vetted and scored by an esteemed judging panel of nine industry leaders chosen from the call to membership, led by a member of the MPSA Standards Committee who ensured impartiality and adherence to guidelines. The company scoring highest in each category was deemed winner of the respective award.

“This is far and away the best run, most contested MPSA Leadership Awards, ever. It’s a  credit to the MPSA membership and our evolving industry on a global scale,” said Greg Walters, MPSA president. “If one wishes to see the future of MPS, just look at the list of winners.”

The 2013 MPSA Leadership Awards winners are:

• Best MPS Innovation: Print Audit, printaudit.com
• Direct Managed Print Services Plus Provider: Ricoh, ricoh-usa.com
• Independent Managed Print Services Provider: Flo-Tech, flotech.net
• Independent Managed Print Services Plus Provider: Xtandit, xtandit.nl
• Managed Print Services Infrastructure Provider: Supplies Network, suppliesnetwork.com
• Professional Services Provider: Photizo Group, photizogroup.com
• Software Provider: Office Document Consulting, officedocumentconsulting.com
• Regional Managed Print Services Provider: Xtandit, xtandit.nl

Winners will be officially recognized and awarded crystals at the MPSA Leadership Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, at CompTIA’s ChannelCon event at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Orlando, Fla.

“The MPSA extends a hearty congratulations to all of this year’s winners,” added Walters.

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About the MPSA:

Founded in 2009, the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) is a global, nonprofit organization that provides independent communications, collaboration, education, standards and success to MPS professionals. The mission of the MPSA and its members is to address and optimize businesses’ office document management while enhancing the growth, efficiency and profitability of the MPS segment through advocacy, marketing, education, research, standards and a general community of interest.

Managed Print Services: From Big Paper to Big Data

Managed Print Services: From Big Paper to Big Data

By: Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca Published: 30th May 2013 Copyright Quocirca © 2013

Paper-based information is not often thought about in today's Big Data picture, which tends to focus on the proliferation of unstructured data from sources such as blogs, social media and video that is growing at exponential rates compared to traditional enterprise data. Yet paper documents are an important part of corporate business operations, often containing valuable information that must be captured, stored, organised and analysed.

Despite all the talk of the paperless office, organisations still rely heavily on paper documents. Every day businesses receive and print thousands of paper documents, mail, email and faxes that need to be captured and transformed for entry into business processes. Whilst some businesses have transitioned to electronic forms and transactions, many mission-critical business processes—such as billing, claims-processing and accounts-payable—are paper based. This reliance on paper is costly and inefficient and paper documents can be a huge liability.

As organisations try to reduce costs, improve process efficiency and establish compliance with various government legislation and industry regulations (e.g. PCI DSS, SOX, HIPAA, Data Protection Act), digitising paper documents through document capture is an important first step in business process automation. Document capture solutions are designed to remove the bottleneck paper creates at the onset of many business processes today.
 
When captured at the point of origination, paper documents can be directly integrated into business-critical processes. The full capture process includes scanning, data extraction from scanned images, document classification and sharing of content across electronic content management (ECM) systems. Documents become more accessible and easier to find, distribute and track. This increases productivity and streamlines processes, while supporting record retention, document security, and privacy requirements. Consequently, paper documents become part of the wider big data picture, enabling organisations to extract value from information to support faster decision making, for instance through business intelligence or big data analytics.
However, the challenge of document capture and processing can be daunting for many businesses, requiring specialist skills and resources. Despite the clear benefits of integrating all types of information into business processes and eliminating paper from these processes, employee attitudes and existing departmental systems can make it difficult to know where to start. Most organisations are resource constrained today, so many turn to outsourcing providers in order to focus on their core business.

