{"id":1487,"date":"2011-12-15T14:02:22","date_gmt":"2011-12-15T14:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theweekinimaging.com\/?p=1487"},"modified":"2011-12-15T14:02:22","modified_gmt":"2011-12-15T14:02:22","slug":"agiliant-helps-dealers-transition-into-managed-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/feature-articles\/2011\/12\/agiliant-helps-dealers-transition-into-managed-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Agiliant Helps Dealers Transition into Managed Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It\u2019s difficult enough for office technology dealers to successfully transition into managed print services, but once you add network and IT services to the mix, that combination has the potential to be lethal to a dealer\u2019s existing business. However, even more lethal is not<\/em> transitioning into services. That\u2019s one of the reasons why Gary Stevens launched Agiliant, a master managed services organization based in Kirkland, Washington.<\/p>\n

The heart of soul of the Agiliant offering is the MITOS (Managed Information Technology & Output Services) suite of managed services that enables organizations to manage all aspects of their IT systems, assets, and operations. MITOS integrates managed network services and managed print services, what Stevens describes as two traditionally disparate business disciplines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the official rollout of Agiliant is currently underway, the company has been working with a network of dealer affiliates since early January even though they\u2019ve been laying the foundation for the program long before that. The Agiliant Affiliate network is a community of regional managed services providers (right now BTA dealers). What dealers in the Agiliant Affiliate network receive from Agiliant is a partner who created a template that allows them to get into the managed network services and MPS game with minimal pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking dealers to a business model that they all have to go to at some point in time,\u201d says Stevens, Agiliant\u2019s president and CEO.<\/p>\n

Prior to contacting dealers for the Agiliant Affiliate network Stevens and company spent three years researching and working behind the scenes with MPS and networking companies to learn how to put together a viable business and services model that could be customized for the dealer channel. The key was gaining an understanding the network services business, concentrating on how they go to market, where the value proposition is, and aligning it with an MPS strategy.<\/p>\n

Once they realized this was a viable offering it was a matter of testing the waters by approaching dealers with this concept even though the program was not yet fully formulated. The key question Stevens posed to dealers was, \u201cDo you agree this is a change or die conversation?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they agreed it was change or die, we asked if they wanted to become part of a foundation of affiliates,\u201d reports Stevens. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The key when looking for the original affiliates was to have the right partners. In any given market, he focused on the top three dealers\u2014those with minimum revenues of about $10 million. Stevens concedes that there were quite a few dealers that didn\u2019t get what he was doing or have an understanding of where the market is going.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, there were dealers out there who didn\u2019t see the need to change or frankly couldn\u2019t change.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of January 2011, Agiliant had five dealer affiliates who have been marketing MITOS ever since. Coincidentally, two of those are The Week in Imaging <\/em>2011 Elite Dealers, DPOE in Chicago and Kelley\u2019s in Seattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got lucky and acquired some pretty good partners,\u201d says Stevens.<\/p>\n

To date Stevens has been careful about affiliate expansion, ensuring that the program was all he hoped it would be. As luck would have it, it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are exactly where we want to be in 2011,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cWe\u2019re supporting the whole sales process so that\u2019s it is scalable and less about the rep and more about the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked which component of MITOS are dealers most interested in Stevens replies, \u201cSurvival. It\u2019s the integration of network services and MPS together and that\u2019s what we call MITOS, managed IT and output services\u2014the integration of those two together and being able to go to the customer with one value proposition at the C-level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stevens has spoken with plenty of dealers who are finding it difficult to add new customers in an increasingly commoditized marketplace where everybody is is talking about the same thing and there is little differentiation. Plus it\u2019s still difficult for most dealers and sales reps to get in front of the right decision makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo CEO or CFO is going to pick up a phone call about on ramps and off ramps on the network or output and scanning devices because you can cut their costs,\u201d contends Stevens. \u201cThat conversation is widely pushed down multiple levels within an organization and becomes almost a procurement conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The focus is on the network and auditing that network as well as providing backup and security and ensuring that everything is operational, avoiding issues that could potentially cripple a business or put them out of business.<\/p>\n

Stevens has found is that most dealers who get what he\u2019s doing are extremely interested in learning how to get in front of the customer, what they should be presenting to that customer, and how to explain the value proposition. That\u2019s what Agiliant brings to the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoup to nuts is a lot of what we provide,\u201d says Stevens.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like dealers, including some of Agiliant\u2019s affiliates, haven\u2019t delved into network services before. Some have even acquired network services companies. The problem is they haven\u2019t quite figured out how to integrate them into their business model as well as leverage network services with managed print.<\/p>\n

For the average dealer there are two options for transitioning into a services model that combines network services and MPS.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s only two choices, you hire Agiliant or you build it on your own,\u201d states Stevens.<\/p>\n

