And Now There are Three

During the course of our business we hold discussions with many global IT managers and CIO's. During these discussions, the question frequently comes up as to who can provide a true global MPS program with consistent support, infrastructure, and delivery. Until recently there were only two companies that could provide a consistent level of global support for a Managed Print Services program, Hewlett Packard and Xerox. However, recent increasingly make it clear that there is an emerging third option.

Ricoh USA Announcement
On June 9th, Ricoh announced new and expanded business services in North America. Ricoh-USA now has a number of outsourcing offerings, including defining two major 'categories' of services: Managed Print Services and Managed Document Services.

The Ricoh Managed Print Services program includes four basic phases:

• Assess: Provide current-state costs and workflows, plus device maps
• Design: Recommend ways to improve productivity, TCO, sustainability and security
• Implement: Executes the plan to realize these benefits
• Manage: Achieve project cost savings and productivity gains

The Managed Document Services program utilizes extensive assessments to result in the: "Transformation of an old workflow system of a business to a new and improved version that introduces more evolved technologies which reduces risks, enhances efficiency and makes document management easier for the end user." (This is the third stage of Ricoh's 4 stage process.) This follow's the April 4th announcement of expanded Managed Print Services offerings by Ricoh-Europe.

A consistent theme for all of these programs is that Ricoh is moving beyond basic 'fleet management' to offer services that address the third stage of the Photizo Group customer adoption model for Managed Print Services (the first two stages primarily focus on fleet / infrastructure management, while the third stage focuses on business process improvement). This statement clearly defines Ricoh's intentions: "Further, Ricoh's support services do more than simply answer questions, troubleshoot problems and install supplies; they work with businesses to change output practices across their entire organization." Ricoh is targeting the 'third stage' of customer MPS adoption by offering consulting and solutions which are targeted at enhancing business processes, not just managing the fleet.

Assessment

Since 1995 Ricoh has acquired a number of firms (Lanier, Gestetner, Nashuatech, IKON, Danka Europe, and InfoPrint) which have dramatically expanded its service capabilities, direct sales force coverage, and geographic reach. While Ricoh is far from being one smoothly integrated organization, they are clearly building a very impressive organization and the framework for one of the most far reaching organizations in the imaging industry (in fact, in terms of imaging industry revenues, Ricoh has moved into the number two position as of the first quarter of 2009, behind HP).

This announcement has, in my view, put Ricoh one step closer to offering a global MPS offering which effectively competes with HP and Xerox. The firm still has challenges. It's not easy turning a large number of independent organizations into a single Managed Services delivery organization. However, they are clearly making great strides in this direction.

To Learn More

In-depth corporate profiles are available from the Photizo Group for MPS Global Advisory Service and MPS Market Watch clients. A limited number of reports are also available for purchase at the Photizo Group's Online Store.

The MPS Insights Journal is another source of vendor profiles and best practices for corporate decision makers who are developing or managing MPS programs, resellers who are offering these programs, and the MPS vendor community at large.

Finally, the firms MPS Conference series is a great way to learn about Managed Print Services and to network with the key industry participants and influencers. The next conference is in Amsterdam on October 21-23rd. There is a pre-conference workshop specifically focused on learning the 'ins and outs' of Managed Print Services. Join us for the 2009 MPS Europe Conference.

The Photizo Group

Insight, Perspective, and Success for the Managed Print Services Market