{"id":3626,"date":"2013-03-07T14:15:45","date_gmt":"2013-03-07T14:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=3626"},"modified":"2013-04-11T23:43:04","modified_gmt":"2013-04-12T03:43:04","slug":"the-continuing-mps-commoditization-discussion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2013\/03\/the-continuing-mps-commoditization-discussion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Continuing MPS Commoditization Discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rob<\/a>

Rob Sethre<\/p><\/div>\n

It looks like we\u2019re going to beat this dead horse a little longer or at least until there\u2019s nothing left to say on the subject. Last week I interviewed Rob Sethre of Photizo Group who disputes claims that MPS has become a commodity. Click here to read that article. This week Sethre is back with additional clarifications as to why MPS has yet to be commoditized. Not everyone agrees. See this week\u2019s Off the Record for another, albeit brief point of view.<\/p>\n

Sethre received a lot of feedback from last week\u2019s article, most positive while some was a misunderstanding of his logic. If you remember, he used the example of a PrintFleet server that is never used or is underutilized.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tale of two data streams with that server in a corner somewhere delivering valuable data,\u201d explains Sethre. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got the one case that I illustrated last week\u2014somebody who puts in a significant investment, but doesn\u2019t follow it to the logical end step of getting it properly implemented and executing on that data. That\u2019s the danger of underutilizing a valuable tool and that\u2019s where you get into so-called commoditization.\u201d<\/p>\n

The flip side of this scenario finds the same data stream and a similar-sized fleet with the data delivered to someone who is more enlightened and understands that something has to happen next with that data, such as integrating it into their billing systems. One of the dangers of all this data is dealing with what might be viewed as an overabundant resource.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the task is how to filter and parse the data,\u201d notes Sethre. \u201cOkay, my super-smart system knows I need to deliver a toner cartridge or a service, or I know what to bill on this fleet and how to reconcile the last bill with this one because I have real-time information. It\u2019s interesting to think about these parallel uses. If it\u2019s falling into a black hole [because no one is acting on that data] versus somebody else who has a highly leveraged system and they\u2019re making money with exactly the same data.\u201d<\/p>\n

How do you prevent that data from falling into a black hole?<\/p>\n

\u201cYou add value on top of a good standard tool set,\u201d responds Sethre. \u201cUsing PrintFleet for example, it\u2019s a super tool set if it\u2019s properly implemented and leveraged; then it becomes a profit driver. Somebody else might be disappointed in that tool or any tool they put in because they\u2019re not using it in the same way. That leads to this discussion of commoditization.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which brings us back again to the subject of commoditization, which Sethre still isn\u2019t buying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis discussion around commoditization has taken several turns, which means some people really believe it. There are more high-quality standardized tools than a couple of years ago, but that\u2019s standardization not commoditization.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that there\u2019s a lot of variety in the market and a mix of who\u2019s using these tools and who isn\u2019t, both on the dealer and OEM side of the equation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can look at that high-value tool set and make 180-degree different decisions about the value of it to their business. They can be literally looking at the same data stream or tool set and being very entrepreneurial while others are trying to figure out if there\u2019s a business in this or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

One segment of the MPS business that Sethre emphasizes is far from commoditized is the upper end.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf somebody looks at the high-end of the market, what we call Stage 3 and Stage 4, that\u2019s easy, more services, more everything. I\u2019m fixated right now on the mainstream of MPS, Stage 1 and Stage 2, and I\u2019ll say that\u2019s not commoditized either. We\u2019re still in the early days of people effectively using all the resources available to them. You\u2019ve got to bring them in and you\u2019ve got to utilize them. That\u2019s the story as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

How many of thousands of dealers are out there that could be profiting from MPS?<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only \u00a0a small minority that have taken off on this,\u201d estimates Sethre. \u201cThere are a lot of dealers and geographies that are green fields and there\u2019s lots of room to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It looks like we\u2019re going to beat this dead horse a little longer or at least until there\u2019s nothing left to say on the subject. Last week I interviewed Rob Sethre of Photizo Group who disputes claims that MPS has become a commodity. Click here to read that article. This week Sethre is back with additional clarifications as to why MPS has yet to be commoditized. Not everyone agrees. See this week\u2019s Off the Record for another, albeit brief point of view. Sethre received a lot of feedback from last week\u2019s article, most positive while some was a misunderstanding of his logic. If you remember, he used the example of a PrintFleet server that is never used or is underutilized. \u201cIt\u2019s a tale of two data streams with that server in a corner somewhere delivering valuable data,\u201d explains Sethre. \u201cAnd you\u2019ve got the one case that I illustrated last week\u2014somebody who puts in a significant investment, but doesn\u2019t follow it to the logical end step of getting it properly implemented and executing on that data. That\u2019s the danger of underutilizing a valuable tool and that\u2019s where you get into so-called commoditization.\u201d The flip side of this scenario finds the same data stream and a similar-sized fleet with the data delivered to someone who is more enlightened and understands that something has to happen next with that data, such as integrating it into their billing systems. One of the dangers of all this data is dealing with what might be viewed as an overabundant resource. \u201cPart of the task is how to filter and parse the data,\u201d notes Sethre. \u201cOkay, my super-smart system knows I need to deliver a toner cartridge or a service, or I know what to bill on this fleet and how to reconcile the last bill with this one because I have real-time information. It\u2019s interesting to think about these parallel uses. If it\u2019s falling into a black hole [because no one is acting on that data] versus somebody else who has a highly leveraged system and they\u2019re making money with exactly the same data.\u201d How do you prevent that data from falling into a black hole? \u201cYou add value on top of a good standard tool set,\u201d responds Sethre. \u201cUsing PrintFleet for example, it\u2019s a super tool set if it\u2019s properly implemented and leveraged; then it becomes a profit driver. Somebody else might be disappointed in that tool or any tool they put in because they\u2019re not using it in the same way. That leads to this discussion of commoditization.\u201d Which brings us back again to the subject of commoditization, which Sethre still isn\u2019t buying. \u201cThis discussion around commoditization has taken several turns, which means some people really believe it. There are more high-quality standardized tools than a couple of years ago, but that\u2019s standardization not commoditization.\u201d He adds that there\u2019s a lot of variety in the market and a mix of who\u2019s using these tools and who isn\u2019t, both on the dealer and OEM side of the equation. \u201cThey can look at that high-value tool set and make 180-degree different decisions about the value of it to their business. They can be literally looking at the same data stream or tool set and being very entrepreneurial while others are trying to figure out if there\u2019s a business in this or not.\u201d One segment of the MPS business that Sethre emphasizes is far from commoditized is the upper end. \u201cIf somebody looks at the high-end of the market, what we call Stage 3 and Stage 4, that\u2019s easy, more services, more everything. I\u2019m fixated right now on the mainstream of MPS, Stage 1 and Stage 2, and I\u2019ll say that\u2019s not commoditized either. We\u2019re still in the early days of people effectively using all the resources available to them. You\u2019ve got to bring them in and you\u2019ve got to utilize them. That\u2019s the story as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u201d How many of thousands of dealers are out there that could be profiting from MPS? \u201cThere\u2019s only \u00a0a small minority that have taken off on this,\u201d estimates Sethre. \u201cThere are a lot of dealers and geographies that are green fields and there\u2019s lots of room to develop.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[427,2409,295,404],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3626"}],"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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3626"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4589,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3626\/revisions\/4589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}