The benefits of using an outsourced service include improved customer service, reduced business costs, compliance and greater efficiency. Outsourced services allow for easy scalability and can minimise infrastructure costs and disruption. One area where such business process automation is becoming more prevalent is in the managed print services (MPS) market. MPS is a proven approach to reducing printing costs by optimisating complex printer fleets, and deploying tools and technologies to minimise wasteful printing. As businesses move to next generation MPS engagements and are looking for further cost and efficiency improvements, many are working with their MPS providers to digitise paper workflows. With many organisations having already invested in multi-function printers (MFPs), working with MPS providers enables them to leverage these devices as sophisticated document capture and processing hubs.
Although many MPS providers are now competing in the wider and highly competitive BPO market, providers such as HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox have mature industry-specific services to automate manual processes such as electronic invoicing, mortgage application processing and health records management. With the core MPS services becoming commoditised, such business process services (BPS) are becoming key to differentiation amongst leading players in the MPS market.

Whilst big data and MPS may not have immediately obvious connections, many MPS engagements are advancing beyond the realm of device consolidation to encompass business process improvement. By accelerating the transition to digital workflows, paper based information becomes better integrated with enterprise data enabling organisations to extract business value from all data—both paper and digital.
Read Quocirca's MPS 2013 Report at http://www.quocirca.com/reports/835/managed-print-services-landscape-2013

HP Launches Partner-Owned Contract Managed Print Program

By Steven Burke
June 10, 2013    4:15 PM ET Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) Monday unveiled at its Discover conference an eagerly-anticipated managed print services program that allows the partner for the first time to own the customer contract, maintaining account control and earning precious top-line revenue.
The HP Managed Print Specialist Resell Program, which allows partners to "hold the paper," is already winning raves from solution providers who see it as a new competitive weapon to drive robust double-digit services margins, while at the same time gaining significant account advantages in a market where HP is a market leader.

The program, one of the first day highlights of HP's annual gathering for technology buyers and technical professionals running through Thursday in Las Vegas, puts partners into the driver's seat in what is a fast-growing market. The program allows partners to leverage proven HP-managed print tools and services that have won HP itself high marks in customer satisfaction for managed print services.

[Related: HP Enterprise Group SVP Seidl Set To Step Aside]

"We believe this is a game-changer," said Bill Avey, vice president, Partner Managed Services for HP, noting that the building blocks for the new program come from HP's acquisition of managed print services provider Printelligent two years ago. "There is pent-up demand for this."

Avey estimates that a whopping 80 percent of the partners already in the HP agent program will take advantage of the full-fledged HP Managed Print Reseller program, with 50 percent of those continuing to use the agent model, too, for some accounts.

Kelly Ireland, founder and CEO of CB Technologies, a Westminster, Calif.-based HP enterprise and agent managed print partner, said the new full-fledged program provides more opportunity for partners like CB Technologies to drive a wide range of new HP business by taking account control.
"From my viewpoint, I feel more involved in the actual account when I am taking the deal direct rather than as an agent," said Ireland. "When we win the deal direct and hold the paper, we feel we have won the customer and have the ability to expand HP's presence in that account. I just feel like under the agent program they are doing business with HP and I am supporting HP. When we hold the paper, I feel like they are doing business with me."

That said, Ireland said she is also a big fan of the HP managed print agent program. HP's managed print prowess with outstanding tools and support have given fits to HP print competitors, she said. "When competitors walk into an HP managed print account, they turn around and walk out," she said. "They know they can't win because HP does such a phenomenal job. I just love the reputation of HP Managed Print. The customer scores are off the charts."

Ireland said she sees CB Technologies HP managed print services growing considerably over the next several years, accounting for about 5 percent of sales. "We see it as a nice, profitable business for us," she said.

John Convery, president of John Convery Consulting, a channel consulting company based in Issaquah, Wash., said the new HP program is sure to give a big market-share shot in the arm to HP's managed print business."The larger partners want to control the P and L [profit and loss] and take title to the paper," said Convery."This allows the partner to build the customer relationship and enhance their margin. Under the agent program you are dealt the hand you get whatever it is -- one point, two points, three points,..etc. By holding the paper, partners control the margin and control the price quote and customer information."
HP, for its part, stressed that the HP Managed Print Specialist Resell Offering provides partners the ability to hold the paper and drive top-line revenue without taking on the huge managed print services infrastructure costs that have pushed more than a few partners to the financial brink. Under an HP Bundled Page program, partners are provided what HP calls an "all-inclusive bundle of pricing and services for resell to the customer, with an 'all in' click [or cost per page] price for supplies, maintenance and break/fix services, as well as the associated delivery and labor with post-sales support."

