Posted on Mon, Nov 16, 2009
As we have seen lately, there is a fair amount of consolidation in the copier & printer marketplace. We have seen Ricoh acquire Ikon in an effort to ‘push' more Ricoh equipment. We have seen HP and Canon team-up in the belief that partnering will result in the sale of more equipment. This week, we saw Canon in the news with its acquisition of Oce. Again, the acquisition appears to have been made in an effort to sell more hardware...this time in the production printing space.
Here's the link... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091116/bs_nm/us_oce
It appears many of the copier-based companies have come to the realization that there is far too much capacity in the market. At a conference last week, a Xerox VP noted customers have far too much copy/print capacity and the market for 60+ page/minute devices "were sinking like a stone while the workgroup MFPs (20-50 page/minute devices) were continuing to increase in popularity." We have seen this product shift with our customers for the past several years. In addition, we're seeing the life expectancy (reliability) of workgroup devices extend well beyond the traditional 3-5 year useful life of those higher speed copier devices.
With the recent poor financial performance from Xerox, Canon, and Ricoh, it appears the copier industry is set for more consolidation and partner agreements. Across the industry, beyond the negative trends at Xerox, Canon, and Ricoh, copier companies are cutting back on their sales, marketing, service, and R&D capabilities. As an example, Xerox builds very little product today...most of the lower speed MFPs are manufactured by Samsung; the higher-end devices made in conjunction with Fuji or other manufacturers.
From our perspective, the impact of the above consolidation will not be dramatic to our customers or our company. It should also be noted that LaserNetworks has completed two acquisitions over the past 24 months. These were service-focused and geographic acquisitions, made to create more capability and value for us customers across North America.
Regarding the copier acquisitions, my belief is that until the copier companies create a business model that first addresses the customer, instead of a model focused on selling more hardware, we'll see continued profit erosion from these companies, and therefore continued consolidation in the copier industry.
Posted on Tue, Oct 13, 2009
At a time when every company is flooding the new ‘Managed
Services’ industry, it’s good to know that LaserNetworks continues to
be recognized as one of the industry leaders in North America.
Since being named one of the TOP ‘Green IT’ Providers by CDN in
2008, and the Top Global Managed Print Services Provider at the Managed
Print Services Conference (San Antonio, Texas) by the Photizo Group
earlier in 2009, LaserNetworks has continued to work on being both a
responsible corporate citizen along with a leader in Managed
Services. During these past few months, we have extended our leadership
position with the upgrade of our proprietary RPM (Resource Printer
Manager) service management tool. Version 2.0 takes our clients well
beyond the questions “Are these numbers accurate?” or “How can I
improve the reliability of my printer fleet”?
The lastest award is from CDN, recognizing LaserNetworks as being
2009’s Top Managed Services Provider in Canada. This is truly a great
accomplishment for LaserNetworks & we thank CDN for the confidence
in our company. We continue to believe that we have the best Managed
Print offering in North America & to be recognized by CDN as the
Top Managed Services Provider support the reality that our capabilities
rival those of any IT Services company.
LaserNetworks is far from perfect & we will continue to build
on our 23 years of experience, including almost 15 years in the Managed
Print Services industry through our Cost Per Page Program. However, as
we continue down the road to excellence, it’s great to receive such
feedback from the industry experts telling us to ‘keep going’. And we
will…
Posted on Tue, Sep 08, 2009
My apologies for being so quiet these past few weeks. Along with a
short vacation, I went through a very sad period with the passing of my
mother. Pam Stevenson was 63 and died of cancer, the same cancer that
also claimed the life of Ted Kennedy in August. Throughout her
sickness, Mom relied on her faith, her husband, many family and
friends, and the exceptional support of the Ottawa General Hospital and
the Kemptville Hospital. I spent many days visiting the Kemptville
Hospital and was truly impressed with the exceptional customer care
displayed by every staff member. It was clear each employee knew their
responsibility…to make the patient and the family as comfortable as
possible. This was also displayed by the Grant Brown Funeral Home and
St. James Anglican Church. The professionalism and understanding they
displayed was appreciated and made the realities of burying a loved one
tolerable, if that makes sense? To everyone that supported my family
through this period, Thank You.
Posted on Thu, Jul 09, 2009
Having just returned from a week in Alberta, I must say Calgary knows how to throw a party!! The spirit, the cowboys, the chuckwagons & rodeos…it’s hard to understand if you’ve haven’t been there.
For LaserNetworks, it’s a great time to be in Calgary. It begins
with the Annual Calgary Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament &
finishes with our LaserNetworks Stampede Party. This year was our 3rd annual party hosted at Ranchman’s.
It was great to catch up with approximately 65 of our clients – many
old friends & great to see some new faces as well. LaserNetworks has enjoyed a fantastic year in Alberta and I would like
to thank all of our clients for their continued confidence in our
company. Our event also had a sombre tone with the sudden passing of
Dan Ryan from CNRL. Dan was a fabulous person and much respected by all
of Calgary. He was a great fan of the Stampede and we certainly enjoyed
his company at all of our events over the years. He will be sadly
missed.
The partying will continue in Calgary until mid-July and if you
are still setting your vacation plans & wondering where you’d like
to go this year, may I suggest the Stampede. There’s no guarantee
you’ll return home rested…but a great time is definitely a guarantee. For me, I need ‘home for a rest’ before heading back to Alberta later this summer for our 8th Annual Golf Tournament. We should all be well rested by then.
Cheers to Calgary for a great week!
Posted on Fri, Jun 05, 2009
This week's update is completely dedicated to Ralph Noseworthy, our National Service Manager for the USA operations of LaserNetworks...and a great guy.
