Copyright Quocirca © 2012 Louella Fernandes Quocirca Ltd Tel : +44 07786 331924 Email:
Louella.Fernandes@Quocirca.com
Clive Longbottom Quocirca Ltd Tel : +44 118 948 3360 ext 200 Email:Clive.Longbottom@Quocirca.com
Channel Managed Print Services
A review of European MPS programmes
November 2012
REPORT NOTE:
This report has been written independently by Quocirca Ltd. Quocirca has obtained information from multiple sources in putting together this analysis. Although Quocirca has taken what steps it can to ensure that the information provided in this report is true and reflects real market conditions, Quocirca cannot take any responsibility for the ultimate reliability of the details presented. Therefore, Quocirca expressly disclaims all warranties and claims as to the validity of the data presented here, including any and all consequential losses incurredby any organisation or individual taking any action based on such data.
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Channel Managed Print Services
A review of European MPS programmes
Managed print services (MPS) has emerged as an effective approach to reducing printing costs, improving productivity, enhancing document security and supporting sustainability. With MPS adoption is strongest amongst enterprises; many vendors are now extending and refining their MPS offerings for their channel partners to capture the growing opportunity in the SMB and midmarket space. MPS promises to usher the holy grail of recurring revenue for resellers operating in a highly commoditised market, whilst helping cash-strapped customers shift capital expenditure spending to more predictable operational expenses. This report provides an overview of some of the key channel MPS offerings in the European market.
Channel MPS offerings are rapidly evolving
Service offerings range from basic MPS packaged offerings to flexible modular MPS platforms. Given the diversity of the printer/MFP channel, these programmes have to address both the IT reseller, with their low MPS expertise and infrastructure, and the copier dealers, who already have the resources and experience to sell and deliver MPS.
Volume commitment plans still prevail, but pay per print is becoming more popular
MPS contracts are often based on a cost per page, which requires volume commitments. However, more programmes are emerging that do not require minimum volumes – for example, Brother’s MPS programme and Ricoh Click, both of which use a ‘pay per print’ approach. Xerox’s PagePack contracts are also now more commonly without volume commitment.
Xerox offers the most comprehensive range of multi-vendor channel MPS offerings.
Xerox has a broad channel MPS portfolio, from basic maintenance and supplies contracts, such as PagePack, to its multi-vendor services for the channel, Xerox Partner Print Services (XPPS). In Europe, Xerox now has around 200 XPPS partners, having grown from 90 at the end of 2010. It is increasingly focusing on managed IT service providers, although success so far has been limited to the US. XPPS has been well received by multi-brand resellers and has helped Xerox expand beyond its concessionaire channel. In recent months, Xerox has expanded its focus on solutions with a clear roadmap.
Ricoh is extending its US ChaMPS strategy to Europe
Ricoh has, so far, had to rely on localised MPS approaches in Europe, which have been highly variable depending on reseller capability. Although Ricoh is now extending its ChaMPS platform to its European channel through modularised service options, it remains to be seen how well it engages its reseller base with this approach.
Lexmark leads with a strong vertical solution focus
Lexmark has renamed its LVP programme to the Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) programme in Europe, bringing it in line with its US approach. Lexmark is actively targeting the copier channel with its offerings, particularly those who wish to add to their A3 portfolio with A4 devices. It has been particularly successful with this strategy in the major European countries, and has a reputation for strong training and support. It continues to develop its industry solution portfolio, enabling resellers to customise their products to their customer business needs. This is a key differentiator for Lexmark.
Other manufacturers are taking bigger MPS steps
Companies like Brother, OKI, Konica Minolta and Kyocera are expanding their offerings for their channel partners. Whilst Brother is restricting itself to a basic MPS lease model, both OKI and Kyocera are developing their MPS capabilities. Kyocera, in particular, is actively training its channel to sell MPS and offers a range of options that requires minimal upfront investment.
