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 Channel Futures

Strategy


Managed Print Services: Office Depot, Xerox Partner In Europe

  • Written by Joe Panettieri 1
  • March 9, 2011

Office Depot has introduced Xerox Managed Print Services to customers in Germany, with a European MPS rollout scheduled to take place throughout the remainder of the year, according to the two companies. The move is a mixed blessing for European managed services providers. On the one hand, the Office Depot-Xerox relationship further legitimizes managed print services. But on the other hand it means small MSPs could wind up competing with a big retailer for recurring print revenues.

As frequent MSPmentor readers know, I consider the managed print services market somewhat of a head-scratcher. It seems like the perfect opportunity for MSPs to further engage with customers. But only about 20 percent of MSPs that completed the fourth-annual MSPmentor 100 survey, which ended in December, offer managed print services.

Still, smart MSPs are profiting from the managed print trend. And some MSPs — such as Print Administrate — have bet their entire business on the market opportunity, MSPmentor has heard. And The Photizo Group is set to host a managed print services conference May 2-4 in Orlando, Fla.

Meanwhile, Office Depot and Xerox apparently see opportunities ahead in Europe. According to the Office Depot-Xerox announcement, Office Depot plans to “assess, optimize and manage customer printing needs, resulting in lower print, copy and IT support costs, reduced environmental impact, as well as increased office productivity.”

Office superstores are increasingly familiar with the managed services market. Staples, for instance, acquired Thrive Networks in 2006 as part of a push into the managed services market.

Sign up for MSPmentor’s Weekly Enewsletter, Webcasts and Resource Center. Follow us via RSS, Facebook, Identi.ca and Twitter. Check out more MSP voices at www.MSPtweet.com. Read our editorial disclosure here.

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Digital Service Providers MSPs VARs/SIs Business Models Strategy

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4 comments

  1. Avatar Greg VanDeWalker March 10, 2011 @ 10:42 pm
    Reply

    Joe,

    I agree with your “head-scratcher” comment. I was very surprised to see the MPS number drop in the survey this year. Especially since it is easier now to get into MPS than ever before with very sophisticated partner programs that MSP’s can bolt-on to their business.

    Greg

  2. Avatar Greg Walters March 10, 2011 @ 11:10 pm
    Reply

    HA!

    The lack of MSP involvement in MPS does not surprise me in the least.

    “Printers are not sexy.”
    “Copier Companies just want to sell copiers.”
    “Toner does not hit my budget.”
    – typical quotes from prospective clients…

    “What do you mean, no trip fees?”
    “There is no way we can get 40% margin on anything.”
    “I have no idea how to bill. What the hell is a meter read?”
    “Wait, you mean to tell me, I can’t change a fuser remotely? What’s a fuser again?”
    – typical quotes from a prospective MSP thinking about MPS

    “IT Snobs”

    Why worry about printers, when your hard drive is in the clouds…

    LOL!~

  3. Avatar Ken Stewart March 11, 2011 @ 4:04 am
    Reply

    Greg W, you crack me up!

    Coming from the ranks of “high IT”, printers were certainly beneath me and you could equate working on a printer with being part of a cleaning crew who scrubs toilets and takes out the trash.

    I have a friend who is a degreed quality engineer with an MBA. She lost her job last year and used the opportunity to reassess her opportunities. With her relatives scoffing, she started a cleaning business.

    Now she has a residential team of 7 cleaners and just won her second commercial contract — a short 12 months after starting.

    Funny enough, when I would sell IT managers and directors on MPS, I’d always use the line that we were like the janitors of the print world. I once scoffed at printers, but then I got wise and saw that there was a need to help folks do stuff they didn’t want to do themselves.

    Glamours? Nope.

    Lucrative? Oh yeah!

    Regards,
    Ken

  4. Avatar Joe Panettieri March 11, 2011 @ 1:17 pm
    Reply

    Greg, Greg and Ken: Part of the problem involves the printer vendors themselves. Often they make managed print announcements that focus on direct sales engagements. For instance, “Acme Printer Co Wins Managed Print Deal With Delta Fortume 500 Co.” There’s no mention of partner opportunity, etc. Some printer companies are wise and promote managed print into the channel. But far too many managed print announcements are pure vendor-to-customer engagement deals…

    If the print makers spent more time disclosing partner wins and business models, then more VARs and MSPs would embrace managed print…
    -jp

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