The program also includes access to a cloud-based application -- HP ExpressDecision Portal -- that connects customers, partners and HP Support in a chain, providing partners with "proposal and quote generation for cost-per-page pricing, client invoicing and reporting, device monitoring, and account and contract management." HP said the portal also provides seamless access to printer supplies, services and maintenance.
PUBLISHED ON JUNE 10, 2013

Managed Print Services: From Big Paper to Big Data

Managed Print Services: From Big Paper to Big Data

By: Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca Published: 30th May 2013 Copyright Quocirca © 2013

Paper-based information is not often thought about in today's Big Data picture, which tends to focus on the proliferation of unstructured data from sources such as blogs, social media and video that is growing at exponential rates compared to traditional enterprise data. Yet paper documents are an important part of corporate business operations, often containing valuable information that must be captured, stored, organised and analysed.

Despite all the talk of the paperless office, organisations still rely heavily on paper documents. Every day businesses receive and print thousands of paper documents, mail, email and faxes that need to be captured and transformed for entry into business processes. Whilst some businesses have transitioned to electronic forms and transactions, many mission-critical business processes—such as billing, claims-processing and accounts-payable—are paper based. This reliance on paper is costly and inefficient and paper documents can be a huge liability.

As organisations try to reduce costs, improve process efficiency and establish compliance with various government legislation and industry regulations (e.g. PCI DSS, SOX, HIPAA, Data Protection Act), digitising paper documents through document capture is an important first step in business process automation. Document capture solutions are designed to remove the bottleneck paper creates at the onset of many business processes today.

When captured at the point of origination, paper documents can be directly integrated into business-critical processes. The full capture process includes scanning, data extraction from scanned images, document classification and sharing of content across electronic content management (ECM) systems. Documents become more accessible and easier to find, distribute and track. This increases productivity and streamlines processes, while supporting record retention, document security, and privacy requirements. Consequently, paper documents become part of the wider big data picture, enabling organisations to extract value from information to support faster decision making, for instance through business intelligence or big data analytics.
However, the challenge of document capture and processing can be daunting for many businesses, requiring specialist skills and resources. Despite the clear benefits of integrating all types of information into business processes and eliminating paper from these processes, employee attitudes and existing departmental systems can make it difficult to know where to start. Most organisations are resource constrained today, so many turn to outsourcing providers in order to focus on their core business.

The benefits of using an outsourced service include improved customer service, reduced business costs, compliance and greater efficiency. Outsourced services allow for easy scalability and can minimise infrastructure costs and disruption. One area where such business process automation is becoming more prevalent is in the managed print services (MPS) market. MPS is a proven approach to reducing printing costs by optimisating complex printer fleets, and deploying tools and technologies to minimise wasteful printing. As businesses move to next generation MPS engagements and are looking for further cost and efficiency improvements, many are working with their MPS providers to digitise paper workflows. With many organisations having already invested in multi-function printers (MFPs), working with MPS providers enables them to leverage these devices as sophisticated document capture and processing hubs.
Although many MPS providers are now competing in the wider and highly competitive BPO market, providers such as HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox have mature industry-specific services to automate manual processes such as electronic invoicing, mortgage application processing and health records management. With the core MPS services becoming commoditised, such business process services (BPS) are becoming key to differentiation amongst leading players in the MPS market.

