Do you want to become an expert in the MPS business?

One method of educating oneself about the MPS business is to learn as much as you can from others by following “the process” that others are employing (or have employed) to get from point A to point B; point A being an overall, enterprise-wide assessment of “where we are today” and “where we need to get to” and point B being the conclusion of the process, where, after an RFP is developed, issued and the results are in, an MPS deal is put in place.

While doing some Google-research this morning, I came across a couple of interesting documents – produced by the I.T. Department at Butler University.

About Butler - Butler University is a private university located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university offers 60 degree programs to 4,400 students through six colleges: business, communication, education, liberal Arts and sciences, pharmacy and health sciences, and fine arts. It comprises a 290-acre (1.2 km²) campus located seven miles (11 km) from downtown Indianapolis.

Even though Butler is an institution of learning, its needs (for the University and its professors and students) for “copying and printing” are not unlike the needs you would find at a company of similar size or at a government agency of similar size.

Management at the University, likely spurred on by suggestions from the procurement and I.T. departments, decided to undertake a thorough analysis of the University’s print/copy needs, and, after looking through the two documents I found during my Google-search, the I.T. department has done an excellent job, so far.

You could use these documents as part of YOUR learning process about the MPS business. If this were a college course, you could break it (the process they went through or are still going through) into four parts:

Part One – Overall Enterprise-wide Print Assessment Study

Part Two – Evaluation of Study Results and Determination of “What to Do”

Part Three – Development of RFP; Distribution of RFP

Part Four – Selection of MPS vendor

As to the two documents I found, here's the beginning of one of them (you’ll later find a link to the complete “study summary” document):

Butler University’s Print Study Summary

The goal of the print study is to assess Butler's document output systems (copiers, printers, multifunction devices, etc.) in order to identify opportunities that will provide Butler with the best "rightsizing" opportunities, green alternatives and enhanced usability options. The assessment will research the current state of our printing and copying environments in order to understand future needs and how best to meet them.

The Current State:

With the aid of Butler University faculty, staff and students, the Ascher Group - http://www.theaschergroup.com - is conducting a document output study to determine the current fleet size, cost, location and usage. The analysis of the document output fleet has been broken into three areas: Copiers, HP Printers and Kyocera Printers.

Preliminary Print Assessment Summary Report

http://tinyurl.com/7noq48w

And, the other document I found was an Excel file that maps out the entire process Butler is going through (or, if they have completed the process by now, that Butler went through):

Print Assessment Status Report (Excel file)

http://tinyurl.com/893dbmq

To complete your homework, you would need to request the RFP that Butler came up with and copies of the proposals that Butler received.

Note that Butler University hired a consulting firm – by the name of The Ascher Group – to help guide the University through the entire process. Evidently, the Ascher Group has expertise in the MPS arena. If you visit Ascher’s web-site, you will likely find one or more “case studies” regarding enterprises that they’ve guided through the MPS process.

Xerox Reports 14% increase in EPS on Flat Revenue

Growth in services was driven by an 8 percent increase in both business process outsourcing and document outsourcing.

Managed print services are proving not only to be the industry standard but also an engine of growth for Xerox's business.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Press release from the issuing company

Xerox Corporation announced today fourth-quarter 2011 results that include adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents, up 14 percent from fourth-quarter 2010, and $1.3 billion in operating cash flow. Adjusted EPS excludes 7 cents related to amortization of intangibles, resulting in GAAP EPS of 26 cents.

The company ended 2011 with full-year adjusted EPS up 15 percent, pro-forma revenue up 2 percent and operating cash flow of $2 billion. "Our performance reflects Xerox's operational discipline in delivering strong bottom-line results while scaling our services business and maintaining our leadership in document technology," said Ursula Burns, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer.

In the fourth quarter, total revenue of $6 billion was flat; revenue from the company's services business was up 6 percent, and revenue from its technology business was down 5 percent. Growth in services was driven by an 8 percent increase in both business process outsourcing and document outsourcing. Technology revenue, which represents the sale of document systems, supplies, technical service and financing of products, was significantly impacted by economic weakness in Europe.

"While operating in a challenging economic environment, we've grown our global market share for equipment revenue, further strengthening our industry leadership. Installs of Xerox equipment increased 8 percent in the fourth quarter. And, our managed print services are proving not only to be the industry standard but also an engine of growth for our business," said Burns.