Although software solutions can drive MPS value, few resellers are actively pursuing such an approach
With many resellers still just dipping their toes in the unchartered MPS waters, it is only the more mature MPS resellers that are looking at driving further value from their MPS contracts with solutions – and this tends, of course, to be in the larger SMBs and mid-market organisations. Today, Lexmark appears to be having most success in this arena, given its long-established focus on solutions.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly the SMB market represents a huge opportunity for manufacturers and resellers alike to capture incremental revenue opportunities. In the face of continued hardware commoditisation and shrinking margins, resellers must make the transition from transactional to services-led approaches. Unsurprisingly, it is those resellers who have invested the time and effort to train and educate their staff about MPS that are managing this well. While resellers require simple and flexible tools that limit the infrastructure investment, they must invest in the human resources necessary to take their MPS business forward.
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Table of Contents
5.1 BROTHER ... 7 5.2 CANON ... 7 5.3 HP... 8 5.4 KONICA MINOLTA ... 8 5.5 KYOCERA ... 8 5.6 LEXMARK ... 9 5.7 OKI ... 9 5.8 RICOH ... 9 5.9 SAMSUNG ... 10 5.10 XEROX ... 10 REFERENCES ... 11© Quocirca 2012 - 4 -
1
Introduction
In a flat hardware market, characterised by falling prices and shrinking margins, printer manufacturers view MPS as key to their growth. Achieving this for the SMB market is challenging due to the disparate nature of the printer and copier reseller channel. Experienced copier resellers will be aware of the infrastructure and skills that their company needs to provide to be successful. However, for classic IT resellers, managed print services are still relatively new. Whilst copier resellers have the experience of selling contracts based on pages, or ‘clicks’, many IT resellers are not used to selling these types of contracts. This is leading to the emergence of hybrid resellers who offer such contracts backed by IT expertise.
Up to now, MPS has largely been the domain of larger enterprises, due to established direct MPS offerings from vendors such as HP, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox. However, mid-sized businesses are gradually waking up to the MPS opportunity with the emergence of more channel-driven MPS packages from almost every vendor in the market. These range from device-centric offerings, which are typically inclusive service contracts encompassing service and supplies, to some packages including the leasing of devices and may also include support, depending on the capability of individual resellers.
With cost reduction high on the agenda for most businesses, MPS provides an opportunity for organisations of all sizes to gain the visibility they need into print costs and enables resellers to develop long term and profitable customer relationships. With more and more manufacturers simplifying and expanding their channel propositions, MPS is becoming more accessible for resellers. The barriers to entry for MPS, such as cost and complexity, which may have discouraged resellers in the past, are no longer daunting – and there is no better time than now for resellers to add value to their services with MPS.
This report outlines some of the key trends in the MPS market for SMB and mid-market organisations, and provides an overview of the key vendor channel MPS programmes in Europe. This report draws on a combination of desk research and reseller interviews. Please note that the detail for each vendor programme varies depending on the relative maturity of the programme and the availability of information in the public domain.
2
MPS Definitions
What does MPS include?
Channel-packaged MPS offerings in the mid-market vary in depth and scale. Unlike enterprise MPS, they do not require an initial print audit assessment. An entry-level MPS offers a way to purchase printers combined with supplies, maintenance and support through an all-inclusive contract.
Purchasing: Payment schemes vary as customers may either purchase devices outright or lease them from a financing company. Leasing enables organisations to shift capital to operational expenditure. Businesses then pay a monthly fee based on predicted monthly print volume, which covers the cost of the equipment, any leasing costs, supplies, service and support.
Print volume commitment: Some contracts require a monthly or annual print volume commitment, where unused pages are still paid for. Where minimum volumes are required, an overpage charge is generally applied, which is a cost for each page beyond the minimum page volume. Alternative approaches are contracts that do not impose minimum volumes, where users only pay for what they print. These contracts may still require a commitment to a service contract for a minimum period.
Additional services. These are dependent on the reseller capability and may include assessment services, device consolidation consultancy or document workflow solutions.
The following table describes the key differences between a basic MPS and value MPS approach. Services that offer flexible levels of service enable MPS to easily scale to support business growth, something that can be challenging for mid-size businesses.