Whilst big data and MPS may not have immediately obvious connections, many MPS engagements are advancing beyond the realm of device consolidation to encompass business process improvement. By accelerating the transition to digital workflows, paper based information becomes better integrated with enterprise data enabling organisations to extract business value from all data—both paper and digital.
Read Quocirca's MPS 2013 Report at http://www.quocirca.com/reports/835/managed-print-services-landscape-2013

Document-Related Risks Infuse the Entire Organization

Document-Related Risks Infuse the Entire Organization
Posted on June 19, 2012 by Dominic Keogh

Ineffective document processes have harmed three of four organizations in the past five years, as was detailed in last week’s post written by Joseph Pucciarelli. That’s the tip of the iceberg, however, so we’ll dig a little deeper into our findings here and in our next few posts. The goal is to help you successfully address document-related challenges in your own organization.
Documents, often overlooked, are really the lifeblood of the enterprise, the study affirms. Over 40 percent of business activities rely on information captured in documents, our research found. These document-driven activities span customer-facing processes in sales and marketing; non-customer-facing processes in HR, manufacturing, and other back-office operations; and processes that manage risk around business continuity and information security. Forty percent may even be a conservative estimate: “I don’t think there’s a process out there that doesn’t have some sort of document or documents attached to it,” the VP for Global IT at a large cosmetics manufacturer told us.
Many of these document-driven processes – between 31 and 39 percent – continue to rely on paper. Although that may sound like a problem in the digital age, the medium is not necessarily the problem. Paper-based processes in this study emerged as some of the most effective activities. Many electronically based processes turned out to be the least effective.
Whether paper or electronic, document processes generally need improvement, the study found. Consider these findings:

• 45 percent of respondents reported that their document-driven processes related to risk mitigation were inefficient or ineffective;
• 39 percent reported that non-customer-facing document processes were lacking; and
• 36 percent reported that customer-facing document processes were inefficient or ineffective.

As you can see, problems are not isolated to any one business area; they run across a wide spectrum of processes. As a result, organizations are exposing themselves to a high degree of business risk.
“It only takes one mishap to damage a reputation,” in the words of one study participant, a VP with responsibilities for marketing/product management at a global financial services firm. Where are your vulnerabilities? Where is that one mishap most likely to occur? How likely is it? How serious would the impact be?

HP unveils new managed print services

Hewlett-Packard is planning to expand its managed print services solutions to partners with new offerings slated for later in 2012.ByManda BandaPublished February 16, 2012

The vendor has also updated its workstation line with the introduction of the HP Z1 Workstation, an all-in-one model that fits in a 27-inch LCD panel but allows easy replacement and upgrading of the internal components.

The new offerings were presented to partners in back-to-back keynote sessions at the HP Global Partner Conference, currently underway in Las Vegas.

Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's Imaging and Printing Group, told partners that the amount of digital data being created, both in corporate offices and in the cloud, is growing very quickly, and that 50% of an average worker's time is spent on managing data.

About 6% of the average enterprise's budget is spent on imaging and printing, and of that amount, about 10% goes to hardware and supplies, 15% to services and 75% to solutions, Joshi said.

Consequently, HP is introducing new technology to help push solution providers up the stack of value-added business, he said.

"If you are only in hardware, we want you to move to supplies," he said. "If you are only in hardware and supplies, we want you to move to services. If you are in hardware, supplies and services, we want you to move to solutions."

HP already has some managed print solutions that solution providers can use to improve their business, Joshi said. For instance, he cited ePrint, a relatively new mobile print solution from HP that allows anyone with an Internet-enabled device to send print jobs from their iOS or Android devices to a cloud-enabled print centre for later pickup or delivery.

"We want to make sure whatever device you have, you can have access to printing," he said.

Joshi also introduced the HP Smart Marketing Suite, a new solution that optimises and automates enterprise marketing content workflows. HP Smart Marketing Suite, which is expected to be available to partners sometime in 2013, includes consulting services to assess client marketing process inefficiencies and implement new modular marketing software applications based on HP's cloud-based storage and computing platform. Joshi also unveiled the HP Smart Production Suite, a new managed offering that automatically looks at print job requirements and available managed printing services to configure the content and make it ready to be printed in the most optimised way. HP Smart Production Suite is slated to be released later this year.

Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group (PSG), also addressed partners.

Bradley opened his presentation by thanking partners who stood by HP during the uncertainty that surrounded that company's decision last August to explore spinning off its PSG before committing to keep it as part of HP.

