![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ondrej-Krajicek.jpg\")
Ondrej Krajicek, Y Soft<\/p><\/div>\n
Ondrej Krajicek, chief technology strategist for Y Soft, believes artificial intelligence (AI) will play a significant role in increased productivity and security for print management. He feels AI will deliver significant boosts in user productivity by increasing the level of process automation, including the discovery of new business processes or the optimization of current ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cProcess discovery is kind of a holy grail of AI in business process and enterprise office workflows applications, because it will solve the ultimate challenge of automating business processes\u2014someone has to realize that there is a process to automate and create that automation,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, workflows are manually created and are a one-size-fits-all approach. With AI, the user data will suggest an optimized workflow or suggest a new workflow. And, those suggestions may be less structured, more ad hoc and take into account individual user\u2019s preferences fulfilling the purpose of the workflow at the same time. AI might also anticipate the needs of users, matching the right user experience at the right moment or dynamically change depending on the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
The M&A Mystique<\/strong><\/p>\n It comes as no surprise that the continued onslaught of M&A continues to dominate mindshare among industry professionals. Stiff competition from manufacturer branches, the demands of new technology and diversifying a dealer\u2019s product and service portfolio are many of the key triggers that are driving the movement, notes Nick Capparelli, managing director for LEAF Commercial Capital.<\/p>\n Nick Capparelli, LEAF Commercial Capital<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a trend toward increased demand for capital to support M&A and post-acquisition integration, facility updates, hiring, marketing, inventory management and so on,\u201d Capparelli observed.<\/p>\n \u201cIncreased M&A presents a number of challenges, including maintaining staff morale, changing capital structuring and managing customer sentiment in the face of shake-ups to relationships that have often spanned decades,\u201d he added. \u201cLarger dealers also have more leverage with manufacturers, increasing competitive pressure for them. Allied providers, such as equipment leasing and finance companies, will need not only to keep up with the needs of businesses as they consolidate, but to also anticipate and address the challenges these businesses will face as they diversify their offerings.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph Dellaposta, Doing Better Business<\/p><\/div>\n Joseph Dellaposta, owner and COO of Doing Better Business in Altoona, PA, predicts increased M&A movement from both the dealer and manufacturer standpoints. This will result in fewer players, with the remaining dealers getting larger.<\/p>\n \u201cThis could result in a more competitive market, or it could eliminate the low-cost provider mentality, since everyone will have overhead and shareholder\/investor profit expectations,\u201d he said. \u201cI think dealers should solidify their base as best as they can and keep their eyes and ears open for potential acquisitions and mergers.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill Melo, Toshiba<\/p><\/div>\n As organizations continue to change hands at the dealer level, what impact will it produce on the entire dealer ecosystem? Bill Melo, chief marketing executive for Toshiba, feels the aim of the acquisitions is to create a new type of reseller that can provide a variety of services for SMB clients.<\/p>\n \u201cWill this new model succeed? If so, can it move downstream from the well-capitalized, tier-one dealers that are blazing the trail to the majority of document solutions resellers that don\u2019t have the wealth of resources from which to draw?\u201d Melo posed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Darren Metz, Novatech<\/p><\/div>\n One of the key players in the M&A space is Nashville, TN-based Novatech. Darren Metz, CEO, believes its incumbent upon dealers to take a hard look in the mirror and decide whether they have the resources and firepower to compete, particularly in metro markets where consolidators and OEMs have a considerable presence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big thing is for the dealers to figure out how they\u2019re going to participate in this; are they going to be the last independent guy standing, or are they going to be a regional player consolidated themselves?\u201d he mused. \u201cAre they going to be a consolidator themselves? I think it\u2019s decision time for the dealer channel. I don\u2019t think that business as usual is going to be an option. The smaller dealer choosing the business-as-usual option is likely to find itself muscled out if it\u2019s in any sizeable market at all.\u201d<\/p>\n John Lowery, Along the same vein is the growth of venture capital investment in the industry. John Lowery, president of Applied Imaging in Grand Rapids, MI, notes the trend is to buy dealers, fuel growth and then flip the business.