{"id":43501,"date":"2021-01-21T13:02:36","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T21:02:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=43501"},"modified":"2021-01-21T13:02:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T21:02:38","slug":"making-most-of-clouded-future-charting-the-great-unknown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2021\/01\/making-most-of-clouded-future-charting-the-great-unknown\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Most of Clouded Future: Charting the Great Unknown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our collective vocabulary saw something of a boost in 2020, as did the office dealer\u2019s product portfolio. Outside of the health care world, few people were familiar with the term personal protective equipment. Face masks were for professionals and the ill. And hand sanitizer\u2019s place was in the pharmacy\/grocery store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raise your hand if you knew temperature-scanning devices would become all the rage. If you did, perhaps you would be better off playing the stock market as opposed to selling office technology. Just kidding\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Difficult as it may be to handicap the future needs of the end-user community, it can be a fun exercise. And as part of this month\u2019s State of the Industry focus on trends and predictions, we offer up a personal favorite: the \u201csleeper\u201d trends of 2021. Our panel of industry experts share their thoughts on what could be the significant movements of the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brad Cates, Prosource<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brad Cates, president and CEO of Prosource, believes technology will drive processes and prompt dealers to guide end-users in how they can maximize their benefits. \u201cAdvanced technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are opportunities we need to be considering for the longer term, both in how we implement them in our own businesses and how we help customers leverage these technologies to improve their business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Office-Focused Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mike Marusic, Sharp<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While diversification is on the minds of many, Sharp President and CEO Mike Marusic underscores the importance of ensuring that dealers don\u2019t stray too far outside of the office, but rather focus on the tools that can improve it. Sharp\u2019s Windows collaboration display, for example, was developed to augment the Microsoft Teams user experience, an area already embraced by countless office workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will certainly see some more long-term effects of product diversification as manufacturers and dealers look to help customers maximize their existing home and office tech investments,\u201d Marusic added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ray Belanger, Bay Copy<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the trend of work from home continues to dominate, Ray Belanger\u2014president and CEO of Bay Copy\u2014believes it may produce a faster acceleration away from traditional A3 devices. While a trend in progress, the quickening acceleration for A4 products is something he feels is worth closely monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also wonders what impact it could have on service contracts. \u201cThere is also the likelihood that the smaller companies who use our services, many of whom have been hard hit by COVID lockdowns and the resulting economic fallout, may move away from the traditional all-inclusive service contracts in favor of the break-and-fix model,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Echoing Belanger\u2019s sentiments is Brent Martin, director of marketing for ARLINGTON. Martin feels the long-term ramifications of work from home will be reflected in how many companies move forward with print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Brent Martin, ARLINGTON<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDocument solutions will likely overtake conventional printer networks and more companies will reduce corporate office space for more affordable, minimal office environments with increased remote workers,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only will businesses see the efficiency and savings from this practice but also more young professionals will pursue positions that provide this flexibility and convenience moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing IT Needs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Doug Albregts, Marco<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Marco President Doug Albregts believes security threats, in tandem with increasingly complex IT environments, will prompt more SMBs to outsource their IT needs. This is another example of pandemic acceleration at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cWhether co-managed or fully managed, this is something that is happening at a much faster rate than we\u2019ve seen in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is becoming much more complicated for even small organizations to navigate and manage. The changes are rampant. SMBs benefit from having a trusted partner that can help them continue to assess, implement and manage their technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jim Coriddi, Ricoh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jim Coriddi, vice president, Dealer Division for Ricoh Americas, believes production print has quietly made inroads in unexpected areas. He notes that high-quality production print technology\u2014which has become increasingly affordable and highly intuitive in recent years\u2014is becoming a more attractive option for dealers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOrganizations \u2013 even relatively small ones \u2013 are looking to drive efficiencies and bringing tasks in-house with production capabilities implemented or even managed by a trusted dealer partner can help organizations lower costs and become more self-sufficient,\u201d Coriddi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Chip Miceli, Pulse Technology<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also safe to say that the pandemic has and will continue to play