Posted on Sat, May 15, 2010
The 2010 MPS Conference in San Antonio confirms the industry is growing. It's also very interesting to see where all of these participants line up on the MPS curve.
The attendance was great, with more than double the participants from the 2009 event. In addition, of these attendees, more than 75% have been providing an MPS solution for fewer than five years. This includes manufacturers revising their go-to-market strategies (Ricoh, HP, Canon, OKI, Xerox, etc.), IT Providers, traditional Copier Resellers, Toner/Supply Remanufacturers, and Workflow Solution Providers. With such a diverse group seeking a better understanding of what it means to provide a true Managed Print solution (and how to provide that solution), the Conference was split into multiple tracks to provide this support for the new entrants into the MPS space. There was also a track for end-user customers that provided some additional research around industry solutions and best practices.
As one of the pioneers of Managed Print Services, and the largest independent MPS provider in North America, LaserNetworks participated in several of these discussions around Best Practices. We also led a session around the environment and how a well-deployed MPS solution can provide customers with a significant reduction in their carbon footprint. Beyond being recognized as one of the Top 5 Green IT Solution Providers in Canada, LaserNetworks' commitment to the environment, and specifically to the reduction of carbon emissions has long been a core value of the company. Below was the kickoff slide from my presentation, showing the near perfect correlation between the increase in global temperatues and the increase in CO2 emissions.
You'll also note the significant ‘hockey stick' over the past few decades as industrialization and emissions have increased at an alarming rate. In terms of MPS, I believe a properly deployed solution, focused on maximizing user productivity & the useful life of assets, will drive down this carbon footprint. There was also a very interesting discussion around the footprint calculation associated with the manufacturing of a device. Often the energy calculations presented to customers shows energy savings afforded by switching to the newer technology. This is absolutely true & is good for the environment when the device must be upgraded due to SLA or technology changes. However, the footprint associated with manufacturing a new machine should also be captured somewhere in the analysis. This was also an opinion shared by Dr. David Suzuki, a leader voice on climate change. (See my previous post)
Unfortunately (to date), I have not been able to find any statistics on the carbon footprint associated with the manufacturing of a new copier, printer, or MFP. The closest I have come is a study by Toyota on the manufacturing footprint of the Toyota Prius, which came in at 28%. So, would the impact of an MFP be greater because it doesn't use gas & oil to power its operation...or would the impact be less because it uses paper (can have a significant footprint) and the toner cartridges are often used only once before being sent for recycling? If anyone has info on this manufacturing footprint, it would be greatly appreciated if you could provide us with some additional insight.
Note: for anyone that would like to discuss the presentation or learn more about LaserNetworks and the initiatives we've undertaken to minimize our carbon footprint, please email me at bstevenson@lasernetworks.com.
Again, I thought the conference was excellent & the topics were relevant. News that the Managed Print Services Association now has over 1,000 members (yeah, a bit of a plug for the Association as I am a Board Member representing the MPS Providers) further cements the growth in Managed Print.
One area I'd like to see the Conference add to its agenda next year is around security. Whether it's hardcopy, electronic workflow, old images that may reside on hard drives, or what complications may reside in the cloud, many of our customers are very concerned with this topic.
Congratulations to San Antonio for hosting a great conference (and my birthday!) & looking forward to seeing our European counterparts in Barcelona this November.
Posted on Wed, Apr 28, 2010
On the road to the MPS Conference in San Antonio via Las Vegas. A few notes from the HP Americas Partner Conference:
Mark Hurd took the stage yesterday, presenting to the largest HP partners across North and South America. A great speaker, Hurd made it clear HP is all about the economics...and the P&L performance of HP suggests he's delivering on that objective! While he didn't spend much time on HP's Imaging & Printing Group, he was very clear about HP's focus on growing their networking business. The data presented suggested 67% of CIOs have been mandated to reduce their carbon footprint within their IT group. HP says the new networking solutions are significantly more energy efficient that provide twice the capability, with a 30%-60% savings over previous technology. Sounds quite a bit like MPS doesn't it?!