"It's fair to say you've stuck with us, and grown with us, in what has been an extremely challenging year," Bradley said.

Despite the challenges, HP still remains the world's largest PC maker, and is focused heavily on both new technology and advanced industrial design in its mobile PCs, Bradley said. "Just wait 'till you see what we do with Windows 7 and with ARM," he said.

Bradley shared the stage for a good part of his keynote to Jim Zafarana, vice president and general manager of HP's Commercial Solutions Business Unit, who used the time to introduce the HP Z1 Workstation.

Make Plans Now to Attend Transform 2012 in Orlando

Find out more about our presentation @ Transform 2012

Top 10 Tips for Implementing Managed Print Services

By Craig Le Clair
1. Know That Implementing Managed Print Services (MPS) Is a Work in Progress: Managed print services are not something you buy and install, but rather a life cycle that you engage in to gradually optimize a diverse and fragmented environment.
2. Assemble the Right Team: Focus on change management and governance by engaging IT, facilities and line-of-business owners early.
3. Balance RFP Criteria Among Device, Process and Management Criteria: Vendor selection should highlight key business drivers beyond cost and standard service-level agreement (SLA) goals.
4. Emphasize Print Policy Software: While policies for color printing get all the attention, the most dramatic savings can occur with global settings for duplex printing.
5. Avoid Billing Surprises: It's bad enough getting the bill, but it's even worse if you can't understand it. Firms should question providers about how billing works â€" particularly for global initiatives.
6. Don't Fall for Fluffy Treatment of Environmental Requirements: Make suppliers provide specific data on their environmental approach and focus on reducing pages printed, as this has by far the highest environmental impact.
7. Carefully Weigh Your Pricing Options: While all managed print services have some price per image (PPI) component, there's no "one size fits all."
8. Beware of Color: Users can get hooked on color printing, which will have higher PPI rates and can erode projected savings.
9. Resist the Tendency to Rush the Assessment Phase: Assessment sets critical goals such as realistic user-to-device ratios, as well as key metrics to monitor and improve service.
10. Get Ahead of Compliance and Security: It's only a matter of time before auditors focus on security and compliance holes in the office environment.

The independent managed print services approach

By: Louella Fernandes, Principal Analyst, Quocirca
Published: 25th November 2011
Copyright Quocirca © 2011
Nearly every enterprise – including commercial businesses, educational institutions and government organisations – relies on printing to support essential business processes, whether it is back-office operations such as accounting or payroll or front-office activities such as sales and marketing.

Regardless of how dependent an organisation is on printing, IT departments struggle with similar management challenges: providing reliable print services that meet organisational expectations while containing operational costs.

Too often, organisations own a broad range of print, copier, scanner and fax equipment, often from different vendors, requiring different software, consumables and supplies. Devices may often be outdated and inefficient, and few organisations know how many assets they have, how they are being used, and how much it costs to own, maintain and operate them.

This makes it increasingly difficult to optimise efficiency and control costs, and creates a huge IT and administration headache. Organisations facing staff shortages or lacking the correct technology expertise do not have the resources and skills to keep on top of print management issues, leaving them exposed to spiralling print costs, reduced productivity and increased risk due to unprotected devices.
This has prompted many businesses to move to a managed print service (MPS) to ensure more efficient and effective print infrastructure operation and management, from the office to the print room.

A managed print environment can deliver strategic business advantage, supporting cost reduction imperatives and environmental demands along with improved compliance and reduced risk. Today, the strongest uptake of MPS has been among large enterprises (1000+ employees). Our recent research suggests that half of European large enterprises have implemented or are piloting MPS.
The emergence of independent MPS providers that offer vendor-agnostic, best-of-breed technology, software and services is promising to expand the penetration of MPS beyond the exclusive domain of large enterprises.

This channel provides an important role in delivering impartial assessment services and unbiased MPS recommendations. Services such as multivendor break-fix, support and supplies replenishment enable organisations to protect existing hardware investments rather than moving immediately to a standardised print environment.

