New content this week includes (click on the article to go directly to it):

I started writing this column in my room in the Bellagio hotel in what’s become my home away from home, Las Vegas. I was there for the Konica Minolta dealer meeting and what I saw and heard there this week firmly establishes Konica Minolta’s position in the upper pantheon of office technology, solutions, and services providers. Given their emphasis on managed IT services where they are no doubt ahead of the curve compared to many of their peers on the OEM side of the aisle along with their Optimized Print Services, I have to hand it to Konica Minolta, when it comes to office technology, solutions, and services, this ain’t party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around. I’m not just saying that because they did a super job of taking care of the press and analysts at their meeting. As one of my colleagues commented, “There’s no smoke and mirrors here.” Indeed, what Konica Minolta presented in Vegas is the real deal. Scroll down below for my 10 take-homes from this year’s Konica Minolta dealer meeting.

Our month of industry trends continues this week with pieces from BEI Services, Great America Leasing, Oki Data, and the Equipment Leasing and Financing Association (ELFA). As you read through these along with the trends pieces that we’ve been running throughout the month of January you’ll find some consistent observations running through the commentaries such as the emphasis on managed print services from all sectors of the industry. While some may be saying that managed print services is so yesterday, let’s be real, if it really was so yesterday would there still be 50+ percent of the dealer population still out there trying to figure it out. Until that time comes, rest assured managed print services will continue to be a major talking point like it or not.

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