Gartner places OCE in the Challengers Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS)

Océ Positioned in Challengers Quadrant of Leading Analyst Firm's Managed Print Services Report
New York, N.Y. (November 2, 2011) Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, announced today that the company has been placed by Gartner, Inc. in the Challengers Quadrant of the 2011 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services (MPS) Worldwide.*

MPS comprises an integrated bundle of services, consulting and equipment for managing an organization's complete print/copy output process. Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, issues the MPS Magic Quadrant report as a valuable starting point for organizations to identify and assess MPS providers. The MPS Magic Quadrant graphically represents the MPS marketplace and depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for the marketplace, as defined by Gartner.

MPS providers in the Challengers Quadrant, according to Gartner, "are capable of delivering services required by most enterprises and may have a long MPS track record."

"Organizations that manage their printer, copier and fax fleets can save between 10 percent and 30 percent of their print costs," according to the 2011 Magic Quadrant MPS report. "This is something organizations can do on their own if they know exactly how to proceed and have the resources to do so. If not – as is often the case – then an MPS provider can help."

Océ's MPS Offering

Océ's MPS offering, Océ MPS, helps enterprises optimize utilization of their document output equipment, achieve better control of total document output costs and improve operating efficiency. Océ MPS provides organizations with a single, accountable source for their document output. This includes copiers, printers, scanners, fax, and wide format printers, regardless of brand, service provider and ownership status. Océ MPS is an integrated managed document output service. The offering includes in-depth quantitative and qualitative assessment, pro-active maintenance, call center support, and remote monitoring via Océ's print infrastructure management tools.

About Gartner's Magic Quadrant The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2011 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

The Danwood Group - growing through and in spite of the recession

Recently, I noticed that Reprographics 101 had been visited by someone from “The Danwood Group” (that was the “service provider” name listed in one of the reports I get from Google Analytics, which reports on “visitor” activity to Repro 101.)

Always wanting to know who my blog-visitors are, I looked them up on the Internet. And, I found that “The Danwood Group” is quite a large company and that they’re based in the U.K.

Their primary business is the distribution (i.e., sale of) copiers and printers (and, copier/printers, multifunction systems.)

However, they have a very significant MPS business. And, their MPS business is growing by leaps and bounds.

They’ve been growing …. in spite of the recession! Wow, take a look at their impressive growth, 2006 through 2010 …. Here’s the Internet-address of their 2010 Financial Highlights report:

http://www.danwood.co.uk/documents/financial%20highlights%202010.pdf

About Danwood

We can trace our roots back to the 1970s, when trousers were flared and collars were large - and when print technology was vastly different to what we see today.

Over the last four decades, Danwood has built its success on two core values: product independence and customer-centricity. We have grown up during the technology revolution. From the large, noisy print and fax machines of yesteryear; to today's compact, multifunctional devices, intelligent systems and wireless technology.

Key facts

• There are 40 Danwood offices in our network, including four national distribution centres, our head office in Lincolnshire and our regional sales and service centres.

• We are the largest, completely independent provider in the marketplace - a position we are committed to maintaining.

• We continually seek to innovate - for example we were first to market with handheld devices for engineers; and we offer 24/7 online service call tracking.

• We have installed or manage over 74,000 machines in the UK and Ireland.

• Faults are a fact of life; however our 370-strong team of service engineers maintains 97% uptime across our entire machine base.

• We listen to our customers. One reason why our national call centre is manned by our trained in-house team - guaranteeing you will always speak to us (not a recording or an outsourced service).

• Our engineers respond within just 4 hours (from when your call is logged, not from when our operator calls you back - there is a difference!)

• We take quality management very seriously and are ISO 9001 accredited.

• We are environmentally responsible, continually finding new ways to reduce the environmental impact of our own and our customers' operations. We are proud to be ISO 14001 accredited.

As an accredited SAFEcontractor member, we’re committed to very high standards of health and safety within the business.

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More on the "managed print services" (MPS) business

Strangely enough, “Reprographics 101” has attracted visitors from many different countries outside the U.S. Sometimes I can tell “who” visited the blog, but most of the time, not. For example, the other day, someone from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, visited “Reprographics 101” and spent nearly 30 minutes reading articles. I suspect that this visitor is a Xerox wide-format dealer interested in finding information about Xerox’s recent decision to stop selling wide-format equipment.