By retaining the flexibility to add devices from multiple vendors, independent MPS providers can innovate with the latest technology and introduce new capabilities independently of any single incumbent printer or copier supplier.

While hardware vendors will have a vested interest in moving the customer to a standardised environment, most of the major MPS vendors are able to support and manage a multivendor environment at the initial stages of an MPS engagement, sweating the assets as needed.
Not many organisations operate a standardised fleet at the outset. It is therefore vital to select an MPS provider that can provide an impartial assessment of the print environment.

However, if an organisation is planning to move to a standardised environment, a hardware-centric MPS may be the best approach. This can be supplied by a hardware vendor, SI or independent MPS provider. Many hardware vendors will use channel partners to deliver MPS midmarket.
Vendor-neutral providers can often negotiate the best prices on equipment and supplies, delivering quality at lower cost.

It is in the interest of an independent MPS provider to offer the right device for the purpose, regardless of brand. While a single-vendor strategy forces an enterprise to settle for a single vendor's offer for each area of the enterprise, a multivendor strategy enables a true best-of-breed approach across the organisation.

Pricing for traditional MPS contracts is often based on minimum volumes. We have found that is the top inhibitor of MPS adoption. Independent MPS providers often use different pricing models such as pay-per-print, so customers do not pay for pages they have not printed.

Although hardware vendors have been the predominant MPS suppliers for decades, the market is at a tipping point, evolving to encompass a wider range of providers. Independent firms should take advantage, particularly if they have the resources and infrastructure to design and deploy MPS.
This window of opportunity is limited, though: the technology that enables independent MPS providers to move up the MPS stack is also available to competitors such as SIs, managed services providers and hardware vendors, which are using the same or similar technology to move down the stack.

As MPS providers look to gain further mid-market traction, we expect further consolidation in the market. Specifically, we expect hardware vendors to acquire more independent providers to strengthen their multivendor MPS delivery and service capabilities. A report is here.

Highest Share of Managed Print Services Providers Report Using Print Audit Facilities Manager in CompTIA Study

With an expanding Managed Print Services industry, more dealers and VARs are using Print Audit’s Facilities Manager to implement their MPS strategies.

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Calgary, Alberta (PRWEB) November 05, 2011

CompTIA, the Computing Technology Industry Association, recently published a study surveying 400 Managed Print Services providers and IT personnel in end-user companies. The purpose of the report, entitled Examining the Print and Document Management Market, was to further the understanding of print and document trends from the end-user perspective, as well as to profile Managed Print Services provider firms. The study identified Print Audit’s remote device management service, Facilities Manager, as the leader in the North American market with a 40% share among Managed Print Services providers using a third-party (non OEM) solution.
As a multi-award winning product, Facilities Manager is used by dealers worldwide to remotely collect meter reads, automate supplies fulfillment and report service information for managing fleets of printers, copiers, fax machines and multi-function devices.
According to the study, the Managed Print Services industry will continue to grow because of its impact on reducing infrastructure costs associated with printing, improving productivity and environmental sustainability. The study also found that most companies expect their print volumes to increase or remain the same and of the companies not currently using Managed Print Services, 35% are expected to adopt a MPS strategy over the next year.
For more information on the CompTIA study, please visit http://www.CompTIA.org
About Print Audit®:
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Print Audit is the fastest growing print management company in the world. By providing businesses with innovative and practical print management software solutions, the company has helped customers recapture over $200 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year. Print Audit has offices located in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.
For more information about Print Audit, please contact 1-877-412-8348

Rethinking MPS- The Independent Approach

The following paper was written by quocirca

Managed Print Services (MPS) have proven their value to businesses that have chosen a trusted partner to manage their print infrastructure. Many organisations have recognised that MPS can help them become more agile, lower costs, support sustainability initiatives and improve the efficiency and productivity of their increasingly diverse and mobile workforce.