Hurd discussed the capabilities and size of HP, in both a positive and negative light. From a positive, HP has a very integrated platform covering everything from the network to pcs to servers to printers. Oh, and HP just announced they're buying Palm...just another billion dollar ‘tuck in'! http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/04/28/hp-buys-palm.html
On the other side, he acknowledged the need to work on streamlining the vast operations within HP, understanding that many processes are simply too complicated & take far too long to get an answer on ‘anything'. They also discussed the significant learning they've been going through with their MPS program and the issues around constrained product. They were very clear on the ‘thank you' to their key partners for ‘sticking with' HP during this cycle.
On the whole, it was an excellent update from HP...now hitting the road to the Managed Print Services Conference in San Antonio. Looking forward to hearing the fresh insight from Photizo on their view of the market & where MPS now sits on the Hype curve.
Posted on Thu, Jan 07, 2010
I didn't hear many people shedding tears as they said Good Riddance to 2009 last week. However, when you look back at the past ten years, should we also be happy to say goodbye to the decade?
From a stock market perspective, the 2000's will go down as the worst decade on record in terms of investor returns. Seeing the demise of Nortel, Worldcom, Enron, and the meltdown in the financial markets, I guess it's not that surprising.
In the print world, we've also seen a significant shift in the ‘players'. At the turn of the century, Xerox and Kodak employed almost 40,000 employees in Rochester. Today, that number is just over 15,000. Both of their challenges have been well documented with Kodak selling its copier business (to Danka, subsequently sold to Konica Minolta) and losing much of its dominance in the photographic market. Xerox also given up its Catbird seat to HP, Canon, and Ricoh. In addition, Xerox was forced to restructure and has since outsourced most of its copier & print technologies to partners including Okidata, Samsung, and Fuji.
We have seen HP follow the path of IBM. Both are huge ($100B+) and have become increasing aware of the need to become more service focused. Of the major OEM companies, HP appears to have the lead in migrating to this service model.
So, the decade ahead...what's next for print? Well, Managed Print Services (MPS) has become the new trendy term, with many technology companies painting themselves as service organizations. My belief is we'll see this term last the decade...and may even have it defined before 2020! We'll see continued consolidation in the market, in terms of both acquisitions and hardware partnerships (Xerox-Samsung, HP-Canon, Lexmark-Oki, etc). From a customer perspective, maximizing the efficiency and productivity of their staff will be paramount in the coming ‘jobless recovery'. Therefore, customers will demand a complete managed print program, including software, hardware, realtime asset information, and a solution that maximizes uptime while minimizing capital expenditures.
And, finally - we'll see those Consulting companies (Gartner, Photizo, Lyra) shift their business models to recognize the best print/copy service-based companies...including LaserNetworks. It's the right thing to do for both customers and the industry. Without it, are we destined to repeat our mistakes of the 00's? As of Oct. 18 2001, all 15 analysts tracked by Thomson Financial/First Call rated Enron a "buy"--12 of the 15 called it a "strong buy." Even as late as Nov. 8, the date of Enron's disclosure that nearly five years of earnings would have to be recalculated, 11 of the 15 recommended buying the stock. There were three "holds" and one "strong sell." Enron declared bankruptcy Dec 2, 2001.
Happy New Year!
Brian
Posted on Tue, Dec 15, 2009
Think back to the spring of 2009. US banks are failing by the day. House pricing are in total freefall. Unemployment is climbing at a rate of 500,000 per month. We've also just sat through another Lyra Symposium wondering where the copier & print market is about to go. If anyone is talking Managed Print Services, it's only the Photizo Group. Heck, we've been ‘doing it' for almost 15 years & we're still calling it Print Fleet Management or Cost Per Page (our trademarked brand for this print management thing).
May arrives & the Photizo Group holds the first ever Managed Print Services Conference in San Antonio. Here's to Ed & his team for pulling this off in the middle of an economic mess. But they did pull it off, with excellent attendance. So, I guess this is when Managed Print Services began. Once there's a conference, there's an industry!!! Event side note: LaserNetworks is recognized as being the Top Managed Print Provider at the Conference.