Within the past couple of day, someone from “The Danwood Group” visited “Reprographics 101.” So, I decided to see “who” The Danwood Group is.

The Danwood Group operates in the U.K. Here’s what they say about their business activities. But, after you read this, make sure to skip below, because I’m then going to “tie this in” to the “managed print services” (MPS) business.

The Danwood Group

In just four decades, Danwood has become the largest independent supplier of office printing equipment, consumables and associated management services in Europe. Today we support companies and organisations large and small via our network of over 40 offices: combining our specialist expertise with the personal touch.

Our business support services span four core areas:

• Consultancy, advice and guidance on print effectiveness and cost reduction.

• Hardware, software and systems for the print, management, processing, storage and retrieval of documents.

• Servicing and maintenance of equipment and systems.

• Consumables for print, copy and fax technology.

Product independence makes Danwood a different kind of provider. We are able to build exactly the right print solution for your needs by working directly with multiple manufacturers whilst still remaining accessible to you as your local dealer on the ground. We focus on your requirements, not ours - and we stay abreast of new technologies too.

One of the operating companies owned by The Danwood Group is this one:

Insatsu Chosa^® is our print investigation consultancy team, specialising in realising cost savings and improving efficiency across organisations.

In the previous sentence, if you click on the name of the company, “Insatsu Chosa” (which is a very strange name), doing so will take you to Insatsu Chosa’s web-site.

If you are interesting in learning more about the “scope” of the “managed print services” business and how to “present” your company as a “managed print services” provider, you can learn that – see that – at Insatsu Chosa’s web-site. I think they did an outstanding job of explaining the business and what it’s all about.

HP's Managed Print Services (MPS) deal with The Walt Disney Company

Here's an interesting “white paper” on the Managed Print Services (MPS) deal HP did with The Walt Disney Company.

You’ll find this white paper posted on my Google Docs site; here’s the link:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B81al4kFAU9JNDNmMThjYTEtMzY3Mi00MTIzLTk0OTYtZjRjN2VjMTFlZmM0&hl=en&authkey=CNjqtTA

Results of Beverly Hills USD multifunction copier-printer bid - IS THIS AN MPS DEAL?

On February 28, 2011, the Beverly Hills (CA) Unified School District awarded a contract to “Image IV” (a Konica/Minolta dealer) for 20 small-format multifunction copier-printers.

Bids were invited on a “monthly-lease-cost” (for each machine) PLUS “cost-per-click” for each copy/print (cost-per-copy/print to include toner and maintenance.)

Vendors who submitted bids for this procurement included:

- Image IV (a Southern California Konica/Minolta dealer)

-Xerox Corp

-Canon Corp

-Docusource (Ricoh dealer)

-LDI (Canon dealer)

-Ricoh Corp

Here’s some of the details of the bid award recommendation, as put forth by the BH USD administrator responsible for this procurement:

Re: Acceptance and Award of Bid # 10-11/006 Multi-function Digital Color and Black & White Devices

Background:

Due to the age, older technology, and downtime of the some of the District copiers and in the interest of obtaining the most competitive prices available, the District has conducted a formal bid for the replacement of the older copiers.

Current Consideration:

The bid was for a sixty month lease of new multifunction copiers, including service and supplies (excluding paper & staples). There are nineteen copiers scheduled for replacement, and one that will be added for a total of twenty multifunction copiers.

The results of the bid are as shown on the attachment.

Administrative Recommendation:

The Administration recommends that the Board of Education accept the bid and award the contract to Image IV Systems based on their low bid and ability to meet bid specification.

I’ve placed a copy of the “bid abstract” on Google Docs, and you can access that document to see what each vendor bid by clicking on this link:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1al4kFAU9JdFJUM3BFcVpfYTVrWGN5ODlPa0czSnc&hl=en&authkey=CITSiegP

There’s been a lot of discussion in the reprographics industry, the last year, about reprographers getting involved in offering “MPS” – managed print services. Was this an “MPS” deal? And, if so, why did not a single reprographer participate in this bid procurement?