Although MPS has been widely adopted by larger enterprises, the emergence of independent MPS providers that offer vendor-agnostic, best-of-breed technology, software and services is promising to expand the penetration of MPS beyond the exclusive domain of large enterprises. This channel provides an important role in delivering impartial assessment services and unbiased MPS recommendations. Services such as multivendor break-fix, support and supplies replenishment enables organisations to protect existing hardware investments rather than moving immediately to a standardised print environment.

This paper outlines the need for MPS and why organisations that are operating a heterogeneous print environment should consider an independent MPS provider to proactively manage and transform their print infrastructure.

Click here to read the entire paper on quocirca.com

How do you define and MPS Ready Device?

Please help Defining specifications of MPS Compliant devices

The report from Nubeprint shows that not all devices are MPS compliant, e.g. enabled to managed 100% remotely and 100% vendor MPS program independent.

Which functionallity makes a device a top MPS Compliant device?
- ability to measure toner levels
- ability to watch status and receive service request
- ability to read machines identification (name, serial, brand, ...)
- ability to measure print/copy/scan meters
- ability to measure paper sizes and simplex/duplex
- ability to configure the machine (everything) remotely
- ability to measure energy usage
- ability to take over the screen remotely
- ability to be used in independent MPS programs (public MIB)

Top 10 Reasons Why Leasing Equipment is Much Smarter

Banks can charge you a fee on your line of credit, even if you never use it. Leasing companies charge only for what you use.

Banks require that you put some cash down, in some cases as much as 20% to 30%. This can eat away at your working capital. Leasing companies don't.

Banks are not as flexible as leasing companies. Equipment leasing companies can create an individualized lease arrangement for you such as no payments for 90 days to give you time to get your new equipment up and running. Banks can't.

If you borrow too much from a bank, this can limit your ability to get future loans and you have fewer options during crises. Leasing allows you to expand and diversify your funding sources.

Banks won't give you 100% financing. Leasing companies will. In fact, when you lease from a reputable leasing company, you can get 100% financing for not only the cost of the equipment, but for labor, installation and even training or consultation.

Banks can put liens on all of the assets of your company including receivables and inventory. Leasing companies only put a lien on the equipment.

Banks may recommend, especially to small business owners, that they take out a home equity loan for new equipment. This is a very bad idea. Why finance a piece of equipment for a few years with assets such as a home that you will keep for a longer time? Leasing is a much wiser strategy for expansion.

Leasing allows businesses to fully expense lease payments as a rental and provides valuable tax deductions for your business.

Reputable leasing companies work closely with equipment companies. They know the equipment business and can advise you on exactly what you need to make your business profitable as soon as possible. Banks don't.

Leasing companies offer a variety of options that banks can't match. These include:

Lease Purchase ($100 Buy-Out) - allow you to buy the equipment at the end of the lease term for a nominal amount of $100.

Operating Lease (Fair Market Value Buy-Out) - provides you with the option to purchase the equipment at the end of the lease for its then Fair Market Value, continue leasing the equipment based on its Fair Market Value, or return the equipment.

Venture Leases - a perfect solution for start-up companies with venture capital backing.

Deferred Payment - ideal for companies in which the equipment will be used for a project that won't generate revenue for a short period of time, so that the initial months have nominal or no payments.

Seasonal Payment - designed for those businesses with seasonal cash flows so payments might be higher when business is good for example in the summer months and lower during the rest of the year.

Step-up / Step-down payments structured to match a company's cash flow needs. Payments can start low and then increase during the later years of the lease, or payments can start high and then decrease, minimizing finance charges.

Municipal Lease - available to all city and state agencies such as public school districts, municipal hospitals, police and fire departments. Due to the tax-exempt status of the Lessee, rates are much lower than standard commercial rates.

Manage what you measure

Manage what you measure




A print management strategy allows businesses to control expenses by outsourcing management of the printer fleet. The usage-based, outsourced model ensures they only pay for the prints they use and, best of all, there is no capital expenditure required since the agreement is to manage the existing fleet.



Companies cannot manage what they cannot measure. A managed print services strategy should begin with a comprehensive assessment of the current situation to uncover the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your office printing. This assessment provides both a baseline, to measure improvement, and a snapshot of the current situation to discover opportunities to improve. Ascertaining the current situation also gives organisations a benchmark against which to measure the effectiveness of their programme.