Target market Category Description Channel requirements
SMB Basic:
Maintenance, supplies and support
Hardware, supplies, service, support, finance based on cost per page
Minimal investment: Simple and quick to operate: No software, no audits, no complexity
SMB & mid-market
Value:
Assessment, optimisation and management
Assessment of print volumes, environment, workflows and cost
Some investment: Print audit tools, multi-vendor support, remote monitoring
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Quocirca believes that the following capabilities offer mid-market businesses the strongest opportunities for cost saving and productivity improvements.
Features Benefits
Automatic meter/counter reading Reduced time associated with manual meter reads
Greater billing accuracy
Automatic invoicing
Automatic error notification Predict equipment failure, improve uptime
Less user intervention Automatic toner/ink management
capabilities/supplies ordering
Proactive maintenance and replenishment
Improved inventory management
Usage reports Optimise hardware usage through more efficient data collection and analysis
Better device utilisation and management
Warn of device reaching end of life Customer portal/web interface
(for customer and service provider)
Improved customer experience, ease of use, fast and efficient way to view device usage
Service provider can analyse customer reports on demand to improve service levels
Remote management e.g. automatic software upgrades, remote configuration
Improved customer response time
Maximise service engineer utilisation
Figure 2: Recommended MPS capabilities
3
Market Trends
Printing is far from dead in the SMB market. A recent Quocirca study1 amongst 150 SMBs (50–500 employees) in Europe revealed that 56% of respondents view printing as critical or very important in supporting business activities. Many of these organisations are also seeing a continued growth in colour print volumes, which translates to higher expenditure on consumables. Indeed, the study showed that reducing costs and understanding usage are the top print management challenges for SMBs today (Figure 3).
Figure 3. What is your level of concern in the following print management challenges? (Significant or very significant) With SMBs struggling to manage print costs, lower energy usage and reduce time spent on printer admin, the time is ripe for vendors and resellers to promote the MPS opportunity. Certainly, there is some appetite for moving to MPS contracts amongst SMBs. While today the majority (60%) of SMBs and mid-market organisations currently purchase printer hardware and consumables on a transactional basis, almost 40% of respondents in Quocirca’s study1 plan to lease printers as part of an MPS contract in the future. Currently, around 20% of smaller SMBs (50–249 employees) use a basic MPS compared to 45% of larger SMBs (250–500 employees). Unsurprisingly, larger SMBs are most likely to be using (25%) or planning to use (19%) a full MPS.
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Figure 4. Is your company currently using or planning to deploy a managed print service?
This is positive news for resellers as they transition customers to a contractual approach to buying ‘printing’ rather than ‘printers’. At one end of the scale, this could be a simple single branded, basic service that essentially wraps hardware with services and support; at the other, this could be an end-to-end approach that includes assessment, optimisation and on-going management. However, is there still room for improvement? Around 50% of SMBs in Quocirca’s survey had no knowledge of MPS, indicating that the market still lacks education on MPS; the concept, approach and benefits.
4
Competitive landscape
The overall MPS landscape is characterised by printer/copier manufacturers, systems integrators, software infrastructure vendors and consulting/audit firms.
Printer/copier manufacturers: These programmes are tied to vendor product offerings and include assessment, design, implementation and support services. Vendors may also offer channel MPS programmes through reseller partners where capabilities exist. Vendors in this category include Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, Lexmark, Ricoh and Xerox.
Systems integrators/resellers: These are often a channel to market for printer and copier vendors and may offer MPS as part of a wider desktop service offering or green IT service strategy. Vendors in this category include Atos Origin, Cap Gemini, CSC and IBM.
Software infrastructure vendors: These provide software tools for assessment and optimisation of the print environment. Examples include Asset DB, PaperCut, PrintAudit and PrintFleet.
The maturity of services in the above categories varies significantly and it can sometimes be confusing as to what is exactly covered by different vendor offerings. MPS programmes targeted at the office environment include the following:
Figure 5: MPS vendor landscape
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5
Market summary
This section provides an overview of the main service offerings from printer and copier vendors.
