Mike Lamothe
The September issue of ENX features an opus I wrote on data collection tools, focusing on what’s new from six different data collection solutions providers, why dealers choose them, and what kind of ROI dealers can expect from that solution. One vendor that wasn’t included in that piece because of time and space constraints was Office Document Consulting, Inc. This addendum based on an interview with Office Document Consulting President Mike Lamothe rounds out the ENX feature.
What’s new at Office Document Consulting?
I caught up with Office Document Consulting Inc. one of the global leaders in print assessment software who continues to provide innovative solutions to further automate and simplify the assessment process.
They are currently setting up distribution in Europe for dealers and resellers who have been inspired by the success of U.S. dealers in MPS. “They’ve watched what’s happened in the U.S. and they have a better idea of how to succeed,” notes Mike Lamothe, president of Office Document Consulting. “They’ve seen failures and successes and are trying to start their models full blown instead of piecing it together.”
This distribution initiative originated in the UK and Office Document Consulting has also partnered with another organization based in Australia that supports Australia, New Zealand, and Asia Pacific. In addition, earlier this year Office Document Consulting sold a license to a large group in Russia that supports an extensive dealer network. ODC will have additional European partners by the end of 2014.
“It’s blossomed outside of the U.S.,” states Lamothe, who adds but the U.S. continues to be the company’s leading market and will be for a long time.
“Now that we have more distribution we realized we wanted to get our product into people’s hands a little bit easier, hence the development of a new mapping app, which has further simplified our current state mapping,” says Lamothe.
DOCassess Mapping APP 1.0 was released in mid August of this year and is available in multiple languages. It allows dealers to map their customer’s current print environment online or offline on the device of their choice. With this announcement ODC can now support virtually any platform for device mapping, including IOS, MacBook, PC, Android or iPad.
Around the same time ODC announced the integration of ROI Print Manager software from Print Control Software, Inc., into the DOCassess solution.
ROI Print Manager is a software tool that is deployed on a customer’s network and tracks all users’ printing without affecting their productivity. Data collected includes the user’s name, computer name, IP address, print volume (color and black & white), and time and date. This information can then be imported into DOCassess, matched with printer and MFPs meter volumes, and leveraged to create existing and future-state workflow scenarios across departments and the enterprise. “Users that purchase DOCassess PW will get an in-depth look into end-users’ printing habits along with the ability to identify their various workflows,” says Lamothe.
In addition Office Document Consulting has created a Helpdesk for dealers who need help performing assessments. “We have three levels of assessment support, 1. We will complete the entire assessment for them 2. We will support up to 50% of the project and 3. We can support them throughout the process to completion. ODC has some additional surprises up their sleeves that should be announced in the next six months.
Lamothe went on to say their relationship with fmaudit continues to blossom as they have combined efforts in a number of area’s related to MPS. Dealers continue to look for assistance as they further refine their programs, “our combined efforts makes a great one two punch”, say Lamothe. The two companies had a recent series of webinars that are being re-run do to the impressive turnout. Some of the topics, integration of Onsite to perform assessments, the power of an internal MPS Champion, using professional services to further define and accelerate your MPS Program, taping into the unmanaged devices within the dealers own base, to name a few.
Why do dealers choose Office Document Consulting?
“Our experience and passion to succeed,” says Lamothe. “We’re in the field, we are helping dealers develop and implement their own programs, we are making four legged calls with sales reps which helps us understand what works and what doesn’t. The bottom line there’s nothing better than getting out with our partners making sales calls, performing assessments helping them succeed and grow their businesses.
ODC’s flagship product DOCassess, which is almost 4.5 years old continues to evolve with all of their focus on automation and simplification. Lamothe went on to say, “we also look to our customers to help determine where our future development is headed.”
What kind of return on investment can dealers who implement your solution expect?
“It’s almost an unfair question because of the profit [potential],” states Lamothe. “We show dealers that the profitability on a successful MPS agreement is 20-30 percent higher with our product. And when dealers utilize a professional assessment tool increases their chances to succeed in fact our close rates exceed 70 percent. If dealers take the time to do a proper full-blown assessment, closing rates increase and profitability goes up significantly.”
As for the return on investment, lets just say the profit from one deal will more than pay for the software subscription for one year.