Or, was this not an “MPS” deal? And, if the answer is, “no, it is not an MPS deal,” then I’d like to see someone provide a thorough explanation of - - -

- What is an “MPS” deal?

- How does an “MPS” deal differ from an “FM” deal?

- Which “MPS” deals should reprographers pursue?

At the upcoming IRgA Convention, there will be a breakout (educational) session with this title:

“MPS – Why This Is Key to the Growth of Your Firm”

presenter: Ed Crowley, President & CEO, Photizo Group

If “MPS” is truly “the key” to the “growth” of a reprographer’s business, I’d surely like to have a complete definition of what “MPS” is!

Xerox MPS saves City of Rochester, N.Y. over $2 Million

Xerox MPS (managed-print-services) deal saves City of Rochester, N.Y. over $2 Million

(make sure that you scroll down and read the comment below the Press Release)

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Part of the Press Release from the issuing company

Rochester, N.Y. – While many cities struggle to find ways to stretch budgets to fund essential community services, the city of Rochester, N.Y., is working with Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) to save more than $2 million in printing costs.
 


"Xerox came to us with a solution to a problem we didn't even realize we had," said David Mayor, Rochester's chief information officer. "They provided an easy and affordable way to use new and existing technology to reduce costs and really address some of our financial challenges."
 


The city will take control of print costs by applying the same managed print services (MPS) tools and techniques Xerox uses to save millions for large corporations.

Under the five-year Xerox Print Services (XPS) contract, Xerox will help city employees spend more time serving the community and less time on print-related activities by making it faster and easier to fax, scan, copy and print.
 


By reducing the number of printers, copiers and fax machines from 459 to 168, and installing 24 Xerox ColorQube 9200 Series multifunction printers (MFPs) to replace single-function machines, the city will also reduce the cost of everyday color printing and meet its sustainability goals. The ColorQube 9200 Series uses cartridge-free solid ink technology to generate 90 percent less supplies waste and reduce the effects of manufacturing and transportation on the environment. 



"Municipalities need to do the best they can to save taxpayers money, and the city of Rochester is at the forefront of using MPS as a creative solution to this challenge," said Russell Peacock, president, Xerox North America.

Joel’s comment:

After reading this Press Release, it “sounds like” Xerox approached the City with an MPS plan (or strategy) and was selected as the City’s MPS vendor on a “sole-source” basis. I.E., without the City holding a competitive-procurement-process to select an MPS vendor. While I don’t think that’s what actually happened, it might have happened that way. And, if it did happen that way (sole-source), then that was absolutely wrong for the City of Rochester to do. MPS (and copiers and printers, etc.) is not “rocket science” and, for a City (or, for that matter, any County, any State or the Federal Government) to award a procurement (MPS or otherwise related to printing, document management, reprographics, etc.) on a “sole-source” basis, without the benefit of competitive bids or competitive proposals, is downright WRONG. If you see that happen in your local market, go to the mat on that; attend public meetings of city council members, county commissioners, etc. and speak up!

Xerox to manage print operations for Kelly Services (MPS)

PRESS RELEASE FROM XEROX….

Rochester, N.Y. – Friday, March 04, 2011

Xerox Corporation is deploying a managed print services (MPS) strategy across Kelly Services' North American operations to reduce costs up to 10 percent by better managing documents throughout its branch network.

The five-year Enterprise Print Services PDF file (EPS) contract includes updating Kelly's fleet of copiers, printers and fax machines with more efficient technology and reducing IT infrastructure costs through the consolidation of these devices – from 2,700 to less than 900. Using EPS to redirect print jobs to the most cost-effective machine, Kelly will also meet environmental sustainability goals by reducing paper use, power consumption and landfill waste by more than 50 percent.

"As we continue to look within the organization to streamline costs, this is another example of unlocking savings while creating the foundation for significant business process improvement," said Michael Webster, executive vice president and general manager, Americas for Kelly Services. "Xerox allows us to provide quality customer service in a timely manner using current technology."
 