5.1
Brother
Brother sells exclusively through the channel across Europe, and in 2011 it launched its new MPS model to appeal specifically to the SMB market. It provides a leasing package for hardware and service of its printing devices, with printing paid for on a ‘pay per click’ basis, with no minimum volume commitments. The programme is currently running in UK, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Switzerland, targeting system houses, VAR and office equipment retailers.
Using automatic meter read collection, supplies are charged on a per page basis. The cost includes full delivery and installation and Brother supplies genuine consumables and service with on-site guaranteed response times. Brother supplies all the consumables and arranges a service partner. Alternatively the reseller can act as the service provider and gain additional revenue. Brother provides access to its web portal to order supplies, log a service request, view device usage and individual running costs of each machine.
Brother’s MPS programme covers Brother’s mono laser products, colour laser/LED products and A3 business inkjets. It guarantees resellers 100% of all supplies business for the duration of the contract, enabling resellers to capture all supplies profit without increasing overheads. The hardware and service packs are financed so resellers receive the total amount once the hardware is installed, while customers make regular payments.
As a requirement for a MPS contract, an extended service/warranty pack plus an optional installation charge can provide additional revenue and profit for the reseller business, enabling the reseller to act as an authorised service agent. Resellers can also include the installation service to build more margin into their deal. Resellers therefore have full pricing flexibility – they can set their own margins and billing.
The web portal enables resellers to generate proposals, use a product selector tool, make credit requests and create contracts. The same tool manages the customer’s meter read collection, invoicing, service and supplies ordering. The programme is designed to suit any SMB – even those with just one or two devices. In April 2012, Brother introduced a print management solution, b-guard. From December 2012, this will be included into its MPS programme.
5.2
Canon
Canon has a very large European partner channel, many of whom are already delivering MPS. It supports its channel with its full portfolio of technology (hardware and software) and provides access to its Professional Services group for pre- and post-sales consultancy. Following the launch of its European Partner Programme in 2011, Canon has been formalising its MPS offerings for its dealer channel. Its recently launched Canon Managed Print Services Accreditation scheme will be rolled out across Europe in Q4 2012.
To achieve Canon MPS accreditation, partners must already be a Canon Office Solutions partner. Canon’s MPS scheme will assess Canon’s MPS partners against three key criteria, namely service delivery, infrastructure and technology and business model and customer experience. Through the scheme, Canon will provide training and support with accreditation status lasting for 12 months. Accreditation will be assessed and managed independently by an external party.
The certification process includes the development of a joint business plan with Canon to agree shared targets for the year, access to Canon’s PartnerNet communications portal for marketing and sales support, as well as eligibility for the Canon Premier Partner Club. Canon is currently working with five partners who are preparing for their first audit as part of Canon’s new accreditation standards.
Although Canon may be later than some of its competitors to develop a formalised channel MPS programme, it already has a mature partner channel which it can leverage to expand its MPS footprint.
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5.3
HP
Following its acquisition of Printelligent in May 2011, HP has been working to create a full portfolio of MPS offerings for its channel partners. Through providing a comprehensive MPS platform that enables low cost delivery, HP is working to support its IT and MPS channel partners successfully and effectively transition to a services and software-led approach.
HP offers a broad range of MPS services for its channel partners. Each one varies in its contract and service and supplies delivery model, and is targeted at different resellers depending on the maturity of their MPS capabilities. Although this has led to some complexity across HP's channel MPS portfolio, it is being overcome with the development of the InCommand platform, which provides a unified infrastructure across all MPS offerings. This will help in simplifying the processes of the established programmes such as HP Smart Printing Services and HP Channel-led Pay Per Use (PPU).