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the independent dealers, this adds opportunity and potentially more competition, but long-term, more opportunity for growth,\u201d Lowery said. \u201cThe impact to the industry will be the loss for some manufacturers\u2019 distribution. So, for the dealer, there could be an opportunity to go after the base they are trying to convert to another manufacturer. The focus for dealers should be to take advantage of strategic acquisitions to fuel growth and build necessary resources dealers need to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n Lowery adds that as a Ricoh dealer, the ability to buy the OEM\u2019s MIF and eliminate competitors has been good for both parties. \u201cRicoh is clearly out front on this trend, and we believe others will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n Value-Added Solutions<\/strong><\/p>\n Sammy Kinlaw, Lexmark<\/p><\/div>\n One of the most prevalent trends sees dealers educating themselves to create value-added \u201cbeyond-the-box\u201d solutions in the print space, according to Sammy Kinlaw, vice president, worldwide channel and OEM sales for Lexmark. \u201cThis could include serviceability, adding value such as cloud management for fleets and\/or continued emphasis on security in the print space,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will see new players selling print in 2019, and we will also see remaining players continue to become smarter. Smaller partners will begin to offer MPS.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Andy Slawetsky, Diversification is certainly a hot-button issue moving forward, notes Andy Slawetsky, president and owner of Industry Analysts. He points out that many dealers are evolving beyond the traditional copier\/MFP model into managed service providers.<\/p>\n The key here is offering a product or service that carries post-sale opportunities. \u201cDealers need to continue to look to add products and services that fit within their customer base,\u201d Slawetsky said. \u201cSimply put, what else can they sell to their customers that they can support?\u201d<\/p>\n Fred Carollo, Fred Carollo, vice president of Originations, Office Products for TIAA Bank, Vendor Equipment Finance, feels one area of particular interest lies in the continued movement toward selling Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS), along with the desire to have all-inclusive agreements to document these solutions (hardware, licenses, services and consumables).<\/p>\n \u201cDealers will need to address their capabilities and offerings to compete in the ever-evolving market and stay relevant,\u201d Carollo said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ray Fuentes, Edwards Business Systems<\/p><\/div>\n Indeed, many long-term changes to the industry will be driven by technology and client usage requirements, notes Ray Fuentes, president of Edwards Business Systems in Bethlehem, PA. Evidence of this can be found in industrial printing, with many manufacturers either making an initial foray or additional investments in their existing technologies.<\/p>\n \u201cIn addition, label-making equipment and wide-format are going to become additional areas of opportunity for our industry, along with color production,\u201d Fuentes remarked. \u201cWe also see greater interest and growth in MPS as well as various software solutions.\u00a0IT services, security and VoIP are additional areas of opportunity for recurring revenue.\u00a0I believe AI will have a place for opportunity in our industry as well, and some of the companies being purchased by the manufacturers, or who they have partnered with, will bring that technology to our industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Security Concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n Hiro Imamura, Canon<\/p><\/div>\n Digital security continues to move up the hierarchy chart of concerns for dealers and end users, according to Hiro Imamura, senior vice president and general manager, Business Imaging Solutions Group, Canon U.S.A. He points out there is a strong market for MFPs and other equipment that incorporates digital security protocols due to the high volume of sensitive information that is shared on\u2014and processed through\u2014office devices.<\/p>\n \u201cFeatures like user authentication and user tracking are critical to keeping business information secure, especially in the current workflow process that often spans multiple connected devices,\u201d he said. \u201cThese modern security needs help inform features and optimizations for Canon\u2019s leading imageRUNNER ADVANCE system and supporting uniFLOW device management platform, and will continue to be a priority for future editions of office solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Tracey Mustacchio, Nuance<\/p><\/div>\n Tracey Mustacchio, vice president of product and marketing at Nuance Document Imaging, notes that given the inevitability of security breaches, there is now a focus beyond preventing breaches to addressing content after they occur. The key is understanding exactly when and what content may have been exposed, and following up with a swift and appropriate response.