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