The most promising boost to HP’s channel MPS strategy is the Printelligent acquisition. With Printelligent, HP has acquired an established MPS provider that has been offering MPS since 1993 through a network of MPS channel partners across the US. This provides HP channel partners with a wealth of scalable multi-vendor MPS capabilities covering the gamut of services from customer engagement and assessment, diagnostics and analytics, service optimisation and document management solutions. Over the past year, HP has heavily invested in its sales and service organisation to provide full support for partners who do not have the infrastructure to support MPS deals. HP has already begun integrating Printelligent into IPG and its channel offerings in the US, which has been renamed HP Partner Managed Print Services. Eventually, HP will also integrate some of its direct MPS tools with the Printelligent platform to further boost its channel offering. HP is also actively pushing software solutions as part of its channel MPS offering, offering resellers further opportunity to differentiate and add value to their MPS contracts. HP has a broad partner solutions portfolio which enables it to address a range of document needs – including document capture, access control, document management and mobile printing.
5.4
Konica Minolta
Konica Minolta has made strong inroads in the direct MPS market with the launch of its Optimised Print Services (OPS) programme in 2011. Konica Minolta is now extending its OPS concept to its channel, offering a scaled down version of its vast OPS menu of services. Konica Minolta is also striving to penetrate the IT space through a number of acquisitions of managed IT services providers. This includes All Covered in the US, Serains in France and Koneo in Sweden. This is a smart move for Konica Minolta – with many of its competitors focused on the enterprise segment of the market, this approach provides Konica Minolta the opportunity to deepen its presence in the SMB market.
Konica Minolta has been actively transforming its channel strategy over the past few years to enable its partners to deliver basic print services across its full product range – encompassing A4, A4 MFP and production printers. Konica Minolta has two approaches for the channel to embrace a contractual, rather than transactional, sales approach. ClickPack is targeted at the IT reseller channel, providing them with access to the Konica Minolta bizhub portfolio for the first time. Based on a leasing model, ClickPack uses a contract management system that handles quotation, invoicing and administration. No volume commitment is required as customers only pay for actual usage. Servicing can be carried out by either Konica Minolta’s direct service organisation or by the dealer itself. ClickPack also extends to software solutions, including a range of document management software. ClickPack is now live in the UK and France and will be rolled out to the UK and other European countries later this year. Konica Minolta is also extending its core direct OPS services to its indirect channel, aimed specifically at resellers with some competency in MPS and solutions provision. Konica Minolta services are available based on the maturity level of the reseller. At a basic level, customers are given access to the OPS web portal, which provides analysis of print usage, device status and consumable status. At an advanced level, reporting, automatic notifications and proactive provision of consumables for Konica Minolta devices are offered. Partners are given the opportunity to provide extra chargeable services to gain full knowledge of their customers’ printer fleet – whether it is Konica Minolta only or a mixed brand environment.
Quocirca believes that Konica Minolta is making strong inroads in the development of its channel MPS offerings, which complement its already strongly established capabilities in delivering MPS through its direct channel.
5.5
Kyocera
Kyocera is actively training and supporting its channel to promote its MDS (Managed Document Services) model. Kyocera’s MDS model is based on its ADIMO approach (Assessment, Design, Implementation, Management and Optimisation). Kyocera offers dealers support and tools at every MDS stage whether these are tools for assessment, design or proposal, support for the implementation or roll out or tools or access to a fleet management software and also help in the optimisation phase. Kyocera has developed the internal infrastructure (resources, skills, tools) to support its resellers, such as hosting its print management tool KYOfleetmanager.
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This enables minimal upfront investment for its channel and Kyocera is already seeing success with its strategy, particularly as it offers multi-vendor support. Kyocera’s channel-led MPS initiatives have been particularly strong in UK, France, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. Kyocera estimate that over 500 dealers are using KYOfleetmanager and managing in excess of 14,000 end-users and approximately 70,000 devices.
Kyocera also offers entry-level basic print packages in some regions, such as KYOPrint Pack in the UK along with tools for smaller resellers to calculate page-based contracts. It also works with a major distributors to offer tools for each phase of the MDS cycle, enabling resellers to gain access to training, tools and resources.
5.6
Lexmark
With a strong reliance on its channel, Lexmark is actively expanding its channel presence in both the US and Europe. Solutions are critical to Lexmark’s growth and viability in the channel, demonstrated by its acquisitions of Perceptive Software, Pallas Athena and, most recently, intelligent document capture vendor, Brainware. Lexmark views itself as a solutions, rather than hardware, company and its “Print Less, Save More” mantra is based on using MFPs to capture, manage and access content within the context of a business process.
