Where Have All The Phases Gone?

After viewing vendor MPS programs and talking to you, the end-user clients I am beginning to wonder where have all the phases gone? The more I explore the more it seems that these theoretical phases are just that – theory. My real question is what long-term plan they belong to; providing you with the “managed” component of MPS or waiting for you to forget about the promises made to phase in your expected benefits.

Phase One And Then?

How many of you have contracted with a vendor for managed print services to find that after offering up your fleet and paying a few months worth of invoices the program results in nothing more than a cost per page service and supply contract – fleet management.

What reports are you receiving to help improve your document output environment? Are they limited to how much your fleet is producing and how well your new vendor is servicing them?

Have you found that most of the management recommendations you receive are for additional or new technology investments you need to make?

If so, how does this help you to create a world-class document output environment: how does it reduce expenses, improve productivity or make for greater user satisfaction?

How Do You Get What You Expected?

As you consider entering into a managed print services relationship you need to do a better job of determining which vendor can simply talk the talk and which can illustrate their ability to deliver the results you are looking for. Just like interviewing a new employee, past performance is a good predictor of future success; do not accept vendor sales presentations that tell you what they did for other clients but demand they clearly explain in detail how they are going to meet your objectives. Require and read a business proposal that addresses your environment, organizational politics and goals.

Is your current vendor agreement based on a contract presented by that vendor? If so, how does this boilerplate document meet your specific needs any better than the last lease or service agreement you had in place. It is my suggestion that these contracts represent a program-in-a- box and can provide little more than the previously mentioned fleet management.

A managed print services engagement, like any other professional services contract, should be customized to your project, contain a detailed scope of work and clearly outline how services will be delivered and the responsibilities of both parties. In addition, I would suggest it defines success and failure and contains remedies for lack of performance.

This discussion reminds me a bit of the current political discourse in America, Many, including me believe that we deserve the government we currently have. Until we demand better and pay attention to the result we will not get better.

The same goes for the state of MPS; if you, the client demand more the service providers will be forced to improve their capabilities and resulting performance. If you never call in your provider and question what happened to the other phases I am confident many will conveniently forget about them.

Part of the problem is MPS is relatively new in the industry and even though many copier and printer dealers realize they need to participate they are struggling with the how. This goes back to my earlier point; you need to separate those who can talk from those who know how to do.

Summary

For those of you, who are truly looking to realize the benefits of a world-class managed document output environment you have to take some responsibility, just like any other business venture you undertake:

• Educate yourself on what MPS can and should be
• Understand the differences between managing your document output environment and fleet management
• Define your own objectives, do not let a vendor determine them for you since this is a basic conflict of interest
• Create a statement of work based on your own goals and expectations, do not enter into a boilerplate MPS agreement
• Inspect what your vendor is doing and provide them with proper reinforcement

Like anything else, as an educated and motivated client you will realize the benefits you are looking for and may locate where the mysterious phases have been hiding.

If these opinions and discussion caught your attention and you would like to pursue it further please contact me (ghawkins@buscomgroup.com ) at your convenience.

What Have I Missed?

It has been quite some time since I last posted to this blog or contributed to any of the interest groups on the web. I thought it would be interesting to catch up a little bit and see what I have missed.

Where Have I Been?

Just so folks realize that I still have a grass-roots perspective on the state of the industry I thought I would let you know that I have been extremely busy with a number of large projects assisting organizations to assess their document output environments and create and implement comprehensive document output strategies.

In addition, I have been reading quite a few bids, RFPs and proposals for managed print services from around the country as I help independent dealers write their proposals and create their reports.

My Personal Assessment

My absence was not only a result of being extremely busy but also influenced by what I saw happening within the industry and in the multitude of web conversations. It became very frustrating to read the same rehashed information and what I believe to be limited views of the managed print services as a whole.

It is my opinion that other than more people talking about the topic, the state of managed print services has not progressed too much in the past number of years. While some of the software tools have developed and hardware has become more compliant the actual services being offered fail to deliver on the promise.

There are a number of analysts and organizations promoting multiple definitions of MPS while others chatter about hybrid dealers and phases of engagement but I queston what clients are actually realizing.

My Experiences

A while back there was an ongoing conversation about MPS being little more than a marketing strategy. My experience with actual clients who have engaged with MPS providers largely confirms that observation. Once the contracts were signed and the first of the proverbial phases captured the income stream the other phases seem to be forgotten. The resulting engagement quickly reverted to a cost-per-page fleet management program.

As I read through end-user client generated bids and RFPs I understand how this can happen – they rarely address anything beyond a fleet management engagement. It is very easy to see the influences of the various vendors and dealers they talked to prior to building their requirements document.

My Conclusion

Maybe I am just too impatient and expect the industry to develop at a pace faster than it is capable of. I suppose if I wait long enough MPS engagements will deliver on their potential and promise. Given enough time will end-user clients demand more from their vendors?

But wait a minute, what will be the drivers that cause this to happen:

• Clients’ realizing they are spending more than they did before?
• Competition driving pricing down and creating need for greater differentiation?
• New players jumping in and forcing the industry to change?

On the other hand this is still a manufacturer-driven industry and as long as they are accomplishing their objectives (software, supply and hardware sales) who will be leading the charge for change?

What’s Next?

This is a at least in part a hypothetical question but I there are some things each of us can do to chart our own course and enact positive changes:

• MPS providers can begin to look beyond the simple supply provisioning, fix/repair services and simple reporting they are offering to develop value-laden and highly differentiated MPS service offerings
• Clients can do a little more homework and invest in greater knowledge which will yield handsome returns in the form of greater savings, better workflow and return on their technology investments.

Personally I am going back to work helping end-user clients realize the benefits of a world-class document output environment for their enterprise.

If these opinions and discussion caught your attention and you would like to pursue it further please contact me (ghawkins@buscomgroup.com ) at your convenience.