"Signings for our diverse services offerings were up 15 percent in the fourth quarter," Burns added. "Our services portfolio remains a competitive advantage -- providing clients cost-efficient ways to run more productive enterprises and benefitting our business for the long term through a healthy base of recurring revenue."

The increase in services signings continues to put near-term pressure on gross margins as Xerox makes initial investments to implement new contracts. Fourth-quarter gross margin was 32.2 percent, and selling, administrative and general expenses improved to 19.3 percent of revenue. Fourth-quarter 2011 results include 2 cents from a curtailment gain net of restructuring expenses. Operating margin of 10 percent was down 0.4 points from fourth-quarter 2010.

Full-year 2011 results include:

• Net income of $1.3 billion, adjusted net income of $1.6 billion, up 21 percent

• Total revenue of $22.6 billion, up 5 percent, 2 percent pro-forma

• Operating margin of 9.8 percent, up 0.3 points pro-forma

• Operating cash flow of $2 billion

• $700 million in share repurchase

The company expects first-quarter 2012 GAAP earnings of 17 to 20 cents per share. First-quarter adjusted EPS is expected to be 21 to 24 cents per share.

Full-year 2012 GAAP earnings are expected to be 97 cents to $1.03 per share. Full-year adjusted earnings are expected to be $1.12 to $1.18 per share, including restructuring.

The company also expects $2 billion to $2.3 billion in cash flow from operations for 2012.

The Xerox board of directors recently increased the company's share repurchase authorization by $500 million to more than $1.3 billion. With this authorization, the company expects to repurchase between $900 million and $1.1 billion in Xerox shares during 2012.

Xerox Corporation Acquires LaserNetworks Of Canada

Wednesday, 4 Jan 2012 12:00pm EST

Xerox Corporation announced it has acquired LaserNetworks, a managed print services (MPS) provider in Canada that helps businesses cut costs and reduce the time employees spend on print-related activities.

Based in Oakville, Ontario, LaserNetworks provides MPS solutions that include print device tracking, centralized service and supply management and document routing. It will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Xerox Canada with LaserNetworks founder and CEO Chris Stoate continuing to lead the company, reporting to Shapansky.

Terms were not disclosed.

Xerox Leads Global Managed Print Services Market (but, David did defeat Goliath, so don't be intimidated by any competitor)

Reprographers (and others who visit Reprographics 101 and who may have an interest in MPS), please note that, although very large companies (such as Xerox) have certain competitive advantages because of their size, scope, geographic reach and financial resources, it is not impossible for smaller competitors to successfully compete with very large companies for MPS business. I know that for fact, since, in my prior life, we (my former companies) did successfully compete head-to-head, on certain FM and MPS-like deals, with much larger companies (including Xerox, IKON and others.)

So, reprographers don’t lose hope; don’t ever take the position that you can’t successfully compete. As for two examples: (a) we replaced Xerox as the “staffed” FM/MPS vendor for a very large engineering firm. Xerox had been inside that firm for around 8 years. Our advantages and relationships outweighed/overcame Xerox’s advantages and relationships, (b) we won, in a joint venture with Savin Corp, the staffed FM/county-wide MPS business from a major county, successfully defeating Xerox and other larger companies in the first completion and subsequently won a 2^nd competition for that same deal, successfully defeating Xerox, Canon, etc. In an FDOT (department of transportation) staffed FM/MPS deal, we made the short list of four, and three of the four companies that were not short-listed were all much larger companies, including Xerox and OCE (and OCE had been the previous vendor.) So, based on my own experience, size, scope, geographic reach and financial resources don’t always swing deals in favor of very large companies; it is often “the best strategy” (and comprehensive solutions that are truly in the best interest of the customer and good relationships with the customer) that wins the day. Don’t be intimidated. David did defeat Goliath!

Okay, having said all that, let me now say congratulations to Xerox for the number one MPS ranking it has achieved!

Xerox Leads Global Managed Print Services Market

Friday, December 09, 2011

Press release from the issuing company

Xerox Corporation remains the worldwide leader in managed print services (MPS), as businesses large and small enlist the company’s help to cut costs and reduce the time employees spend on print-related activities. 
 


