eseller
.co.uk
Print.IT Reseller 35
Year in review
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Martin Fairman,
UK and Ireland channel director,
Lexmark
More solutions on the horizon
We have seen positive growth this
year due partly to our copier, on-line
and mail order partners. Midway
through 2013 we expanded our
partnership with Westcoast to enhance
channel reach. Our other distributors,
Exertis Micro-P, Midwich and Ingram
Micro, have also performed very well
and continue to be valued partners in
support of our growth strategy.
Solutions will continue to be a huge
focus for us in 2014, as we expand our
offerings to our partners to enable them
to maximise profits and add value for their
customers. We will be announcing a range
of cloud-hosted solutions, one of which
will be a ‘hosting and grading’ application
specifically aimed at the education sector.
We will continue with our recruitment
of partners who want to move their
organisations into MPS/BPS and sell these
lucrative cloud-based solutions.
Nigel Allen,
Marketing Director,
KYOCERA
Document Solutions UK Ltd
Reliability brings its own
rewards
Over the last year we’ve seen margins
being squeezed, and the economic
situation continues to be tight for
everyone. Now more than ever,
people are looking for robust, reliable
products that are built to last, so
longevity of kit and low running costs
are more important than ever.
KYOCERA’s 100% indirect policy has
definitely proved beneficial in the current
economic climate. Resellers have the
confidence to rely on us and our loyalty –
the fact that we provide extensive resource
and services to support them and their
customers is also a factor. The end result
is that we’re still growing as a company
because we create a safe environment in
which to do business.
In 2014 we expect to see increased
interest in the ‘best practice’ of managing
print – from basic managed print services
through to Cloud print where people are
utilising Managed Document Services
in the Cloud, which, by cutting out
infrastructure costs, saves significant
amounts of the total IT budget.
Steve Mitchell,
Group Product Marketing
Manager,
KYOCERA
Document Solutions
Customised apps to take
centre stage
We’ve seen significant market share
growth around A4 MFP solutions, A3
MFPs and colour printing as a whole
in 2013.
The competitive trend is continuing,
which reduces the average selling price
and highlights the need for genuine
consumables and value added services
which will complement the functionality
of the MFP. At KYOCERA we’ve focused
on our HyPAS platform, creating over 100
apps ranging from our free Mobile Print
App and free Login Manager App to Print
& Follow and PinPoint Scan, which are
designed for SMEs, and SIMS Connector,
BioStore and Teaching Assistant which
support the education sector.
In 2014 we’ll see the emphasis on
customised apps and services, including
Cloud, continue and look forward to
developments in bureau scanning, 3D
printing and consultancy.
Gary Downey,
group marketing director,
Balreed
Demand continues to gather
pace
2013 has been a huge year for
Balreed. Our service-led approach
has really helped us drive organic
growth; we’ve won some great new
business and managed those roll-
outs well; and, on top of that, we
have completed two acquisitions in
the last five months.
Demand in the marketplace has
gathered pace. Whilst financing is still an
Achilles heel for some, we have seen an
increasing number of clients develop a
real desire to move on from their current
suppliers, unhappy with indifferent service or
escalating costs, and do something about it.
How to take advantage of cloud
technology and how best to cater for mixed
and mobile technology environments are
topics for which we have experienced
increasing numbers of enquiries from
clients. There is also an appetite among
many senior buyers to step up from print
infrastructure and improve efficiency within
their businesses as they plot their recovery
from the recession. We have developed a lot
of unique offerings for these customers and
expect demand to grow further in 2014.
The pro-actively supported MPS we
provide to clients is a perfect platform
on which to build processes and we are
looking forward to working closely with
existing, as well as new, clients to help
them achieve second and third phase
improvements in their document strategies.
Andrew Hall,
marketing manager,
Oki Systems UK
Innovation opening up new
markets
In the first half of the year SMEs
were still acting cautiously. This
resulted in very stiff competition
in the market, with customers
spending more time researching
affordable alternatives to major
investments.
The continuing need to minimise
overheads has led to consolidation of
printer stock within businesses and
greater take up of multifunction devices
to streamline printing processes. In turn,
this has caused managed print services to
evolve into managed document services,
which puts the emphasis on workflow
plus document storage and security.
Pricing was very keen, but we
have adapted to this trend with some
compelling promotional offers and new
models that meet market demand for
affordability, energy-efficiency and a
smaller footprint.
Oki Systems UK has always been at
the forefront of innovation and 2013 was
no exception. We launched a new range
of A4 colour and mono multifunction
devices that have already won several
awards. In addition, we launched the first-
ever LED 5 Toner device (below) offering
clear spot applications or white toner
printing on dark substrates. This is unique
in the industry and very cost effective too.
The key growth area for OKI is
managed document services. OKI has
been offering managed print services for
some time, but in September we launched
our global brand, smart managed
document solutions. With the continuing
drive to cut paper use, we predict new
focus on smarter, streamlined processes
and document management.
We are very excited about 2014.
Our new 5 Toner device will be key for
us in the early part of the year and our
enterprise class A4 multifunction devices
will continue to reveal new opportunities
in the managed services arena. OKI is
already working on new releases for the
latter part of 2014, which will open up
new markets for us.
There is also
an appetite
among many
senior buyers
to step up
from print
infrastructure
and improve
efficiency...