By bringing multiple output devices, print budgets and vendor support systems under Xerox management, Kelly is reducing the time employees spend on print-related activities and freeing them to focus on the business of providing workforce consulting and staffing services. Xerox's change management programs will also help them adapt to more efficient technology and work processes.
 


"Our clients are seeking MPS as a business strategy for long-term growth, not just a simple solution to keep costs in check," said Stephen Cronin, president, Xerox Global Document Outsourcing. "Kelly recognizes that a more efficient print infrastructure is smart business – and an important first step for other operational advances."
 


Xerox was positioned by Gartner, Inc., in the Leaders Quadrant in the 2010 Magic Quadrant for Managed Print Services Worldwide1, and was recognized as a leader in IDC's Worldwide and U.S. Outsourced Print and Document Services Forecast and Analysis2 and in IDC's 2010 MPS MarketScape report3. Xerox was also named a managed print services market leader in Quocirca's European Vendor "MPS Comes of Age" report 2010.

Before you run out half-cocked and begin promoting MPS .....

Before you make the decision to extend your business into “managed print services” (MPS) and before you announce to your customers and prospects that your company is going to offer MPS, I’d encourage you to do your homework! And, for that matter, lots of homework!

Although that business may “sound easy” and although many reprographers are already heavily involved in providing “FM” services - and one ‘scope’ of FM services is, in my opinion, very much the same as a “true” managed print services offering – you need to be aware of what others in the MPS business are doing, how they are pricing what they are offering and what it’s going to cost you to be involved in the MPS business. You also need to be aware that the MPS business can prove to be capital-intensive.

As I mentioned in a previous articles about MPS on this blog, there were two ‘breakout sessions” at least year’s IRgA Convention about MPS, and there will be another “breakout session” about MPS at this year’s IRgA Convention (in late April, in Vegas.) My guess is that the IRgA Board has concluded that MPS is something that reprographers should consider offering. Why else would the Board have approved IRgA Convention “breakout sessions” about MPS?

MPS is not just about acquiring, installing, supplying, and managing a fleet of imaging devices and producing reports that show MPS customers where they are spending their money for “output.” In the “broad sense” of MPS, MPS requires that an MPS-vendor be quite knowledgeable about document “workflow” and how that workflow affects “the customer’s” business, both communications-wise and cost-wise. An MPS “sale” is definitely a “consultative” sale, for sure. Also from a broad-scope perspective, MPS is about helping a customer with its needs for “output” and “distribution”, and an MPS program would consider; a) the most appropriate fleet of imaging devices for the customer’s office(s), b) the most appropriate document management software to best manage both internal printing and distributed printing, c) selection of vendors to be used by the customer for “remote” or “outsourced” printing and distribution requirements (this, negotiated by the MPS vendor), and d) reporting “total” spend to the customer, possibly broken out “by division”, and/or “by department”, and/or “by project”, etc.

In order for you to be able to offer a “smart” MPS proposal (and, by that, I mean a proposal where a customer will read it and conclude, “heck, these people are pro’s, they know what they are doing and what the MPS business is all about”), you first need to do a comprehensive survey of the customer’s business, and, if you don’t already have the experience doing this type of survey, you will need to learn how to do a survey. That also means that you need to figure out what questions the survey should ask.

Okay, in talking about the MPS business in the manner I just have, it was not my intention to make MPS sound like “rocket science”, for, to me, it certainly isn’t rocket science. Earlier, I mentioned “FM” and “MPS” in the same paragraph. If you’ve ever done an “wide-scope” FM for an A/E firm, and, by “wide-scope”, I mean that your agreement with the A/E firm includes “on-site” services/output (equipment, consumables, service, paper, etc.) (whether staffed or unstaffed does not particularly matter), off-site services, distribution services, document management services, and, where you are committed to capturing and reporting “cost” to your customer, and where your company is the “exclusive” vendor to the customer for these services (in other words, your company touches virtually everything the customer prints and/or distributes), your “broad-scope” “FM” service is an MPS. Many reprographers already have this experience, and they have, for years, had experience designing comprehensive surveys and working with customers and prospects to complete surveys. Personally, I actually think that reprographers have an advantage over “equipment dealers and distributors” in the MPS space. Years ago, reprographers, who were the first to offer short-run, large-format, digital color printing (when color labs and screen printers were still totally analog), had an advantage in the large-format, digital color space, but reprographers let that advantage slip away. Only recently, and this, of course, happened because the reprographics community was slammed very hard by the decline in business from A/E/C firms, have reprographers renewed initiatives to pursue, more heavily, large-format, digital color printing business. Will reprographers sit back and let non-reprographers eat away at the MPS business reprographers should be, and are capable of, pursuing?