Building it on one\u2019s own is not an option for most dealers and even if it is, it\u2019s not easy, and it\u2019s certainly not quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of our partners who just joined us had a network services offering for 4\u00bd years and it\u2019s cost him $1.8 million to date just to get it off the ground and it\u2019s not that successful,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cOne of the reasons they joined us was to take it to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that those dealers who decide to build it on their own can count on a 2-3 year time frame and an investment in the mid seven figures to get it off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd most dealers haven\u2019t even launched MPS successfully,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

What does Agiliant do to ensure dealers are on the right path to success and survival once they start working with Agiliant versus what they were doing before when they were stumbling and fumbling?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a super solid go-to-market strategy that\u2019s been tested in front of hundreds of clients,\u201d responds Stevens. \u201cThe first thing a dealer has to do is get it to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Agiliant dealers don\u2019t have to do it alone. They are vested in the dealer\u2019s success and proactive in ensuring that the dealer is sticking to what Stevens feels is a proven program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe help them be successful and they pay us well to help them do this, but we have to constantly remind them that this is a change,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cWe are in their face, \u2018These are the things you need to do\u2019 and it\u2019s tough sometimes because it\u2019s their business.<\/p>\n

When they\u2019re not executing well, Stevens is on the phone with the principle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re connected to every part of their organization whether it\u2019s operationally, service wise or on the sales side. We\u2019re not hand holding or showing them the path, we\u2019re dragging them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agiliant is involved in every sales presentation, albeit remotely. That approach benefits both Agiliant and the dealership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what happened on the presentation, if it was a good customer and if the sales re followed the presentation we laid out,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cIf they don\u2019t my VP of sales is on the phone with their VP of sales and saying, \u2018Joe Blow isn\u2019t following the sales process that we\u2019ve proven to be successful.\u2019 If their VP of sales doesn\u2019t react or change, I\u2019ll go to the principle and say, \u2018You\u2019re paying me a lot of money, here\u2019s what\u2019s going on below and where you need to focus.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another area that Agiliant can help a dealership is with their bottom line. They can provide a financial comparative analysis on every aspect of the dealer\u2019s business, identifying where the dealer is are compared to others and what they need to do improve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not just trying to help them change their business to a services offering we\u2019re helping them improve their business,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cWhat we found in this channel is most dealers do not run a real well-oiled sales machine. They may think they do, but they don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Agiliant will review the dealer\u2019s sales and services operations, identifying the waste and if they have reps where they shouldn\u2019t be. They were able to improve one affiliate\u2019s service operational issues by five cents on the dollar, which amounted to a half a million dollars in savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s multiple times more than what we charge,\u201d says Stevens.<\/p>\n

All affiliates receive in the Agiliant base package\u2014a go-to-market strategy that can help place them in front of the C-level executives, that in many cases they\u2019ve never been in front of before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is almost a utility model to get into a different business model that if you didn\u2019t have you\u2019d have to hire staff,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cIf they agree to make the change, we\u2019ll show them what kind of infrastructure they\u2019d have to put in place to make that change, and frankly we cost a fraction of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now Agiliant is focusing on BTA dealers but will be integrating some VARs into the model that fit their criteria because in certain markets where there\u2019s not a good choice for them on the BTA side.<\/p>\n

Although a dealer with revenues of more than $10 million is the target affiliate, Stevens has one affiliate that is smaller than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother criteria is they\u2019re profitable because we want a viable dealer,\u201d he says. \u201cWe want that forward thinking entrepreneur who will drive this.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point he doesn\u2019t see any competitors to what he\u2019s doing. He cites All Covered, the managed networked services company acquired by Konica Minolta earlier this year, but to date Konica Minolta hasn\u2019t combined the MPS part of their business with the network services side even though they expect each portion of the company to drive business in the other\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to access an account base, but they\u2019re not at this point to market with one value prop,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cI don\u2019t see any viable competition right now and I think we\u2019re a couple of years away from anyone really giving any of our affiliates a run for their money. At that point we\u2019re going to be in another 50 markets across the U.S. and it\u2019s going to be hard to stop us.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the Affiliate Network poised for growth we asked Stevens how is he measuring Agiliant\u2019s success so far?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe measure our success on how successful we make the dealerships on the conversion standpoint and how often we can get them in front of a customer and convert it to revenue. Secondly, how much operational improvement can we show the dealership. Making our affiliates as successful as possible is our success metric.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead to the coming year, Agiliant is focusing on the top 24 markets in the U.S. The intent is to add two new affiliates a month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have no desire to scale more than two a month due to the work we have to do to get the dealerships ready, on board, and successful,\u201d he says. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In the short term expect to hear some big news in the next 60 days. Although Stevens is short on specifics, look for announcements related to new additions to the affiliate network as well as strategic partnerships. \u00a0<\/p>\n