Lexmark is particularly looking for channel partners that can integrate its software and MFP platforms to provide customers with a robust MFP solution that integrates document workflow. As such, it is specifically focusing on proactive channel partners that wish to move beyond transactional sales to a solution and services model. In particular, it is targeting copier resellers that are looking to extend their A3 portfolio to encompass A4 devices where Lexmark is traditionally very strong. Potential partners should also already understand the benefits of MPS and also the opportunity of selling attached software solutions.
Resellers often praise Lexmark’s proactive communication and the opportunity to influence product development. In March 2012, Lexmark announced that the Lexmark Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) Programme was to replace Lexmark’s ValuePrint Programme (LVP), and is designed to fit more closely with Lexmark’s high-value approach. These all offer prime opportunities for Lexmark and its channel to extend its MFPs into areas such as mobility, workflow and content management. In the US and Europe, Lexmark has already made inroads with its plan of helping dealers incorporate solutions into their sales strategy. It has paid dividends with solutions adoption rates increasing amongst resellers and Lexmark has also been successful in attracting more solutions-led resellers to its US programme.
Whilst Lexmark is not the first to unveil an MPS strategy for its channel, they have a mature enterprise MPS offering, which they can leverage for their channel. If well executed, Lexmark is well positioned to translate its enterprise MPS success into the mid-market and SMB space.
5.7
OKI
OKI sells exclusively through the channel in Europe, and has developed both a basic and full MPS approach to support its channel partners. Its basic print services model is available across Europe under various names, although the approach is consistent with OKI offering centralised pricing. OKI’s basic MPS is a pay-per-page model, a hardware-exclusive program where consumables, meter readings and support can be submitted via a central portal with automated billing and supplies management.
OKI’s basic MPS pay-per-page model provides customers purchasing mono and colour printers and MFPs with a usage plan based on their estimated monthly volume. The package includes a fully inclusive service plan for the life of the contract, including a next day on-site service. There are two plans across a range of OKI printers and MFPs – office or professional. The office plan is suitable for most users and includes a plan for heavier usage.
OKI also has a pan-European programme called PrintOptimizer, offering full MPS capabilities. PrintOptimizer is primarily targeted to small and medium sized businesses, although this does extend to the corporate and public sector in some countries and offers a flexible, tailored approach depending on the size and needs of the business. Although OKI sells only via the indirect channel, its corporate sales teams will identify prospects and will support channel partners to deliver the appropriate MPS solution. OKI is currently in the process of developing further its MPS architecture to encompass software products and services along with a channel accreditation programme.
5.8
Ricoh
Ricoh announced its aggressive shift to a services-led strategy in January 2011. It plans to invest $300 million over three years in its global managed document services (MDS) infrastructure and has set an annual revenue target for MDS of $3.3 billion by 2013. From a direct perspective, Ricoh has made significant strides in the development of its MDS portfolio and is expanding the reach of its MDS capabilities to its channel partners through a dealer program. This program aims to expand its MPS coverage model to
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indirect channel partners. ChaMPS (channel MPS) was initially rolled out in the United States in June 2011 and is based on Ricoh’s adaptive MDS framework of “Understand, Improve, Transform, Govern, Optimise”. Ricoh is now actively engaging European dealers on its program. This value-led approach is complemented by its basic MPS approach targeted at the IT reseller channel – Ricoh Click – which is available throughout Europe.
Ricoh particularly relies on dealers to deliver MDS in regions where Ricoh does not have a direct presence and has therefore made a strong commitment to developing a comprehensive programme for its channel partners. Ricoh is keen to support dealers transform their businesses to a services-led business and with MDS Ricoh is offering a globally consistent programme. Channel partners can therefore access the full Ricoh MDS portfolio depending on their level of MDS maturity.