According to Gartner, Inc., the MPS market experienced double-digit growth in 2010. Xerox led the way, as more and more IT leaders discovered the benefits of better managing the way documents are printed, shared and updated. For example:



Large organizations: British Airways, Cisco, Kelly Services, Cuyahoga Community College and University College London Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are using Xerox Enterprise Print Services PDF file to make it easier and more cost-effective to print across multiple networked offices, in-house print centers and on the road. Through ACS, A Xerox Company, Xerox integrates MPS into the IT infrastructure to help businesses convert paper into digital, simplifying and speeding up workflows in ways that save time and money.



Organizations with a smaller print infrastructure: The cities of Rochester, N.Y. and Riverside, Calif. and the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College are using Xerox Print Services to take control of print costs by applying the same tools and techniques used to save millions for large corporations. Xerox provides remote support for break-fix, supplies and procurement to manage their in-house printing and copying.
 


Small and medium-sized businesses: Clients are working with Xerox partners around the world to better manage print devices from multiple vendors using Xerox Partner Print Services PDF file and PagePack® 3.0.



Additionally, this week, Xerox was ranked by Gartner as the worldwide market share leader with 33 percent of MPS revenues in 2010. Gartner also positioned Xerox in the Leaders Quadrant of the 2011 Magic Quadrant for MPS Worldwide.
 


“Xerox continues to lead the MPS market because of our ability to adapt to the needs of our customers,” said Stephen Cronin, president, Xerox Global Document Outsourcing. “We believe our position in the market is confirmed not only by analyst rankings but also through the return on investment and real business benefits our customers realize by taking a simpler and more effective approach to their document management.

The Managed Print Services (MPS) business isn't Rocket Science

There’s been so much talk about “Managed Print Services” (MPS) over the past couple of years, I decided that I’d take a few minutes to share with you my thoughts about the “MPS Business”, for whatever that’s worth (probably, not much, but, whatever….)

The first think that I’d like to say about the MPS business is that, although some would like you to think that the MPS business is like rocket science (in other words, that you have to be a genius to be in, or do well in, that business), it definitely “ain’t” rocket science. From my perspective, having been heavily involved in the “FM” (OnSite services) business during both of my previous careers in the reprographics business and having done pre-sales analysis, proposals, sales and implementations of staffed FM’s and unstaffed FM’s, the MPS business, which is not much different from the FM business (if, in fact, there’s much of a difference at all), is certainly not rocket science. Any reprographer can get involved in the MPS business (or the FM) business. It’s not all that difficult! Brings to mind the old saying, “making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Every day (except when closed for Holidays and weekends), reprographers operate their stores and production facilities; those stores and production facilities are filled with computers and reprographics equipment; the equipment requires maintenance, the equipment requires consumables, rules are established for which jobs should be done on this and that. Using work-orders, output is tracked by order. So, in essence, how is operating a reprographics facility any different than operating an MPS business at a customer-site? It’s not all that different. Frankly, the reprographics business is a lot more complicated than the MPS business.

I’ve always viewed “sales” in the reprographics business as a “consultative” sales process, rather than a hard-sell process, the latter being typical for selling copiers (at least it was, years ago) or for selling cars. My brother, who is in the car business, will tell you that the key to selling a car is to get the customer to fall in love with the vehicle. Once that’s done, the sales job comes down to price (at least it does for most customers.) In the reprographics business, it is very important to determine the scope of services each specific customer will benefit from having, and, of course, it is important to be knowledgeable about the customer’s business, work-process, work-flow and how that customer interfaces with other project participants who are working at other firms. And, it is important to be knowledgeable about reprographics equipment options, document management software and processes, and I.T. issues that relate to that (there are other things I’m forgetting to say as I write this post, but I trust you get the drift). When you – the sales representative – and your company have that base of knowledge and are committed to doing “the right think” for your customer, you are in a position to be a “consultative” salesperson. When you think about that, have not reprographers been doing “consultative” sales for years and years, well before anyone coined the terms “FM” or “MPS”?

