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I'm the President of LaserNetworks, North America's largest independent MPS Reseller. My team and I are focused on continuing LaserNetworks's innovation and leadership across the company's core business of its MPS Cost Per Page® program, established in 1996. 

I am also a founding member of the MPSA and currently sit on the board. 

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When you hear “Print Assessment” from your copier vendor, be prepared!

Posted on Mon, Jun 15, 2009
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Can hardware companies be trusted to provide an independent Print Assessment & move toward a true Managed Print offering? After hearing of a recent example of the copier “Rip & Replace” recommendation, I’d say be careful.

In the “Copier” world, the saying goes: “We want to assess how you manage your print environment and the last thing we want to do is sell you a copier.” And it’s true…the last thing they will do is push their copier on the client. It might start out with subtle recommendations & will build into a full-court press by “month-end”, when everything goes on sale. This long existing tradition is all about the sales rep & their company…nowhere can I find the benefit to the customer.

Customers are much more educated today & demand the best solutions for their environment. They now realize the best solution is often counter to what the “Copier” companies have been stating, which is remove most (or all) of your printers & replace with one high-volume device. At first glance, this may appear logical given the lower operating cost of the copier (often less than $0.01/page). However, once you build in the cost of the equipment (significantly more than printer-based devices), the limited capabilities of the device, the inefficiencies and bottlenecks associated with centralized devices, and the reality that 85% of all page volume is driven through print vs. copy, it becomes clear the best solution is rarely a copier-based device.

This transition to print-centric devices is real & is supported by revenue and profit declines across all of the major copier companies. It is also supported by the industry experts.

According to a Dec 2007 Gartner Report, when Gartner discusses copier-centric and print-centric devices, they suggest the two product groups will continue to coexist in the near term but that “print-centric A4 MFPs will emerge as the preferred device for distributed print needs.” Gartner continues “ By the end of 2011, enterprise print environments in North America will become distinctly distributed, with 75% or more of their output needs provided by A4/letter-size (8.5 x 11-inch) MFPs.”

A more recent study by the Photizo Group (www.managed-print-services.com), published in January 2009, predicts half of the traditional hardware-centric resellers will be out of business within the next five years as they fail to make the transition to the new business model. The new business model being the Managed Print Services model, where the customer comes first & the focus is on workflow and print fleet efficiency.

The new copier tactic to selling more hardware is the “Assessment”. When you hear it, please listen for the next sentence…’and the last thing we want to do today is sell you a copier’. Someday they’ll learn to be service focused & put the customer first…or, according to the Photizo Group, at least half will try.
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