{"id":30430,"date":"2018-08-02T10:35:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T17:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=30430"},"modified":"2018-08-02T10:35:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T17:35:21","slug":"ready-or-not-everything-as-a-service-will-come-but-not-without-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2018\/08\/ready-or-not-everything-as-a-service-will-come-but-not-without-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready or Not, Everything-as-a-Service Will Come, but Not Without Challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Trevor Akervik,
Marco<\/p><\/div>\n

When considering what elements could comprise the future of offering everything-as-a-service (XaaS), some dealers are looking to the past, in a sense. That holds true for Marco. The St. Cloud, MN-based megadealer is taking a holistic overview in judging what areas of its business could lend themselves to the recurring, subscription-based model, according to Trevor Akervik, senior director of managed services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking backward to other parts of our company,\u201d he said. \u201cCan we offer our copier-based solutions; is that industry ready for a change? We feel like it might be on the cusp of being ready for change. How that ends up, we don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Gau, president of the Copier Division for Marco, points out that the proliferation of industry consolidation, there will be more pressure to build toward a XaaS model. By the same token, acquiring the competencies that envelop the XaaS philosophy will not be cheap.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Steve Gau,
Marco<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThis is expensive, it isn\u2019t opening a copier dealer and having a $40-hour tech and commission-based sales rep,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is hiring that talent with very specific knowledge on these items. You have to have those people on board before there\u2019s ever any billing associated with it. It\u2019s expensive to build out, so it\u2019s not going to be for everybody. The other alternative is outsourcing to third-party companies to do it. We believe in every aspect of this being taken care of by a Marco-backed W2 employee. So that\u2019s going to be the challenge that dealers face. It\u2019s going to be a heavy investment.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to having an expert-level staff, Akervik points to external challenges toward XaaS, such as financing considerations and convincing vendors to apply their solutions in a similar fashion so that they can be brought to market. But Marco has made the investments to move forward with XaaS, and its testing of seat-based billing on a smaller scale is further evidence of its commitment.<\/p>\n

One aspect that will certainly hasten the move toward XaaS can be seen in how the philosophy is beginning to infiltrate our everyday lives, according to West McDonald, vice president of business development for Print Audit. Netflix is an oft-quoted example, but it\u2019s hardly an outlier. Other subscription-based services include Mister Car Wash, which provides for unlimited internal\/external cleanings per month. Restaurants and grocery stores have embarked on this.<\/p>\n

Even automakers are getting into the act, with BMW, Volvo, Lexus and Mercedes among the manufacturers. You choose the tier of auto, pay anywhere from $600 to upwards of $3,000 a month, and enjoy the benefits of insurance, roadside assistance and unlimited mileage\u2014all driven (no pun intended) by an app.<\/p>\n

\"\"

