Samsung Electronics America is joining the managed print party with the launch of the Samsung PrintIQ managed print services program, the company announced this week.  The move by Samsung follows similar noise about managed print coming from Epson earlier this month.  And HP, Lexmark and Xerox have already been there.

Samsung said its new program is designed to help dealer, reseller and OEM partners implement and develop strategic managed print solutions for customers.

Initial partners for the Samsung PrintIQ program include Print Fleet, MWA Intelligence, LMI, Compass Sales Solutions and Great America Leasing Corp. The program comes with tools that let dealers and resellers analyze, optimize and manage customers’ printer, multi-function printer (MFP) and copier fleets.

“Samsung PrintIQis a smart solution for our dealers, resellers and partners trying to meet their customers’ changing demands,” said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing for Samsung Electronics America’s Enterprise Business Division, in a prepared statement.

Bouman didn’t articulate what those changing demands are, but the printer industry has changed a great deal over the past several years as more documents have gone digital only, removing the need to print so much. That’s cut sales of both printers and supplies and spurred old time copier and printer companies to acquire their way into new lines of business. Just look at Konica Minolta’s acquisition of acquisitive MSP All Covered.

But back to the new Samsung PrintIQ managed print program. Here’s a quick look at the elements of the program, straight from Samsung Electronics America:

System Analysis: Samsung representatives join the sales teams to offer a comprehensive analysis and make sure the right machines are matched with the right requirements as well as ensuring each workgroup understands which features would most benefit efficiency.

Print Management: Software solutions are provided for monitoring and analysis of the fleet continuously for efficiency. Samsung partnered with Print Fleet and MWAi to provide an affordable  cloud print management solution

Leasing Program: Samsung’s finance leasing partner, Great America Leasing Corp., provides leasing options, subsidized by Samsung, for qualified resellers, eliminating the need for big capital expenditures. The program also simplifies the replacement cycle.

Sales Tools: Samsung partner, Compass Sales Solutions, provides an information system that provides salesforce management functions and records sales to improve workflow, reduce paperwork, help the management team assess what is in the pipeline and provide tools to help coach the sales team.

Supplies:For solutions that incorporate Samsung machines, Samsung PrintIQoffers specially priced, genuine Samsung supplies to qualified resellers. Samsung has also partnered with LMI to provide reliable, professional-quality low priced toner cartridges for various non-Samsung printers, MFPs and copiers.

National Service and Support: Samsung PrintIQ  includes full technical support through a national network of service partners.

Hmmm, a network of service partners? We’ll keep an eye out for how Samsung is identifying those service partners.