<\/p>\n \u201c(The) spend on securing data will continue to increase, but will expand from securing data in repositories (at rest) to include documents moving to and from those sources (in motion),\u201d she said. \u201cPrint and capture are examples of unprotected vulnerabilities today in many organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n SMB Versus Enterprise<\/strong><\/p>\n Kevin Morris, OneDOC<\/p><\/div>\n The doom and gloom associated with dwindling page volumes is a well-documented trend, but this isn\u2019t a cloud that can be found in all skies. Kevin Morris, president and CEO of OneDOC MPS of Oklahoma City, continues to see a veritable green field of opportunities for MPS growth. Morris\u2019 sales force continues to reach out to businesses in the SMB sector that have not been queried, though he has little doubt the declining volume phenomenon is prevalent with enterprise accounts, a field in which OneDOC is not a player.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies that we contact who have been through this before were really only sold service and supply rates to include with their printers and copiers,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was no managed print going on in those accounts, anyway. So we still see a lot of opportunity in that space. That being said, we\u2019re not silly enough to think it will be that way forever. We, like a lot of other companies, have looked at things to add onto our business. Also, for the first time ever, we have the opportunity to do a seat-based billing program and it is finally starting to come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael George, Continuum<\/p><\/div>\n On the subject of MSPs, Michael George\u2014CEO of managed IT services platform provider Continuum\u2014adheres to the Pareto Principle that suggests 80 percent of the wealth is dominated by 20 percent of the market. He further believes market forces have created the perfect storm for this imbalance to take hold in the managed services marketplace, and by 2020, 8,000 of 40,000 MSPs in the nation will dominate most of the available revenue.<\/p>\n Citing CompTIA reporting, one of the market forces is a reduction in the workforce of up to 40 percent due to retirement, which could impact business leadership scenarios where there are no successors in place, thus stifling growth. The second is mass-market consolidation via M&A, with industry consolidators and private equity firms snapping up MSPs. George believes this will result in smaller players, facing increasingly challenging environments, who are unable to exist as their competition grows in size and strength.<\/p>\n \u201cTo prepare for these first two market forces, providers must reduce their reliance on increasingly scarce labor and focus instead on delivering valuable services to clients, efficiently,\u201d George said. \u201cAnd, to compete in a consolidating marketplace, business owners should be taking a close and urgent look at their exit plan, whether through merger, acquisition or scale.<\/p>\n \u201cFinally, the dominance of large-scale MSPs in the major metropolitan areas across five key verticals will make it difficult for smaller providers to compete. Unless they are established dominant players, providers should look at focusing on geographies outside the 107 metropolitan areas in the United States or the five verticals (financial services, health care, construction, non-profit and legal) to stand a chance of succeeding.\u201d<\/p>\n Dealer-OEM Relationships<\/strong><\/p>\n Mike Marusic, Sharp<\/p><\/div>\n Mike Marusic, president and CEO of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, maintains that customers will continue to ask their suppliers to provide more services and support, expanding past traditional relationships.<\/p>\n \u201cCompanies will not only be looking at ways to leverage the data they have in institutional knowledge, but also how they can use the data on their technology use to better service their customers and be more efficient and productive,\u201d he said. \u201cEnd users will be looking for deeper relationships with their suppliers to expand past their normal goods and services in order to leverage this data in new ways. Copier dealers are perfectly positioned at the intersection of managing costs, information sharing and onsite support to expand how they provide value to their customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Alternative Billing<\/strong><\/p>\n Christian Pepper, While the concept of a seat-based billing model has a burgeoning following, buoyed by BEI Services, the SBB Roadshow and other proponents (including Konica Minolta\u2019s One Rate MPS program for directs), some are skeptical of its widespread adoption. Christian Pepper, president of LD Products\u2019 Channel Partner Division, fancies himself as an agent of change, but questions whether a majority of dealers would convert existing per-page billing fleets to a fixed-income model.<\/p>\n Pepper added that given it took sales reps a decade to learn and develop the \u201cmuscle memory\u201d for selling MPS, and have amassed large volumes of customers under these programs, converting to alternative billing could be problematic.<\/p>\n \u201cKonica Minolta can offer it because they started from zero in MPS less than two years ago and needed something that was easy for their reps to sell, and a major differentiator,\u201d he said. \u201cThe independent dealers I know who have experimented with it have not been able to sell many, if any, contracts, and few like the idea of putting a cap on revenue and leaving costs variable.