Any business you venture into carries risk. There is no guarantee that you will be successful (or make money) in the MPS business. But, there is that old saying, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” If you don’t try it, you won’t know. Some companies have been very successful in the MPS business, while some others have not. That’s why I encourage research; if you better understand the “opportunity”, you will better understand the risks and the potential rewards.

The other day, I looked at information about a company known as “WorkFlowOne.” When you visit this company’s web-site and click-on “managed services”, you will see, on the left-hand side of the page that comes up, these “sub-titles”:

DNA Services Network

Managed Services

Sourcing Services

Technology Services

Logistics and Distribution Services

Consulting Services

Evidently, this company offers a wide-array of services in the MPS space. They say that their “roots” (the two core firms that were merged into one firm in 2005) date back to 1866. No, that’s not a typo, 1866 is the correct date. Although I do not know what WorkFlowOne’s annual sales are (I am too lazy to look for that), they must be a fairly large company. I say that because, when WorkFlowOne recently (on March 2, 2011) emerged from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, they said that, through bankruptcy, they reduced their debt by $149 million and reduced their annual cash debt-service burden by approximately $50 million. My guess is that any company that’s able to reduce its debt by that amount, must have had a lot of debt to begin with! And, if they were a small company, that they would not have had a significant amount of debt to begin with. This company went into Chapter 11 on September 29, 2010. I have no idea how they managed to get themselves into a position where they had to file Chapter 11. I have no interest in wasting the time that would be necessary to invest in order to figure out why this company got into trouble. Did they get in trouble because of the MPS aspect of their business? Or, was their trouble caused by other aspects of their business? The current Chairman of Workflow one is a turnaround/restructuring specialist, and, interestingly enough, his background includes a degree in “aerospace engineering.” So, where I said earlier in this article, that the MPS business isn’t “rocket science”, well, maybe I was wrong to say that!

To conclude this very long-winded post, I just want to say, once again (my friends well know my propensity to be redundant and repetitive), that, if you are thinking about offering MPS services, do your homework. Develop a list of things you think you need to know and consider - and devote a sufficient number of “off-hours” to do your research. After you “think you know” what the MPS business is all about and have come to an initial decision as to where your business can run with MPS, talk to your friends and associates who’ve had experience with MPS.

(Print) Volumes Shrinking, (Print) Volumes Shifting – To Where?

The “Photizo Group” is involved in the MPS (managed-print-services) business, and, since the MPS business is of interest to reprographers, the IRgA has, again this year, arranged for Ed Crowley, CEO of The Photizo Group”, to present at the upcoming IRgA Convention.

This is the title of the “breakout session” that Ed will be presenting:

“MPS – Why This Is Key to the Growth of Your Firm”

Today, I found an article at “mpsinsights.com” (which is operated by the Photizo Group) that I think reprographers would be interested in reading, especially those who are interested in “MPS.”

This is the title of the article:

“Volumes Shrinking, Volumes Shifting – To Where?”

By: Rob Sethre | February 28th, 2011

And, here are the two “lead in” paragraphs:

“Most imaging experts agree that overall output volumes are declining. But for several reasons (see previous blogs), this is not the end of the world – or even the end of the industry. In its most straightforward version, MPS is the key strategy to capture a bigger piece of a smaller pie – actually, the whole pie. Also, MPS offers additional new revenue streams in the software and services space to compensate for dwindling revenues in the core business area.”

“But there is still another aspect. While MPS has traditionally concentrated on unifying the printer and copier/MFP worlds, the central print room (CRD) is still often overlooked.”

You can access the complete article at this link:

http://www.mpsinsights.com/our-insights/volumes-shrinking-volumes-shifting-to-where/