Proactively managing printers also enables companies to introduce carbon footprint reduction strategies. Reducing paper use not only reduces the volume of trees consumed, but also helps offset the rising cost of printer paper. There are several means of reducing paper use, including duplex printing and electronic forms among many others.



Some companies are concerned that optimised printing will negatively impact productivity. But a properly implemented managed print strategy boosts productivity. At the most basic level, employees face less distraction from printers that are broken or out of toner. Unlike most IT departments that simply respond to broken systems, a preventative maintenance strategy combined with an automatic supply restocking programme ensures your fleet is operating consistently. Re-deploying the right systems to high-volume locations can also enhance productivity.



Perhaps the biggest cost savings can be found in a more productive IT department. IT resources are costly and it doesn't make sense to use them to fix mechanical devices such as printers. Instead of fielding calls from frustrated users with printer issues, IT employees can focus on core initiatives like security and new software deployments.

Print Management Solutions to Avoid Docuwaste and Improve Efficiency

It is estimated that in 2006 European businesses wasted over 9 billion euros through inefficient business practices, up from 8.4 billion euros in 2004. Much of this waste is put down to “Docuwaste” – a massive over-indulgence in print usage which waste untold reams of paper and gallons of ink and toner – for no financial gain to anyone.


However, there is some evidence in the UK, where Docuwaste actually decreased by 4% in the same period, that businesses are taking note of this massive problem. This could be down to the fact that a large number of financial organisations in the UK need to control print output for compliance reasons, and are using Print management software applications to monitor, control and actually charge for printer use.


Such print management software applications are often introduced as part of a managed print service by external suppliers. But applications are now often included at no additional cost with printers (e.g. Hewlett Packard’s Web Jetadmin). Such systems don’t simply work “reactively” to provide detailed reports on device usage, but they can also be used proactively to ensure that any printing policies (e.g. duplex double sided printing) or to restrict access to certain features (e.g. colour printing) or to set print quotas per team, workgroup or department.


More about print autorouting


Why not ensure that print jobs are sent to the printer best suited to the task? This can be done using an auto-routing programme, such as is provided with any reasonable-quality print management software suite. Thus in an example scenario, where a user wants to send a 2 page document to a desktop printer (ideal for the task) then the software would allow this. However, if the same user tried to send a 200-page document to the same printer, the software will alert the user, and send it to the more appropriate high speed departmental or workgroup Multifunctional high speed device.


Email printing control


Print management software rules can also be set for specific applications, so that an administrator could enforce a policy not to print email messages, for example. Or it could be configured so that email messages were only ever printed in black and white, thus avoiding a colour click charge every time an email with a coloured logo or a highlighted email address was printed.


Other efficiencies introduced


How about the time wasting which can create hidden costs? By automatically routing jobs from an out-of-order printer to one that actually is working can be one example. Another example is the prioritising of print jobs for designated individuals with important deadlines to meet.


Secure print solutions – “follow me” printing


More than half of those who replied to a recent Fujitsu Siemens’ survey said that they had printed the same document several times by mistake and 43% said that they had mistakenly picked up someone else’s printout. Such wasteful – and frustrating – problems can be avoided using Secure Print Programmes. These are more generally known by the term “follow me printing”. What happens is that the print job is held on a server on a server until the owner releases them by entering a code or swiping a card on a network printer. Because the document is not printed until the user is at the machine, prints do not have a chance to fall into the wrong hands or get removed by someone else.


Chargebacks


Another major advantage of print job tracking is that it becomes possible to charge customers or departments for the prints they make. Cost recovery solutions, again a part of any good print management software suite, can be used to charge customers by invoice or through pre-pay systems.



Jimi St. Pierre writes for several Office Equipment suppliers in the UK, including office printer supplier Principal. Helpful advice on print management software can be found as part of Principal’s comprehensive Print Supplies website at => www.principalcorp.co.uk/