\u00a0I am going to watch more closely, but my prediction is it isn\u2019t going to go mainstream and take over from MPS anytime soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Production Print<\/strong><\/p>\n Pete Peterson, Xerox<\/p><\/div>\n Of the many areas for dealers to diversify, one sector that has had a polarizing impact on attitudes is production printing devices. Pete Peterson, president of Xerox Channels, is seeing more resellers expand into the production print market to sell higher-end devices.<\/p>\n \u201cThe great news is that selling these devices doesn\u2019t have to be complex,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the right tools and vendor support\/training, resellers can adapt their selling techniques to become successful in this space. Expanding technology offerings allows resellers to make a greater per-sale profit while helping clients successfully address their business requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n The A4 Migration<\/strong><\/p>\n Ray Belanger, Bay Copy<\/p><\/div>\n With continuing technological improvement and dwindling print volumes, Ray Belanger\u2014president of Bay Copy in Rockland, MA\u2014sees a continued movement toward A4 printer-centric devices. Belanger maintains that it will be increasingly difficult to support a sales force on a commission model that emphasizes hardware sales and equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cThere just won\u2019t be enough margin to keep high achievers interested,\u201d he noted. \u201cI believe more organizations will be moving to models that incent aftermarket profit growth, penetration of larger customers and retention of profitable customers.\u00a0Driving business towards MPS and managed services models helps clients manage resources. This means selling equipment bundled with software tools and services together in a simplified program.\u201d<\/p>\n Chinese Tariffs<\/strong><\/p>\n The raging tariff war between the Trump Administration and the Chinese government saw something of a cease-fire in late November with a 90-day moratorium on planned increases. As the two governments continue to negotiate, it does little to mitigate the concerns that tariffs could have on the prices for Chinese-imported supplies critical to our industry.<\/p>\n Tyson Stargel, Stargel Office Systems<\/p><\/div>\n Tyson Stargel, vice president of Houston-based Stargel Office Solutions, fears the tariffs could cause back orders and price increases on copier-related products manufactured in China. \u201cI think it\u2019s too early to understand the impact, but asking your OEMs what they know is a good idea,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Now that the last crumbs of fruitcake have been devoured and there isn\u2019t a trace of egg nog to be found in the cafeteria refrigerator, it\u2019s time to dust off the old crystal ball and take a look at what 2019 has to offer. It\u2019s safe to say that M&A left a significant handprint on the previous year, and that consolidation will once again cause the market of independent dealers to shrink. And there is ample evidence to suggest that manufacturers, suppliers and other players within our little world will find there is strength in uniting under one flag. Most folks have returned from vacation and are ready to begin conquering whatever challenges 2019 has in store for them. To get your year off to an informative start, we\u2019ve collected a rather large sampling of industry heavyweights throughout the office technology and imaging universe to share their views on what we can expect from the New Year. Not all of the following opinions are bright and cheery, but like a traffic report, hopefully these pundits can help you steer clear of potential jams while providing a quicker access route to your destination\u2014the ongoing road to success. May your 2019 journey be a safe and profitable one. Ondrej Krajicek, chief technology strategist for Y Soft, believes artificial intelligence (AI) will play a significant role in increased productivity and security for print management. He feels AI will deliver significant boosts in user productivity by increasing the level of process automation, including the discovery of new business processes or the optimization of current ones. \u201cProcess discovery is kind of a holy grail of AI in business process and enterprise office workflows applications, because it will solve the ultimate challenge of automating business processes\u2014someone has to realize that there is a process to automate and create that automation,\u201d he said. \u201cToday, workflows are manually created and are a one-size-fits-all approach. With AI, the user data will suggest an optimized workflow or suggest a new workflow. And, those suggestions may be less structured, more ad hoc and take into account individual user\u2019s preferences fulfilling the purpose of the workflow at the same time. AI might also anticipate the needs of users, matching the right user experience at the right moment or dynamically change depending on the circumstances.