CompTIA Breakaway: Managed Print Services Gain Spotlight
I hesitate to call this “the year” of managed print services, but it certainly seems like vendors, industry associations and managed service providers are rallying around managed print services. The latest example comes from CompTIA Breakaway 2009, kicking off this week in Las Vagas.
At Breakaway, VARs and MSPs will spot the Managed Print Services Pavilion during Technology Vendor Fair sessions on Aug. 4 and 5. And Tom Gall, value channel marketing director at Xerox, is set to give me an update on Xerox’s MPS strategy. I’ll report later this week with details.
More than vendors speaking to the media, we’re starting to see a managed print services ecosystem develop. One reason: Seven out of 10 MSPs are interested in managed print, according to a March 2009 reader poll by MSPmentor.
Growing the Market
Vendors, partners and entrepreneurs are gearing up to help solutions providers develop MPS revenue streams.
Recent examples include:
- Hewlett-Packard has formed an internal group to help drive managed print services forward, according to PC World.
- Oki Data Americas launched a Total Managed Print initiative for its dealers and solutions providers.
- Photizo Group is hosting Managed Print Services conferences in Amsterdam (2009) and San Antonio, Texas (2010).
- Xerox starting to integrate with managed services platforms (RMM and PSA tools) from N-able, ConnectWise and Autotask, just to name a few.
- Finally, Dell, Ingram Micro and the Utility Company each have started some managed print initiatives.
- Who did I miss?
Perfecting Your Sales Pitch
Are managed print services guaranteed to succeed? Certainly not. Like all managed services, the difference between success and failure typically has little to do with technology and everything to do with sales/marketing strategies.
The sooner MSPs learn to promote the value of managed print services, the sooner they’ll earn recurring revenue from multifunction printers (MFPs) and related devices.
The discussion continues this week at CompTIA Breakaway in Las Vegas.
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Technically, it was 2008.
But, the band wagon is getting bigger and bigger – there is plenty of room.
Nice to see.
A year ago, you couldn’t find ANY MPS specific groups, except Photizo – today, consultants, training and manufactures’ programs are falling out of the trees.
It’s fun.
Joe,
As always, a good summary of MPS developments. There are actually 16 new MPS programs which have been announced by MPS vendors in the last twelve months. Vendors include Supplies Network (Carbon Six), a new program from Xerox (an update to the popular PagePak program), Parts Now, Westpoint Products, and many more. The Photizo Group is producing a benchmarking study which evaluates twelve of the top programs based on both the feature / function, and reseller feedback regarding the ability of vendors to deliver on these programs.
Another sign of growth is the tremendous market growth. In the soon to be released global MPS forecast, the Photizo Group has identified a compound annual growth rate of 30% with a prediction that over half of all imaging devices (printers, copiers, and MFPs) in business will be under MPS contract by 2013.
And perhaps, most significant, the Photizo Group’s multi-client study on MPS Decision Makers in North America and Europe continues to show a tremendous growth in ‘new’ engagements with over 50% of all MPS customers being in their first engagement. And while cost is a key driver for the adoption of MPS, it is only one driver.
The market is growing rapidly, and clearly, this represents a significant opportunity for MSP’s and IT resellers.
Ed –
“ditto”.
I would hope the vendors will look to the early years of the Managed Service movement to learn and not repeat the mistakes that were made. Particularly on building awareness and educating the end user on exactly what we mean by “Managed Print”.
The more publicity and education they can provide to bring visibility of MPS to the end user the better it will be for all of us. As a small business we can sell and deliver the service, it certainly helps if you don’t have to also educate the client.
Tom –
You bring up a really good selection of points.
Have you been watching or hearing about the new Managed Print Services Association?
Publicize and Educate are really good points.
The group for now is on LinkedIn with website and more coming…
http://yourmpsa.com/
this is just a holder right now, the first meeting of the executive board is Friday the 4th.