The Top 10 Stories of 2011 It was another year of change and changes in the office technology industry and nowhere was that change more visible than with new acquisitions and at the top rungs of the ladder among the various OEMs from Sharp to Kyocera, to Ricoh, to HP. As far as trend-worthy stories, the industry remains enamored as ever with managed print services, an evolving business model that is being adopted by an increasing number dealers, VARs, manufacturers, and everyone in between. Surprisingly, coming up with 10 stories for this year’s list was a lot easier than in past years when we always found ourselves digging deep to round out the list. And now, in no particular order, the top 10 stories of 2011. 1. The Japan Tsunami’s Impact on the Office Technology Industry - It was a natural disaster of epic proportions and although the after effects of the tsunami did not create a huge chasm in the flow of office technology into the U.S. from Japan, it still had a ripple effect. We’re told that manufacturers spent loads of money not to lose market share after the event. Some manufacturers were hit harder than others mostly in the parts department—Canon for example, and to a lesser extent Ricoh. Even companies who manufacture their devices in the U.S. were affected. As Lou Slawetsky of Industry Analyst told us, “It only takes one part to not make a copier.” 2. Managed Print Services is Here to Stay – Talk to any dealer, manufacturer or industry analyst today and you can bet managed print services will show up somewhere in the conversation. MPS has gone beyond a fad to the business model of the present and the future. Just look at the many managed print services programs from the OEMs as well as from suppliers and even the leasing companies who are getting into the act. Indeed, MPS has transcended buzz word status. Analysts, savvy dealers, and OEMs predict doom and gloom for those organizations who don’t add MPS to their services mix, so don’t be surprised if those who don’t transition into this area find themselves in the unfortunate position of watching their hardware sales continue to erode. All these announcements and investments into managed print services continue to position MPS as the hottest trend in the industry and one that is now firmly entrenched into the collective consciousness of everyone and every player in the industry. 3. The Industry Embraces Mobile/Cloud Printing and Storage – The industry and the channels are still trying to figure out mobile printing and storage in the cloud, but that’s not stopping them from releasing and developing applications that make it easier for end users to print whenever and wherever. Add to that cloud-based applications that tie in nicely with managed print services, and we are squarely in the middle of the beginning of what’s destined to be a big story in the years to come. The trouble now is figuring out just exactly what mobile printing is because in many ways it is closely associated with the cloud. “It’s a market that’s really confusing because mobile printing is not one dimensional,” says Brian Bissett, editor of The MFP Report. “It’s everything from apps for your iPhone to server-based architecture for the enterprise and everything in between. Related to that and one of the problems is how do you separate cloud versus mobile?” That said, Bissett adds, “The idea for delivery of applications and using the cloud for storage of documents seems to be going rapidly towards acceptance.” 4. Konica Minolta Moves into IT Services with the Acquisition of All Covered - IT services represents one of the key growth areas for the office technology industry and Konica Minolta took a strong leap in that direction with the acquisition of All Covered earlier this year. Give Konica Minolta credit for branching out into what for many competitors would be considered uncharted territory. Since the acquisition, the All Covered organization has found itself in acquisition mode as well, acquiring additional IT services organizations and building the organization into a major force in IT services. 5. Lexmark gets serious about the BSD channel - The independent dealer channel has done wonders for many of the OEMs over the years and in just three short years, that channel—what Lexmark refers to as its BSD (Business Solutions Dealer) channel—is raising Lexmark’s profile within the independent dealer community. This is a company that has its act together and has the people, products, and programs in place to be a major force in the channel for years to come. 6. ECi Acquires Digital Gateway – It seems as if ECi is acquiring virtually every software company imaginable and one wonders if there is any end to those acquisitions, particularly with the most recent acquisition of Digital Gateway that up until now seemed like an unlikely acquisition target. However, things change and Digital Gateway is now part of the ECi family, a family that includes OMD, DDMS, LaCrosse Accelerate, Britannia, and TeamDesign among others. No wonder ECi was named to Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 annual list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States for the fourth straight year. 7. Nuance Acquires Equitrac – Speaking of acquisitions that make good business sense, Nuance’s acquisition of Equitrac, arguably the industry leader in print management and cost recovery software, certainly does. This may not be as big an acquisition as when they acquired eCopy, but it is an important addition to the company nevertheless and one that only serves to strengthen Nuance as one of the industry’s most valuable solutions providers. Placing this acquisition in a larger perspective, many are driven by the growth of MPS and one can add to that list Xerox’s acquisition of Newfield IT in the UK and HP’s acquisition of Printelligent, a provider of managed print services. “There are too many small MPS software firms that really don’t have the resources to take it the next level and a lot are shopping themselves around either to other firms or bigger software companies,” states Bissett. 8. Ed McLaughlin Leaves Sharp – This was surprising especially when one considers how well respected Ed is throughout the industry whether it’s the dealers or industry analysts and press who have always appreciated his candor. He’s left some big shoes to fill at Sharp and at press time we still weren’t sure who was filling those. Don’t be surprised if he finds another opportunity in the industry in the near future. With his departure we’ll never know if he would have been able to deliver on his claim of a few years back at one of Sharp’s annual dealer meetings of moving Sharp into the top-tier of office technology companies. 9. Mike Pietrunti Departs Kyocera Mita for Global Imaging - Mike’s departure from Kyocera Mita after nine years was as much a surprise as Ed McLaughlin’s leaving Sharp. Whereas Ed may have left involuntarily, Mike was wooed by Global and given an offer he couldn’t refuse where he is now responsible for acquisitions. It’s safe to say Mike has departed for greener pastures at Global where the pressures won’t likely be as intense as they seemed to be getting over at Kyocera Mita. Considering the company’s overly ambitious plan to grow by 20 percent during the next three years, that would have been quite the challenge for any business leader. 10. Drama at HP - At one time those in the office technology sector would look askance at HP and not take them all that seriously. But seriously, they’re still number one in market share for printers and in the brave new world of managed print services that counts for a lot these days. The question at press time was who was going to lead the company? Various names were being bandied about and we asked Bissett why this story should matter to those in the office technology sector. “It doesn’t directly affect [the channel], but when you have such chaos at the world’s biggest hard copy company it raises questions,” responds Bissett who adds that he’d heard there was going to be a whole new round of layoffs happening at HP in Boise. “At minimum there’s added pressure at HP for the Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) to not screw anything up and continue doing well and not lose any money because the rest of the company needs it.” Scott Cullen has been writing about the office technology industry since 1986 and has written about many of the top stories of the year over the years.