The dealer program is a jointly funded programme between Ricoh and the dealer. The first phase of the approach involves Ricoh undertaking an independent assessment of each dealer’s business to determine what resources, infrastructure, tools and support are required to help that dealer grow their services business. Ricoh offers a range of training and certification which encompasses executive, sales, technical, project management, service delivery and change management and will be supported by a range of sales tools and marketing support.
Quocirca believes that Ricoh is well positioned to build on its success with its direct MPS offerings through the channel. With many resellers still lacking a clear understanding of how they can derive value from MPS whilst minimising the cost to their business, Ricoh will need to work very closely with those dealers who have yet to engage with MPS. The modularity of the Ricoh approach means it is well suited to all business sizes, providing all dealers with the potential to participate in the MPS opportunity.
5.9
Samsung
Samsung has had a few false starts with respect to MPS in the past, but its renewed focus on this area has led to the creation of its Advantage+ MPS partner programme, rebranded and launched in January 2012. Advantage+ has been designed to help channel partners transition to a more consultative sales and service approach. Since January 2012, Samsung has been actively recruiting partners for the programme and to date works with over 90 partners. Partners range from IT resellers through to system integrators (SIs), such as Fujitsu and Getronics, and solutions partners, such as Computacenter and SCC.
The programme is based around its full MFP portfolio, software solutions and vertical expertise, particularly in the education, healthcare and local government sectors. Partners are provided a menu of components to deliver MPS. Copier resellers are typically signed up as MPS partners and trained to deliver their own service wrapped around Samsung products. In contrast, SIs can sell Samsung devices on a transactional basis but also take advantage of service packs on higher end A4 MFP and A3 MFP products, and include those into an MPS offering where appropriate. As part of the programme it offers preferential pricing, a tailored rebate programme that is based on quarterly targets and marketing investment. It also offers an online portal for resellers to download sales and marketing tools.
There are three levels of MPS partner, which offer differing levels of financial and marketing support. Platinum and Elite partners benefit from dedicated account managers and bid support but, as a minimum, all partners have access to hardware rebates, training, customisable marketing material and online support. The programme covers all Samsung A4 and A3 mono and colour printers and MFPs. Samsung offers a range of proprietary and third party software tools to help resellers monitor and measure MPS installation – either remotely or on-site. Resellers also have access to Samsung MPS account managers to help with building MPS knowledge.
5.10
Xerox
Xerox is actively pushing its managed print services (MPS) capabilities to the SMB and mid-market. Globally, Xerox is working to accelerate the transition of its global partner network to a services-led model. Xerox now has more than 2,500 partners offering some form of MPS.
Central to Xerox’s channel MPS initiative is Xerox Partner Print Services (XPPS), which resides between its basic equipment service packages such as eClick and PagePack and its direct enterprise MPS offerings. XPPS is a cloud-based platform, hosted by Xerox, and offers a range of standardised components to support a multi-vendor environment such as assessment and optimisation, device discovery and monitoring, sales contract management, business intelligence reporting, service management and delivery and a customer service portal.
Xerox has built a comprehensive certification and accreditation process for XPPS sales people and partners to support their MPS sales efforts. Accredited XPPS partners must be able to demonstrate successful delivery of a client’s managed print service. In addition to its traditional channel partners, its global MPS partner network also includes a range of managed IT services, technology and software partners, including Cisco and Computacenter. In Europe, Xerox now has around 200 XPPS partners, having grown from 90 at the end of 2010. Almost 80% of these partners are fully accredited XPPS partners.
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One of the key strengths of Xerox’s XPPS offering is its multi-vendor device support which expands the reach of XPPS beyond its traditional concessionaire channel to encompass multi-brand reseller partners. This enables Xerox to capture both Xerox and non-Xerox page volumes under contract. The managed IT services market also represents an opportunity for multi-vendor MPS platforms such as XPPS, enabling managed service providers (MSPs) to integrate managed print offerings with their existing managed service platforms.
