ECS 2026
Twelve years ago, I attended the 2014 ECS. I’m not the only one who can wax nostalgic about an Executive Connection Summit from over a decade ago, but here I am.
Back then the names and presentations were cutting edge for the copier industry. One of the big turns was having companies like Intel, SAP, and Cisco, founding members of the technology industry and stalwart believers in all things connected, speak to a bunch of copier folks. The roster did not highlight or focus on any of “our” OEMs. Revolutionary, if not sacrilege for the time.
Oh, how the decade has changed, or has it? The story does not repeat; it rhymes.
Let’s start at the start:
- The venue: Excellent as always. From the Super Bowl to Bourbon and Cigars.
- The Format: Open and engaging.
- Organization: Smooth running. If there were hiccups, the audience and attendees never knew.
- Content: Top-flight. A professor talking about the office of the future. A Medal of Honor recipient telling his story. New industry luminaries and established, trusted, old guard copier folks on the same stage, talking legacy and frontiers.
- Breakouts: Among others, Xerox had a private presentation, and Katun held a session in a suite, introducing new A4s.
- Takeaways: The copier dealer legacy was on display with next gen influencers. The industry is healthy, as foundational players in finance and ERP put forward commitments to the future. A big takeaway is AI. No surprise there.
The Copier OEMs – The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be, Again
One thing that has not changed is the OEM messaging. “Times are tough, but you guys (the dealers) are resilient and our best sales teams.” If I had a dime every time I heard an OEM get on stage and say this, I would have a great deal of dimes.
Of course, just because it’s said over and over, doesn’t make it any less true. Our channel is the best in the B2B realm. Our prospects and customers range from the SMB to the enterprise, from churches to schools and governments, in every geo, every vertical and at all levels. I’ve said it a million times: “If you can sell copiers, you can sell anything.” There is no better.
But the times are changing. The influence, if not the very existence, of the OEM is evaporating. For example, the stage is full of big-time logos and all they can talk about is driverless printing? Really? I mean, has anyone stopped to think why Microsoft is getting rid of the print driver? Or why the Apple OS has a trash bin icon, but no printer symbol? It doesn’t take a crystal ball, right?
I digress. We love our original equipment manufacturers. Truly, we do. It will be deliciously interesting to see the OEMs at ECS 2027.
The Industry ERPs – Deja Vu
There are three. The big one and two pursuers and they were all on the same stage. No fireworks. As a matter of fact, the discourse was not just civil, it was downright boring. The “big” system that everybody knows and 95% of us use, presented like one would expect; confident, with nothing to prove. Of the other two, one has the benefit of being grown from the ground up, the other a reboot.
The elephant in the room is “switching cost”. Clearly, moving from one foundational software system to another is painful, even though the current system is such a patchwork of disjointed and old-fashioned packages, it creates a cottage industry of third-party consultants to decode data out of the system. Doesn’t that seem weird? You need to pay an ‘expert’ to tell you what your data, trapped within a maze of red tape, poor customer service, and yesterday’s programming, tells you.
Still, the daily angst generated by a faulty existing system does not eclipse the pain of switching to a new one. At this point, I would add the qualifier, ‘yet,’ but we’ve been here before, in 2014. That’s right, one of the spotlights of ECS 2014 was a new ERP, ready to take on the established front runner. That ‘front runner’ is still here.
I’ll just put it this way — if you know, you know.
AI and the Copier World — I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This
Ex Machina, a movie about embodied AI, was released in 2014. It does not end well for the human.
At ECS 2014, nobody mentioned AI. At ECS 2026, AI held the conversations on and off stage, in a big way.
We’ve had ‘hot new things’ in the past. Managed print services, the analog to digital transition, document management and managed IT are all examples. The cavalcade of ‘get in or go out of business’ seemingly never ends.
Each of those iterations, successful or not, impacted a large niche of our industry but hadn’t blanketed the entirety of our prospects and customers; the copier was office tech, the document management was an IT project, MPS fell into facilities or administration. Silos.
But AI is different. AI impacts everything and of all the industries in all the world, the copier niche is primed for AI. It’s just that right now, there are too many advancements happening in a microscopic timeframe.
This year, there was a seismic AI presentation that people talked about for weeks afterward, warning about security, the fear of missing out and the inevitable job replacement. Dramatic? Maybe.
Hyperbole? I hope so, but I don’t think so.
I use AI through large language models (LLMs) every single day and I can say without hesitation that I have 20x my pre-2022 productivity. And there’s the rub; the LLM is perfect for accelerating personal productivity. But attempts to centralize, guardrail or use AI under a hierarchy have only stifled potential. For now, most copier dealers should be looking at AI as an internal enhancement, not a new revenue stream.
Robots – I’ll Be Brief
There were robots. Two, to be exact. Silent, no beeps, no whistles, no accidents, no on-stage presence, no 12-minute elevator pitches. Nobody was on stage pontificating in front of images of “The Terminator” or “Her” or “Ex Machina”. There was no “sell robots now or get left behind” statement of doom. But there was something.
A year ago, at ECS 2025, nobody talked about robots. Back then when somebody brought up robots in the office, the response was silence. “AI” was the phrase of the day, sucking all the air out of boardrooms and C-suites. Not robots.
Things change. As I write this today, there are at least a half-dozen copier dealers engaged with robot OEMs and developing go-to-market strategies. I’m not saying selling robots will save the print world or increase print volume, but there is definitely movement.
ECS 2027 — Something Wicked This Way Comes?
Predictions are like opinions; everybody’s got one. But they are fun, aren’t they? What will the Executive Connection Summit look like in 2027?
Dusting off the ball for ECS 2027:
- Robots — maybe even onstage. I remember when managed print services hit. Robots in the office will be bigger and by ECS 2027, there will be robot success stories. AI-enabled robots will be getting more attention as the LLM moves to autonomous mobile robots (AMRs).
- Lament the OEM —not sure who, but at least one will be ‘gone.’
- AI in the background — the hype cycle finally settles. Well, maybe not settles, but it will shift as the frontier models feel the wrath of their IPOs.
Good time to be here. Don’t you think? Sell On!
is an entrepreneur and founder of the notorious destination site TheDeathOfTheCopier, where he comments on all things imaging, the rise of managed services and the advance of business technology. A prolific writer and frequent speaker, Greg shares his passionate, unique – and often provocative – view of technology and people, addressing the impact of digital on 21st century business. His 2014 book, Death Of The Copier, offers a controversial summary of the early days of Managed Print Services and the not-so-distant future of the hard copy industry. Reach out to Greg at greg@grwalters.com.