\u201d The M&A Mystique It comes as no surprise that the continued onslaught of M&A continues to dominate mindshare among industry professionals. Stiff competition from manufacturer branches, the demands of new technology and diversifying a dealer\u2019s product and service portfolio are many of the key triggers that are driving the movement, notes Nick Capparelli, managing director for LEAF Commercial Capital. \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a trend toward increased demand for capital to support M&A and post-acquisition integration, facility updates, hiring, marketing, inventory management and so on,\u201d Capparelli observed. \u201cIncreased M&A presents a number of challenges, including maintaining staff morale, changing capital structuring and managing customer sentiment in the face of shake-ups to relationships that have often spanned decades,\u201d he added. \u201cLarger dealers also have more leverage with manufacturers, increasing competitive pressure for them. Allied providers, such as equipment leasing and finance companies, will need not only to keep up with the needs of businesses as they consolidate, but to also anticipate and address the challenges these businesses will face as they diversify their offerings.\u201d Joseph Dellaposta, owner and COO of Doing Better Business in Altoona, PA, predicts increased M&A movement from both the dealer and manufacturer standpoints. This will result in fewer players, with the remaining dealers getting larger. \u201cThis could result in a more competitive market, or it could eliminate the low-cost provider mentality, since everyone will have overhead and shareholder\/investor profit expectations,\u201d he said. \u201cI think dealers should solidify their base as best as they can and keep their eyes and ears open for potential acquisitions and mergers.\u201d As organizations continue to change hands at the dealer level, what impact will it produce on the entire dealer ecosystem? Bill Melo, chief marketing executive for Toshiba, feels the aim of the acquisitions is to create a new type of reseller that can provide a variety of services for SMB clients. \u201cWill this new model succeed? If so, can it move downstream from the well-capitalized, tier-one dealers that are blazing the trail to the majority of document solutions resellers that don\u2019t have the wealth of resources from which to draw?\u201d Melo posed. One of the key players in the M&A space is Nashville, TN-based Novatech. Darren Metz, CEO, believes its incumbent upon dealers to take a hard look in the mirror and decide whether they have the resources and firepower to compete, particularly in metro markets where consolidators and OEMs have a considerable presence. \u201cThe big thing is for the dealers to figure out how they\u2019re going to participate in this; are they going to be the last independent guy standing, or are they going to be a regional player consolidated themselves?\u201d he mused. \u201cAre they going to be a consolidator themselves? I think it\u2019s decision time for the dealer channel. I don\u2019t think that business as usual is going to be an option. The smaller dealer choosing the business-as-usual option is likely to find itself muscled out if it\u2019s in any sizeable market at all.\u201d Along the same vein is the growth of venture capital investment in the industry. John Lowery, president of Applied Imaging in Grand Rapids, MI, notes the trend is to buy dealers, fuel growth and then flip the business. \u201cFor the independent dealers, this adds opportunity and potentially more competition, but long-term, more opportunity for growth,\u201d Lowery said. \u201cThe impact to the industry will be the loss for some manufacturers\u2019 distribution. So, for the dealer, there could be an opportunity to go after the base they are trying to convert to another manufacturer. The focus for dealers should be to take advantage of strategic acquisitions to fuel growth and build necessary resources dealers need to compete.\u201d Lowery adds that as a Ricoh dealer, the ability […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32403"}],"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\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32403"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32412,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32403\/revisions\/32412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Nick-Capparelli.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Joe-Dellaposta.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Bill-Melo.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Darren-Metz.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/John-Lowery.jpg\")
Applied Imaging<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Sammy-Kinlaw.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Andy-Slawetsky.jpg\")
Industry Analysts<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Fred-Carollo.jpg\")
TIAA Bank<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ray-Fuentes.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Hiro-Imamura.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Tracey-Mustacchio.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Kevin-Morris.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Michael-George.jpg\")
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Christian-Pepper.jpg\")
LD Products<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Pete-Peterson.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ray-Belanger.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Tyson-Stargel.jpg\")