For those resellers ready to develop their MPS capabilities, using a flexible and robust hosted platform such as XPPS is a viable approach, for both Xerox-only and multi-brand resellers. Not only does this limit the investment risk in building a MPS platform, but also gives resellers access to Xerox global supply chain and delivery centres. This is particularly attractive for resellers who want to expand their MPS delivery across regions. Xerox is now also developing its solutions strategy and from late 2012/ early 2013 will be offering mobile print, fax and scan solutions, secure printing and basic document management as part of its XPPS offering to resellers. For now, Xerox is ahead of the game when it comes to the maturity of its channel MPS initiatives. However, competitors are following fast and competition will come not only from its traditional competitors but also those in the managed IT services market, which Xerox is already wisely engaging with.
References
1
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Appendix A: Competitor summary
Key: Full capability No capability Partial capability/offered in conjunction with partner or print management tool
Vendor Brother Konica
Minolta
Konica Minolta
Kyocera1 HP Lexmark Ricoh Ricoh OKI Xerox Xerox
Service name Managed Print Services ClickPack OPS Indirect PrintPack (UK, Spain) Smart Printing Services Business Solutions Dealer (BSD) program me Click Managed Document Services (MDS) Pay-per- page PagePack Xerox Partner Print Services
MPS category Basic Basic Value Basic Value Value Basic Value Basic Basic Value
Launched 2011 2011 2012 2008 2006 2011 (Replaces LVP program me) 2009 2009 2008 2006 2009
Contract term 3-5 years 3-5 years 3-5 years 3–5yrs 12–60 month term 12–60 months 6 to 60 months 1, 3, 4 or 5 yrs 36-60 months 1, 3, 4 or 5 yrs 1, 3, 4 or 5 yrs Minimum print volumes Reseller-led Reseller led Contract modification
N/A N/A Reseller led
N/A N/A N/A N/A
Automated supplies replenishment 2 Vendor/ Reseller 3 Supplies fulfilment Vendor Vendor/ Reseller/ 3rd Party Vendor Vendor/ Reseller Vendor/ Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller Vendor/ Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller
Break/fix Vendor Vendor/ Reseller/ 3rd Party Reseller 3rd level by Vendor Vendor Vendor/ Reseller
Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller
Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller
Support Vendor Vendor/ Reseller Reseller 3rd level by Vendor Vendor Vendor/ Reseller
Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller Vendor/ Reseller Vendor Vendor/ Reseller Invoicing to customer Leasing partner Finance co. Reseller/ Reseller’s leasing partner Vendor Vendor or Reseller
Reseller Reseller Reseller Vendor/ Reseller Reseller Reseller Multi-vendor support Remote monitoring 1 Integrated vendor assessment tools Service portal 1
Kyocera MDS through the channel is under development
2 End-user is alerted that device needs toner, must then manually order through service portal 3 IF Smart eSolutions used for automatic meter and supplies monitoring
© Quocirca 2012 - 13 -
About Quocirca
Quocirca is a primary research and analysis company specialising in the business impact of information technology and communications (ITC). With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth insights into the views of buyers and influencers in large, mid-sized and small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-world practitioners with first-hand experience of ITC delivery who continuously research and track the industry and its real usage in the markets. Through researching perceptions, Quocirca uncovers the real hurdles to technology adoption – the personal and political aspects of an organisation’s environment and the pressures of the need for demonstrable business value in any implementation. This capability to uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market enables Quocirca to provide advice on the realities of technology adoption, not the promises.
Quocirca research is always pragmatic, business orientated and conducted in the context of the bigger picture. ITC has the ability to transform businesses and the processes that drive them, but often fails to do so. Quocirca’s mission is to help organisations improve their success rate in process enablement through better levels of understanding and the adoption of the correct technologies at the correct time. Quocirca has a pro-active primary research programme, regularly surveying users, purchasers and resellers of ITC products and services on emerging, evolving and maturing technologies. Over time, Quocirca has built a picture of long term investment trends, providing invaluable information for the whole of the ITC community.
Quocirca works with global and local providers of ITC products and services to help them deliver on the promise that ITC holds for business. Quocirca’s clients include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, O2, T-Mobile, HP, Xerox, EMC, Symantec and Cisco, along with other large and medium-sized vendors, service providers and more specialist firms.