Fast forward six months & it seems everyone has a ‘Managed Print' program, with Gartner even recognizing some as (already) being in the Magic Quadrant. Congrats to HP & Xerox but wow! Imagine these hardware companies transitioning their business models from technology companies to service companies, essentially overnight. While I'm a bit sore about not seeing LaserNetworks name in that top box (or anywhere!), it's also disappointing not to see other industry leaders such as Printelligent up there.
Although, maybe we're coming down the hype curve & Gartner will begin to recognize the leaders in the space...to date, these have not been manufacturers. Two weeks ago, at a Gartner event in Toronto, they noted about MPS: "there's an over-commitment and under-delivery from many of the providers." Cause for optimism for the companies that have built their business models on MPS for 10+ years???
2010 should continue to be an exciting year for MPS, from manufacturers, service-based companies, and most of all - the consulting industry. While Gartner does have a stranglehold on the IT industry, and will only get stronger with its recent acquisition of AMR, they may be losing their Magic Quadrant Print/Copy status to Photizo or NewField IT (Europe).
It will be interesting to see if Photizo continues to maintain their first-in position & begin to promote and recognize the companies that are truly aligned with the customer. Looking forward to seeing their Magic Quadrant rating at some point down the road...
Here's to a very interesting 2010!!!
Posted on Fri, Oct 30, 2009
In 1992, IBM began to transform themselves from a hardware company to one focused on services...or to become a bit more like LaserNetworks!
With the obvious exception of size (if it matters, IBM is approx 1,000 times larger than us, with annual revenues exceeding $100 billion), both IBM and LaserNetworks are service-based organizations with a broad range of offerings, including IT Services & Consulting, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
Oh, and while we think we're pretty good, we have MANY things to learn from Big Blue. "Building a Smarter Planet" may be IBM's current marketing message...but it's a reality. They are! Three very impressive projects that IBM is currently working on include:
1. 67% of energy in the USA is lost due to grid inefficiencies. IBM is working to fix this.
2. In a small Los Angeles district, cars burned 47,000 gallons of gas in one year...looking for parking! IBM is working to fix this.
3. Only 20%-30% of reserves are extracted from existing oil wells. IBM is working to fix this.
Add in the work they're doing with the Human Genome and Global Innovation Outlook, and it's hard to imagine people ever looking to IBM for ‘just' hardware.
LaserNetworks isn't there yet...or if we are, it's on a much smaller scale. We understand our responsibility of being the world leader in IT Services for print environments. We are working to change the way companies work with documents by becoming smarter. This month, we were cited in the Photizo Publication "MPS Insights Journal" for our innovative work in Healthcare and Non-Profit organizations.
With the ongoing opportunity to reduce our impact on the environment, LaserNetworks will continue to ensure our services, offerings, and capabilities are changing to reflect the new realities. And at the end of the process, we'll ask our customers: "Has the value you needed been created by what we've done?"
Congratulations to IBM for creating a smarter planet...and a challenge to every business in a leadership position to do the same.
Posted on Mon, Oct 26, 2009
According to the Gartner Group, the average employee spends 150 hours per year looking for misplaced documents. That's almost 4 weeks of 'wasted'!!!
From my perspective, that's an alarming number & I'm happy to be below average on this one. However, if you're working in a document-intensive industry, I suppose it's possible due to the amount of information flow that exists today. This would also help explain the huge growth we've seen in our Workflow Consulting and Application Software components of our business.
In many respects, Print is the last unmanaged expense in an organization. By understanding the true pain in the environment, customers will quickly have the information necessary to drive change needed to reduce those 150 wasted hours per year. The Photizo Group calls this "Stage 3"...the understanding of Business Processes and Business Workflow. They estimate 20% of Managed Print companies understand this Stage, of which LaserNetworks is one. For additional information on the Photizo Group & the benefits around Stage 3, you can find them at managed_print_services.com. Also, in their upcoming MPS Insights Journal, the edition is dedicated to Stage 3 and includes an update on LaserNetworks and how we're supporting our customers in their quest to reduce waste and create a sound output strategy.