a role in the triggering of more mergers and acquisitions going forward. Chip Miceli, president and CEO of Pulse Technology, believes that many of the smaller companies that suffered throughout the period will be looking for an exit. \u201cWe hate to see any company feel forced to sell under adverse conditions, but a silver lining for them is that there are companies looking to add talent to their workforce,\u201d Miceli said. \u201cEmployees who have been furloughed or laid off may be welcome additions to the larger companies who are looking. Also, there are opportunities for companies seeking to expand their markets through acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our collective vocabulary saw something of a boost in 2020, as did the office dealer\u2019s product portfolio. Outside of the health care world, few people were familiar with the term personal protective equipment. Face masks were for professionals and the ill. And hand sanitizer\u2019s place was in the pharmacy\/grocery store. Raise your hand if you knew temperature-scanning devices would become all the rage. If you did, perhaps you would be better off playing the stock market as opposed to selling office technology. Just kidding\u2026 Difficult as it may be to handicap the future needs of the end-user community, it can be a fun exercise. And as part of this month\u2019s State of the Industry focus on trends and predictions, we offer up a personal favorite: the \u201csleeper\u201d trends of 2021. Our panel of industry experts share their thoughts on what could be the significant movements of the not-too-distant future. Brad Cates, president and CEO of Prosource, believes technology will drive processes and prompt dealers to guide end-users in how they can maximize their benefits. \u201cAdvanced technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are opportunities we need to be considering for the longer term, both in how we implement them in our own businesses and how we help customers leverage these technologies to improve their business,\u201d he said. Office-Focused Approach While diversification is on the minds of many, Sharp President and CEO Mike Marusic underscores the importance of ensuring that dealers don\u2019t stray too far outside of the office, but rather focus on the tools that can improve it. Sharp\u2019s Windows collaboration display, for example, was developed to augment the Microsoft Teams user experience, an area already embraced by countless office workers. \u201cWe will certainly see some more long-term effects of product diversification as manufacturers and dealers look to help customers maximize their existing home and office tech investments,\u201d Marusic added. As the trend of work from home continues to dominate, Ray Belanger\u2014president and CEO of Bay Copy\u2014believes it may produce a faster acceleration away from traditional A3 devices. While a trend in progress, the quickening acceleration for A4 products is something he feels is worth closely monitoring. He also wonders what impact it could have on service contracts. \u201cThere is also the likelihood that the smaller companies who use our services, many of whom have been hard hit by COVID lockdowns and the resulting economic fallout, may move away from the traditional all-inclusive service contracts in favor of the break-and-fix model,\u201d he said. Echoing Belanger\u2019s sentiments is Brent Martin, director of marketing for ARLINGTON. Martin feels the long-term ramifications of work from home will be reflected in how many companies move forward with print. \u201cDocument solutions will likely overtake conventional printer networks and more companies will reduce corporate office space for more affordable, minimal office environments with increased remote workers,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only will businesses see the efficiency and savings from this practice but also more young professionals will pursue positions that provide this flexibility and convenience moving forward.\u201d Addressing IT Needs Marco President Doug Albregts believes security threats, in tandem with increasingly complex IT environments, will prompt more SMBs to outsource their IT needs. This is another example of pandemic acceleration at work.  \u201cWhether co-managed or fully managed, this is something that is happening at a much faster rate than we\u2019ve seen in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is becoming much more complicated for even small organizations to navigate and manage. The changes are rampant. SMBs benefit from having a trusted partner that can help them continue to assess, implement and manage their technology.\u201d Jim Coriddi, vice president, Dealer Division for Ricoh Americas, believes production print has quietly made inroads in unexpected areas. He notes that high-quality production print technology\u2014which has become increasingly affordable and highly intuitive in recent years\u2014is becoming a more attractive option for dealers. \u201cOrganizations \u2013 even relatively small ones \u2013 are looking to drive efficiencies and bringing tasks in-house with production capabilities implemented or even managed by a trusted dealer partner can help organizations lower costs and become more self-sufficient,\u201d Coriddi said. It\u2019s also safe to say that the pandemic has and will continue to play a role in the triggering of more mergers and acquisitions going forward. Chip Miceli, president and CEO of Pulse Technology, believes that many of the smaller companies that suffered throughout the period will be looking for an exit. \u201cWe hate to see any company feel forced to sell under adverse conditions, but a silver lining for them is that there are companies looking to add talent to their workforce,\u201d Miceli said. \u201cEmployees who have been furloughed or laid off may be welcome additions to the larger companies who are looking. Also, there are opportunities for companies seeking to expand their markets through acquisition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":43502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[545,2265,312,1975],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501"}],"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=43501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43503,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43501\/revisions\/43503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}