While his title may have read "National Service Manager", Ralph was so much more than that to his customers and employees. In fact, if he actually had a job description, it would have read something like:
- Bring the "know-how" from Canada and rapidly implement across the USA.
- Become strategically valuable to your customers and employees.
- Always find a way...never say "No, it can't be done"
- Earn a seat at the customer table
- Always be available to your customers and employees
- Work Hard...Play Hard...by golfing a minimum of 4 rounds per week.
- Landlord & Host
Ralph was always willing to entertain, cook a meal or provide a bed to co-workers & friends (which for Ralph were often one of the same). In fact, the day we opened our new US Head Office in Raleigh, N.C., Ralph hosted the dinner that night. In attendance was Chris Stoate (owner of LaserNetworks), Graham Wood (VP Business Development), Gary Johnson (Branch Manager, NY), several of our technicians and support staff in Raleigh, and me. The evening was one I will never forget...excellent dinner, drinks, & fun from a great host.
Five years ago, LaserNetworks started its aggressive growth strategy into the USA. Today, LaserNetworks supports thousands of print devices across 44 states. To have such success in such a short period of time, it takes great commitment from a few great people, and the one that stood above all others was Ralph. He was a great employee & a great person. Enjoy your golf, Ralph...you've earned it.
Posted on Tue, May 12, 2009
Sorry, it’s been too long (almost 3 weeks) since my last
update…and there’s so much to talk about. The first item is to pat
ourselves on the back (I hope this is proper blogging etiquette) for
being awarded as the Top Managed Print Services (MPS) Company –
Worldwide.
Yes, I see Chris has also written about this win…we hope it’s
worth repeating! The award presentation took place two weeks ago at the
MPS Conference held in San Antonio, Texas. Here’s the
Press Release
from the event.
“MPS engagements increase almost daily, and the awards raise
awareness about successful programs. These winners represent the cream
of the crop with documented results and innovative ideas. By honoring
their excellence and leadership, we showcase the benefits of MPS and
validate the approach for other companies considering this growing
opportunity,” said Ed Crowley, Founder and Senior Partner of the
Photizo Group. Award criteria are based on a 50-point rating of MPS
best practices and business benefits such as defined objectives,
significant cost savings, productivity gains, or other improvements.
Our business model has always been – and continues to be – a
perfect alignment with the needs of our customers. It’s great to be
awarded such recognition from the MPS industry and we’ll continue to
extend our solutions offering in the hopes of a repeat in 2010!!!
Posted on Tue, Apr 14, 2009
I won’t have convinced you at this point that my desire to take my family to France for a year is entirely unselfish…of course it is not. But I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t believe it was a way to make the business stronger, more competitive, and more self-sufficient than it already is. Clearly, I believe the business is already very close to that self-sufficiency, or I wouldn’t be contemplating this step, especially in the current economic environment. Certainly, my desire to spend this year away has been a strong motivator for the past two years to make the business more independent and more robust.
In fact, I feel that the executive team is a little at this point in the position we have all experienced in learning to drive. Until we get our license, there is always someone in the car with us. We unconsciously are both driving and trying to second-guess our actions as we imagine they see them. While safer than driving on our own before the lessons, this is less safe than having full responsibility for the car in traffic once we have adequate knowledge and experience, and being able to make our own, increasingly confident decisions. Once we get the license, and take some trips on our own, our driving competence improves dramatically. I think it is time for me to get out of the passenger seat and give the executive team a chance to drive the car on their own.
Leading up to the target departure date of July 31st, I’ll talk about my thought processes and the decisions I’m making to ensure I am comfortable taking this step and that the company will continue to grow and to run well.
Posted on Fri, Apr 10, 2009
For a long time now my wife Patti and I have been planning to spend a year in France with our daughter Hayley, and the time has come. We chose this year because Hayley will be in Grade 8, and we think it’s an ideal time to be away, as it means she can come back for Grade 9 and have an uninterrupted high school career. Hayley was in French immersion until the end of Grade 5 when she was selected for the enriched program and went into an English only environment. In France, she will attend a normal French state middle school (college). We hope this will re-establish her French and give her the option of a French immersion high school when she comes back, and in any case give her a second language she will have forever.
For all of us, this is to be a complete change. We’ve lived 20 years in Oakville, Ontario. During that time I’ve built the business from 1 to 200 employees. Patti is just completing a PhD in nursing she has worked at while doing the lion’s share of the parenting and household duties. In France, we’ll be based in a small rural alpine village, a real contrast from our current surroundings. We plan to travel in the school holidays, do lots of skiing, take cooking lessons, and I plan to learn how my industry operates in Europe, observe best practices, and look at possible acquisition targets. At the same time I want to distill all my thoughts on successfully selling the LaserNetworks value offering in a sales technique wiki…a way to condense my experience and the current knowledge of my sales force and build a living best sales practices manual.
Posted on Thu, Mar 12, 2009
I’m pleased to have this opportunity and forum to share some thoughts & opinions with our readers and cross-bloggers on the topic of Managed Print Services (MPS).
The broad market of Managed Print can be very complex and has the ability to get very confusing, very quickly. My goal will be to shed some light on where the industry is headed, or better yet, where it should be headed. Along with personal experiences, we’ll also explore trends, challenges, and opportunities within print management. In the end, it is my personal belief that Managed Print Services will become the future state of all enterprise companies. We will explore ways to reduce costs, improve productivity through technology, and be mindful of the environment.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading about news and insights into the printing industry. I look forward to the freedom of writing & the feedback of the audience.