DQCI-LEXMARK PANEL DISCUSSION: Printing Solutions And Bottomlines

The recently-held series of panel discussions organized by DQ Channels
India, in collaboration with Lexmark India turned out to be unique in many ways.
They proved to be a rare occasion where panelists included representatives not
just from vendor and partner communities, but also user organizations.

Panel discussions can be interesting, informative, crowd-pull ing or all of
these at the same time. But apart from being all that, the recently-held series
of panel discussions–organized by DQ Channels India in collaboration with
Lexmark India–were unique in many respects.

Why unique? Because, probably for the first time the channel community got a
chance to witness a discussion, whose focus was exclusively on printing
solutions. These panel discussions, held in Delhi on 2nd July and in Mumbai on
4th July, were titled: How to increase your company bottomline via printing
solutions.

ONE OF ITS KIND

What also made these events unique is the fact that for the first time, a
panel discussion saw representatives from vendor, partner as well as user
organizations all deliberating on one theme on a single dais. While
representatives from user organizations offered insights on various issues that
they faced while trying to find optimal solutions to their printing needs,
partners shared info on how their organizations have grown selling printing
solutions.

Vendor representatives (in this case from Lexmark)–acting as a bridge
between users and partners–talked about the range of printing solutions
currently available. These solutions according to them, not only met the diverse
needs of end-users but also came as an attractive business proposition for
partners.

POWER PANELS

These panel discussions, which were held as an extension of Lexmark’s
three-city roadshow across Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, attracted a collective
crowd of nearly 600 participants.

The power panel in the Delhi version of the event included: Sunil Kapoor,
CIO, Fortis and Hilal Isar Khan, Manager-IT, Honda Ciel, representing user
organizations; Ashok Grover, MD, Groovy Communications as channel representative
and Ng Chee Soon, MD (ASEAN/South Asia), Lexmark, as the vendor participant. The
discussion in Delhi was moderated by Shyam Malhotra, Editor-in-chief, Cyber
Media.

The panel discussion in Mumbai saw J Bandhopadhyay, Sr VP, Kopran and Sunil
Mehta, Sr VP, JW Thompson (JWT) representing users; Rajiv Mehta, CEO, Innovative
Enterprise as channel participant while Christophe Piganiol, Manager, Product
Mktg–Color (APac), Lexmark offering vendor perspective. Here, Prasanto K Roy,
Chief Editor (BMG), Cyber Media, moderated the discussion.

EVOLVING FACE OF PRINTING

Across both the panel discussions, what really stoodout was the fact that
how printing as a business process has often been ‘pushed under the carpet’
by organizations. But at the same time, participants also acknowledged the
growing awareness among enterprises about the same and the efforts that are
being taken to streamline their printing requirements.

"Contrary to popular belief, color printing in the long run works out to
be far more cost-effective than black and white, specially for media
organizations like us," opined JWT’s Sanjiv. Speakers from Lexmark too
tried proving empirically how color printing emerges as an economical option for
high-volume printing.

However, moderator at the Delhi event, Shyam, wittingly added, "While
evolving printing solutions may be projected as cost-effective, what can’t be
ignored is the fact that the more cheaper a solution becomes, the chances of it
getting misused increases."

Though acknowledging this, Groovy’s Ashok pointed out that having a
specialized team that can understand a customer’s printing requirements helps
in illustrating the right solution to the client. This, he also added, ensures
that a recurring business continues with the client.

"We don’t sell a printer to a customer for a day. It’s a
relationship lasting for months as he has to come back to us for his consumables
requirement and that’s how we manage a sustainable relationship,"
remarked he.

And thinking on these lines–is what the moderator in Mumbai, Prasanto–felt
is essential for partners to adopt. "Printing solutions are many and each
one of them excellent in their own respect. But what partners need to work upon
is how to develop a value proposition around those solutions," commented
he.

VALUE PROPOSITIONS PAY OFF

Further emphasizing on this, Innovative’s Rajiv added, "There’s a
perceptible shift even as far as printing business is concern. The days of
selling boxes are over and the only way to make money is to come up with a
unique value proposition." The panel in Mumbai further illustrated this
fact by pointing out the successful business model of print centers that is
gradually catching up.

"We have adopted a pay-as-you-print solution for our organization and
its working really well as far efficiency, both cost and time is
concerned," informed Kopran’s Bandhopadhyay. This, according to him also
takes care of fast obsolescence of the product, which if actually owned, offers
lower return on investment. "From the user perspective, issues like
obsolescence and service for outdated models still remain to be addressed at a
macro level by vendors," remarked Fortis’ Sunil. 

What also emerged strongly out of these discussions was a growing trend of
organizations outsourcing their printing processes. "We are slowly but
surely seeing an increase in this phenomena. While this may not become a blanket
rule for enterprises, those with huge printing requirements may soon start
considering outsourcing their printing too," pointed out Lexmark’s
Christopher.

Panelists agreed on this aspect and remarked that in coming times, if both
user as well as partner organizations have to add to their bottomlines, they
have to look at putting in place the right kind of printing solutions. While
users will have to continuously work towards optimizing their printing needs,
partners will have to keep creating attractive value propositions to meet those
needs.

GOLDIE in Mumbai