Are you ready to get back to basics? Had enough of this diversification talk yet? Don’t want to read another word about why you should offer managed IT, laptops, EV chargers, VoIP, and production print? Then, this issue is for you.
This month, we are returning to the basics, focusing on traditional print technology such as A3 and A4. We’re also exploring document management/ECM (electronic content management), and print management. Those are still the basics in my book.
In March, I attended the HP Amplify Partner Conference, and in April, the Sharp National Dealer Meeting. Talk all you want about diversification—and both of those conferences had their fair share of diversification talk, even if HP didn’t specifically use that term—but they spent a fair amount of time highlighting traditional print technology such as A3, A4, and standalone printers. None of these technology powerhouses are ignoring basic print technology. Doesn’t that tell you something?
HP spent a lot of time during the conference talking about the hybrid office. In fact, if we were playing a drinking game and had to drink every time an HP executive said, “The hybrid office is here to stay,” we would have all been plastered by lunchtime.
At the Sharp National Dealer Meeting, there was also an emphasis on the hybrid office even if it wasn’t as over the top as at the HP event. But it wasn’t hard to read between the lines to realize that hybrid work is influencing Sharp’s R&D and its product offerings. During the Sharp meeting, Sharp President and CEO Mike Marusic emphasized that Sharp is still a document company. Those words probably played well with some Sharp dealers who have no intention of diversifying and prefer to stick to their roots. Of course, that statement seemed to contradict his and other Sharp executives’ use of the “D” word throughout the event.
So for a moment, or at least within the pages of this issue, let’s forget about all those wild and crazy products and services that dealers couldn’t have dreamed about selling a decade or two ago and return to the old days of traditional print devices and dealing with documents.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
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