Managed Print Summit: What a Difference Three Years Make
Yup, I was in Vegas at the “Recharger show.”
Well, technically, I attended the 2011 Managed Print Summit, which to me, seemed even more out of place, until I looked at the scheduled presenters: Ed Crowley, Robert Newry, Mike Stramaglio, Jim Lyons and Greg VanDeWalker – all MpS regulars, each in the ecosystem from early on if not the very beginning.
And there were more. Jim D’Emidio, Ed McLaughlin, Mark Mathews and Jim Phillips – old-skool hardware and infrastructure dudes who each see the impact of MpS.
And the new guys? How about Brendan Peters from Intel, Tim Grimes from Research in Motion or Gordon Jones from Green Hills Software? Googlitize them if you don’t know who they are. For now, let’s just say wireless, intelligent devices and security software. Yeah, at an MpSummit, the day before the large toner cartridge show. Who woulda thunk?
The room was packed and the crowd attentive the entire day. It was refreshing and concerning to see first-time MpSers looking to enter the fray.
This is not a derogatory statement: The tone felt eerily familiar to ITEX 2009 or the very first MPS Conference in San Antonio, 2009 – MpS is all new, and it scares us. Indeed, when Ed Crowley went into his now-famous “MpS is different; 50 percent of those who get into MpS get out” speech, one could cut the tension with a knife. Just like three years ago.
Remember all the mistakes we made along the way?
Back then, it was common to think desk-side toner delivery was simple. And telling your sales team to “go out and sell MpS” made it happen. “Comp plan? Just sell it; we’ll figure all that out later.”
There were no experts. Even worse, some proclaimed themselves MpS gurus when it was impossible to be one. We all made the same mistakes because we were all making it up as we went along. And that was just fine; it was innovative.
Yeah, sitting in the back, reminiscing, I couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed for those in that room on Tuesday.
Here’s why.
Just last month, I attended a Preo/Supplies Network seminar in St. Louis focused around behavior modification software. The package is huge, powerful and data-voluminous – one can see who prints what to which printer when and how often. There were 50 attendees in the room. Two weeks ago, I spent an afternoon talking with Shane Hannan, president, ROI Print Manager, looking back, sharing our visions of the future and recognizing that all behavior modification packages are capable, sophisticated and the next brief stop on our way to MpS Stage 4/5/6. That same week, I brought a client to the “Ricoh and U” MDS seminar in SoCali. There were easily 300 people in the room, 50 percent of them prospects. The discussions touched on ADKAR change management, “socialytics,” how MpS is moving into “predictive analytics” and turning content into knowledge for the individual.
Considering all those presentations and customer/thought-leader interactions, the juxtaposition was almost surreal. There I was, sitting in a room surrounded by folks still trying to get their heads around remote monitoring, auto-fulfillment and assessments.
Holy crap.
All is not lost, so let not your heart be troubled. There is good news, and it came from the presenters.
Three years ago, on a day like this, we would have been pitched assessment tools, MpS training, infrastructure software and OEM MpS programs. Three years ago, four or five separate sales trainers would have been up there presenting their “proven” MpS process.
Not this year; not this day.
Mike Stramaglio brought up how the youth expect change in how they communicate with each other and the world around them – less paper. He illustrated how the dominant role of the OEM is shrinking like it just got out of the pool …wait for it, wait… Mike’s company sells machine-to-machine technology, but he didn’t sell himself off the stage.
Ed McLaughlin’s presentation was informative, expansive and proven. Ed sells consulting time and dealer-transformation programs, but he didn’t sell himself off the stage either.
Mark Mathews advised all to get “professional help” – the industry mantra, no doubt. Okay, well, Mark from Toshiba told everybody he intends to sell into all of our accounts. High marks for “to thine own self be true.”
The presentations were honest reflections of journeys past.
And we listened. That’s the gold. We listened.
Whatever it’s called — Recharger, World Expo; MpS, MPS or MDS — is filled with the most resilient, innovative entrepreneurs in the galaxy. Scrappy. That’s the way it is, the way I see it. We will survive and prosper; there is room enough for everyone.
One other thing.
I can’t help but wonder if those of us who went before don’t have a responsibility to talk about our challenges, educating the willing and giving them a chance to learn from our mistakes. Would that be such a bad thing?
Posted on 07/25/2011