What prompted me to write the above paragraph was that I recently came across an article on the web-site of the Photizo Group (this article also appears on the web-site of the author who wrote the article, I’ll give you a link later on), and the title of this article is “Throwing out the ABC’s for a New Generation of Sales Reps”. After reading that article, I found myself thinking, “what, this guy must have come from the copier sales/leasing business?; evidently, he did not have, like I had, the good fortune of working with reprographics sales reps who know that consultative selling (which is my spin on how he characterized what’s necessary to sell MPS) is necessary if you’re truly going to build trust and target solutions that are highly beneficial to the customer. To me, the greatest compliment an FM/MPS customer can pay you is to say, after an FM/MPS service has been implemented, “thank you for bringing this business model to our attention and for working with us to develop an excellent solution for our needs. It’s great - we should have done this years ago.” We received compliments like that, as far back as 1984! I’m sure that most reprographers who’ve gotten involved in MPS/FM’s have heard that as well. So, reprographers, trust that you and your sales reps probably know more about “consultative” selling than most of the players in the MPS business who evolved from copier sales.

About the article I mentioned above, this next paragraph is the Photizo Group’s lead-in to that article…..

Throwing Out the ABCs for a New Generation of Sales Reps “A pioneer in the MPS industry, Brian Stevenson, former president of LaserNetwork and president of footPRINT Managed Services, discusses the lessons he learned while building one of the largest independent MPS providers, as well as what a successful MPS sales rep is really about. Read this article and more at MPS Insights Pro.” You can also find that same article on Brian’s company’s web-site; http://footprintmps.com/

I don’t know anything about Brian’s background, except what was said by the paragraph on the Photizo Group’s web-site. Presently, he is the President of “footPRINT Managed Services” and was formerly the President of LaserNetwork. Both of those companies are in the MPS business, in one way shape or form. Did he sell LaserNetorks and then, sometime later on, start up a new business? Apparently, Brian’s new company, footPRINT, offers consulting services – to companies who want to be in the MPS business and to prospective MPS customers who want to go with the MPS business model, but who aren’t exactly sure how to go about it, or what it’s all about.

Anyway, after I visited footPRINT’s web-site, I then proceeded to the web-site of Brian’s previous company:

http://www.lasernetworks.com/

I was very amused when I read this particular paragraph on LaserNetwork’s web-site:

The COST PER PAGE® program, pioneered in 1996, includes on-site support of all printing and imaging devices and networks, management of all printer and imaging fleet assets, and provisioning of all printing supplies, everything except paper and power, for a pre-determined, fixed cost per page fee.

Pioneered what?! Heck, as far back as 1984, our first company, Rowley-Scher Reprographics, was offering a “staffed FM” service for customers where “all costs” (equipment, equipment maintenance, consumables AND labor AND PAPER) were included in set, firm prices “per print” (for small-format output) and “per sq. ft.” (for large-format output), and we were providing “cost by project information” (or cost by department) information as well. 1984, more than a decade before LaserNetwork “pioneered” its COST PER PAGE® program. And, Rowley-Scher was certainly not the first reprographer to offer a “per print, per sq ft”. National Reprographics (NRI) in NYC and The Louis Frey Co in NYC were both doing that, years before Rowley-Scher started doing that, and there were several other reprographers doing that in other areas of the U.S.

Okay, I gotta end this post, and I’m going to end it by saying that, if you are a reprographer and are not in the FM or MPS business (or whatever you want to call it), then you are missing out on a very profitable piece of the pie, and your customers are “up for grab.” As I said, it “ain’t” rocket science. All you’ve got to do is “just do it.”

One last comment: at the recent ERA convention, a reprographer, who is not in the FM/MPS business, asked me how you come up with a cost-per-print – and a selling-price-per-print - for an FM/MPS program. He said, “I know I’ve got to consider equipment costs and maintenance costs and supply costs, but there’s no way to know the volume of output that’s actually going to be done.” Reprographers, think about that question. Then, think about your reprographics business, your store, your production center. If you cannot figure out how to come up with a cost per print and a selling price per print for an MPS/FM program, then how in the world did you determine what your list and low prices would be for the services you offer out of your store / production center?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!. My daughter and son-in-law are both chefs. This afternoon, we’re going to have an incredible, multi-course, gourmet Thanksgiving dinner. Not at my house, but at another relative’s house. My only “hope” is that I don’t have to clean up!; if you have any chefs in your family, you know what I’m talking about.