West McDonald,
Print Audit<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIn areas where things are changing faster, it\u2019s going to be more permeated with as-a-service,\u201d McDonald noted. \u201cThe things you have become outdated so quickly\u2014why would you want to own it, since it\u2019s not really an asset. Service is better because you\u2019re going to be continually updated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the long haul, McDonald stresses that every dealer that is seeking a long-term growth path will need to adopt the XaaS strategy beyond print to include document management, IT services, telephony. But he still senses resistance to the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to lots of dealers who say, \u2018No-no, there\u2019s still lots of room in the print world, we\u2019re just going to keep plugging at it.\u2019 That\u2019s not a growth model. You might be able to survive and retain a lifestyle business, but if you\u2019re looking to grow, then as-a-service is the only way to go and you have to expand the kinds of things that you offer as a service. It just can\u2019t be for print.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Calvin Wanner,
Verticomm<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the greatest challenges in designing the perfect XaaS beast is not necessarily in the administration or delivery of the concept, but rather in the personnel required to make good on that promise, regardless of the discipline (managed print\/IT, telephony, document management, etc.). That particularly holds true for the tech-heavy managed IT side for purveyors whose solutions are home-grown. Calvin Wanner, sales manager for Denver-based Verticomm, knows the battle for quality employees is a hotly-contested one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about knowledge. There are a lot of unknowns in the management of applications as they continue to morph and grow,\u201d he said. \u201cWe struggle ourselves with finding great engineers. The economy\u2019s doing well and companies are paying guys top dollar. So it\u2019s hard to find good resources nowadays. The better resources you have and the better support, the faster you can clear ticket times and reduce that operational expense.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When considering what elements could comprise the future of offering everything-as-a-service (XaaS), some dealers are looking to the past, in a sense. That holds true for Marco. The St. Cloud, MN-based megadealer is taking a holistic overview in judging what areas of its business could lend themselves to the recurring, subscription-based model, according to Trevor Akervik, senior director of managed services. \u201cWe\u2019re looking backward to other parts of our company,\u201d he said. \u201cCan we offer our copier-based solutions; is that industry ready for a change? We feel like it might be on the cusp of being ready for change. How that ends up, we don\u2019t know yet.\u201d Steve Gau, president of the Copier Division for Marco, points out that the proliferation of industry consolidation, there will be more pressure to build toward a XaaS model. By the same token, acquiring the competencies that envelop the XaaS philosophy will not be cheap. \u201cThis is expensive, it isn\u2019t opening a copier dealer and having a $40-hour tech and commission-based sales rep,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is hiring that talent with very specific knowledge on these items. You have to have those people on board before there\u2019s ever any billing associated with it. It\u2019s expensive to build out, so it\u2019s not going to be for everybody. The other alternative is outsourcing to third-party companies to do it. We believe in every aspect of this being taken care of by a Marco-backed W2 employee. So that\u2019s going to be the challenge that dealers face. It\u2019s going to be a heavy investment.\u201d In addition to having an expert-level staff, Akervik points to external challenges toward XaaS, such as financing considerations and convincing vendors to apply their solutions in a similar fashion so that they can be brought to market. But Marco has made the investments to move forward with XaaS, and its testing of seat-based billing on a smaller scale is further evidence of its commitment. One aspect that will certainly hasten the move toward XaaS can be seen in how the philosophy is beginning to infiltrate our everyday lives, according to West McDonald, vice president of business development for Print Audit. Netflix is an oft-quoted example, but it\u2019s hardly an outlier. Other subscription-based services include Mister Car Wash, which provides for unlimited internal\/external cleanings per month. Restaurants and grocery stores have embarked on this. Even automakers are getting into the act, with BMW, Volvo, Lexus and Mercedes among the manufacturers. You choose the tier of auto, pay anywhere from $600 to upwards of $3,000 a month, and enjoy the benefits of insurance, roadside assistance and unlimited mileage\u2014all driven (no pun intended) by an app. \u201cIn areas where things are changing faster, it\u2019s going to be more permeated with as-a-service,\u201d McDonald noted. \u201cThe things you have become outdated so quickly\u2014why would you want to own it, since it\u2019s not really an asset. Service is better because you\u2019re going to be continually updated.\u201d Over the long haul, McDonald stresses that every dealer that is seeking a long-term growth path will need to adopt the XaaS strategy beyond print to include document management, IT services, telephony. But he still senses resistance to the movement. \u201cI\u2019ve talked to lots of dealers who say, \u2018No-no, there\u2019s still lots of room in the print world, we\u2019re just going to keep plugging at it.\u2019 That\u2019s not a growth model. You might be able to survive and retain a lifestyle business, but if you\u2019re looking to grow, then as-a-service is the only way to go and you have to expand the kinds of things that you offer as a service. It just can\u2019t be for print.\u201d One of the greatest challenges in designing the perfect XaaS beast is not necessarily in the administration or delivery of the concept, but rather in the personnel required to make good on that promise, regardless of the discipline (managed print\/IT, telephony, document management, etc.). That particularly holds true for the tech-heavy managed IT side for purveyors whose solutions are home-grown. Calvin Wanner, sales manager for Denver-based Verticomm, knows the battle for quality employees is a hotly-contested one. \u201cIt\u2019s all about knowledge. There are a lot of unknowns in the management of applications as they continue to morph and grow,\u201d he said. \u201cWe struggle ourselves with finding great engineers. The economy\u2019s doing well and companies are paying guys top dollar. So it\u2019s hard to find good resources nowadays. The better resources you have and the better support, the faster you can clear ticket times and reduce that operational expense.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":30149,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[545,303,2416],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30430"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30431,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30430\/revisions\/30431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}