(Editor\u2019s note: If you are interested in learning more about Agiliant, check out <\/em>www.agiliant.com<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s difficult enough for office technology dealers to successfully transition into managed print services, but once you add network and IT services to the mix, that combination has the potential to be lethal to a dealer\u2019s existing business. However, even more lethal is not transitioning into services. That\u2019s one of the reasons why Gary Stevens launched Agiliant, a master managed services organization based in Kirkland, Washington. The heart of soul of the Agiliant offering is the MITOS (Managed Information Technology & Output Services) suite of managed services that enables organizations to manage all aspects of their IT systems, assets, and operations. MITOS integrates managed network services and managed print services, what Stevens describes as two traditionally disparate business disciplines.\u00a0 While the official rollout of Agiliant is currently underway, the company has been working with a network of dealer affiliates since early January even though they\u2019ve been laying the foundation for the program long before that. The Agiliant Affiliate network is a community of regional managed services providers (right now BTA dealers). What dealers in the Agiliant Affiliate network receive from Agiliant is a partner who created a template that allows them to get into the managed network services and MPS game with minimal pain.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re taking dealers to a business model that they all have to go to at some point in time,\u201d says Stevens, Agiliant\u2019s president and CEO. Prior to contacting dealers for the Agiliant Affiliate network Stevens and company spent three years researching and working behind the scenes with MPS and networking companies to learn how to put together a viable business and services model that could be customized for the dealer channel. The key was gaining an understanding the network services business, concentrating on how they go to market, where the value proposition is, and aligning it with an MPS strategy. Once they realized this was a viable offering it was a matter of testing the waters by approaching dealers with this concept even though the program was not yet fully formulated. The key question Stevens posed to dealers was, \u201cDo you agree this is a change or die conversation?\u201d \u201cOnce they agreed it was change or die, we asked if they wanted to become part of a foundation of affiliates,\u201d reports Stevens. \u00a0 The key when looking for the original affiliates was to have the right partners. In any given market, he focused on the top three dealers\u2014those with minimum revenues of about $10 million. Stevens concedes that there were quite a few dealers that didn\u2019t get what he was doing or have an understanding of where the market is going. \u201cFrankly, there were dealers out there who didn\u2019t see the need to change or frankly couldn\u2019t change.\u201d By the end of January 2011, Agiliant had five dealer affiliates who have been marketing MITOS ever since. Coincidentally, two of those are The Week in Imaging 2011 Elite Dealers, DPOE in Chicago and Kelley\u2019s in Seattle. \u201cI got lucky and acquired some pretty good partners,\u201d says Stevens. To date Stevens has been careful about affiliate expansion, ensuring that the program was all he hoped it would be. As luck would have it, it is. \u201cWe are exactly where we want to be in 2011,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cWe\u2019re supporting the whole sales process so that\u2019s it is scalable and less about the rep and more about the process.\u201d Asked which component of MITOS are dealers most interested in Stevens replies, \u201cSurvival. It\u2019s the integration of network services and MPS together and that\u2019s what we call MITOS, managed IT and output services\u2014the integration of those two together and being able to go to the customer with one value proposition at the C-level.\u201d Stevens has spoken with plenty of dealers who are finding it difficult to add new customers in an increasingly commoditized marketplace where everybody is is talking about the same thing and there is little differentiation. Plus it\u2019s still difficult for most dealers and sales reps to get in front of the right decision makers. \u201cNo CEO or CFO is going to pick up a phone call about on ramps and off ramps on the network or output and scanning devices because you can cut their costs,\u201d contends Stevens. \u201cThat conversation is widely pushed down multiple levels within an organization and becomes almost a procurement conversation.\u201d The focus is on the network and auditing that network as well as providing backup and security and ensuring that everything is operational, avoiding issues that could potentially cripple a business or put them out of business. Stevens has found is that most dealers who get what he\u2019s doing are extremely interested in learning how to get in front of the customer, what they should be presenting to that customer, and how to explain the value proposition. That\u2019s what Agiliant brings to the table. \u201cSoup to nuts is a lot of what we provide,\u201d says Stevens. It\u2019s not like dealers, including some of Agiliant\u2019s affiliates, haven\u2019t delved into network services before. Some have even acquired network services companies. The problem is they haven\u2019t quite figured out how to integrate them into their business model as well as leverage network services with managed print. For the average dealer there are two options for transitioning into a services model that combines network services and MPS. \u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s only two choices, you hire Agiliant or you build it on your own,\u201d states Stevens. Building it on one\u2019s own is not an option for most dealers and even if it is, it\u2019s not easy, and it\u2019s certainly not quick. \u201cOne of our partners who just joined us had a network services offering for 4\u00bd years and it\u2019s cost him $1.8 million to date just to get it off the ground and it\u2019s not that successful,\u201d says Stevens. \u201cOne of the reasons they joined us was to take it to the next level.\u201d He adds that those dealers who decide to build it on their own can count on a 2-3 year time frame and an investment in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[82],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}