Business technology leaders find themselves in something of a Cloud computing deluge, showered by vendor marketing, new services, and even CEO questions about their “cloud strategy.”  Splashed across technology magazines and debates amongst technologists are the pros and cons of whether enterprises should jump in with both feet or take a measured approach to this latest and greatest IT paradigm. Much of the exuberance centers on the kind of computing by-the-hour service that Amazon.com and others sell, but most enterprises are only starting to ponder.

But you say, “David, I am a dealer and yes, I am in the technology world but really I am not of it, how does my company and sales force maximize this opportunity? What does this really mean to me? “

First, you need to know what the “Cloud” is…Second, you need to know where you fit in the “Cloud.”  I mean supporting the cloud of course…

The 1970's concept of a hard-wired server (mainframe) connected to a client (terminal) by network cable (bus and tag) are seldom seen in today's world.  Many computers are no longer clearly distinguishable as clients or servers.  20th century computer installations and accompanying applications were mostly proprietary and employees usually only had access to a computer at the office. Today companies use technology to access services offered in the Internet cloud.  For example, employees may be instructed to consult Google Maps rather than being offered route descriptions to offices via proprietary websites or intranets.  The web based server generating the map request may be running several applications for several different types of “fat and thin” clients.  The server offering the map may not be the one generating the images, it may only have routing capability and retrieve the actual data from another server in a remote location.  The cloud therefore, can refer to lack of wires or hardware ownership as well as to a lack of software ownership.  Remember Microsoft maps shipping via CD with new PC’s?  By the time you got the CD’s the maps were already out of date. Today Google Maps is constantly updated yet the government owns the data, Google owns the application and websites, IBM and others provide the server farms, the Internet provides the delivery, and anyone can access the maps.

You get my point. As you have probably figured out by now, the term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet (See Figure A).  The cloud drawing used to depict the Internet in computer network diagrams as an abstraction of the underlying infrastructure it represents. Typical cloud computing providers deliver common business applications online which are accessed from a Web browser, while the software and data are stored on servers. The cloud applications are broadly divided into the categories that emphasize the concept of "Everything-as-a-Service,” Software as a Service (SaaS), Utility Computing, Web Services, Platform as a Service (PaaS), Managed Service Providers (MSP), Service Commerce, and Internet Integration.

What makes this paradigm shift in computing so appealing for companies today? Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is usually billed on a utility (resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (time-based, like a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost. Other benefits of this time sharing-style approach are low barriers to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overhead, and immediate access to a broad range of applications. In general, users can terminate the contract at any time (thereby avoiding return on investment risk and uncertainty), and the services are often covered by service level agreement (SLAs) with financial penalties.

For MPS providers and hardware resellers, does any of these talk tracks sound familiar?  Alright, with the exception of terminating the contract at any time all of this is pretty familiar to the talk track that we use for managing fleets of printers with print management and the traditional leasing talk track for hardware.

Now that we have cleared all of that up you ask, “Where are the opportunities for my dealership?! I have traditional “hardware” reps and I am just starting to delve into managed print services (MPS) and working with IT hasn’t traditionally been my entry point of contact until now.

Analysts say that 2010 will be a year of design for the hardcopy market as your dealerships will observe how customers are leveraging the architecture of cloud computing. The “cloud” impacts where processing takes place and how it can be seamlessly delivered without impacting performance.

Your Opportunities:

Ripping jobs in the “cloud” and sending to print engines

• One of the most long standing applications for “The Cloud” is OPI (Open Pre-Press Interface). It’s how the commercial printing industry has historically RIPped and stored images on remote servers to speed up the RIPping and printing process. Scitex, Creo, and other high end workflows have been using it for years. Applications such as QuarkXPress and PageMaker were specifically designed to accommodate this process.

Fleet management of A3 and A4 technology

• Applications using similar but more advanced technology to leverage “the cloud” are EFI’s MIS applications Print Smith and Pace, and RSA’s Document and Print Routing software QDirect. These combined with Web2Print applications such as Digital Store Front and WebCRD create comprehensive enterprise level workflow.

• Example; MWA intelligent device management for meter collections. Reports display information such as assets monitored, equipment status, usage, consumables and total cost of ownership/operation. MWA intelligent service for dispatch and service management, field service and remote call management. All this takes place in “The Cloud.”

Delivery of tandem document services (multiple file formats, security, document account)

• The advances in network technology and the internet are allowing these types applications to be developed for a multitude of uses such as EDM, PMS, Web2Print, Data Warehousing, and many others.

There will be an emergence of cloud printing applications

• MFD secure printing feature and Equitrac - Follow Me printing are two current examples.

• Other applications include CAC authentication, biometrics, enterprise wide print tracking and cost accounting, and behavior modification software that control who, how much, and where documents can be printed and distributed.

What to Watch For:

How to leverage the programmable features of the MFP - whether it is A3 or A4 technologies to leverage the “cloud” services via the web.

• Leverage your equipment subject matter experts that are your manufacturer representatives.  Have them work with teaching your sales force how to leverage these features and how to formulate a talk track that is IT focused while marketing their fine line of products.

Private, public and hybrid cloud capabilities (speaking of hybrid clouds, I wonder if “a certain MPS consulting group”  will suggest they invented this phrase like their claim of “the hybrid dealer” and practically the MPS market in its entirety, per their recent newsletter. Let’s just give them credit for everything in the industry and erase Chester Carlson from the archives; this will extend the manageability/delivery of Manage Print Services clients…).

• Think about it, when targeting that Regional Bank or Regional Healthcare facility, you will need to learn and understand how this initiative fits with companies strategic plans.  They want to consolidate their printing hardware and reduce their cost per print.

• Most of the MPS applications leverage “The Cloud” to pull meter reads, service dispatch and linking them into dealer service applications. Being able to communicate the benefits to decision makers and IT specialists will give you a competitive advantage over the competition.

CIOs are looking for companies to manage their hardware &  software printing infrastructures

• Manage, optimize and improve.  Focus on their pain points with their current approach to managing their fleet, leverage technology advancements with digital files, the proliferation of e-mail, security, meeting compliance regulations, and improving their business processes.

Learn where the soft-spots are for printing to capture volume

• Example; billing and the production of legal documents, etc. have been relatively unaffected by the rise of the Web or the economy, and their remains a big market in helping companies to find ways to cut their printing costs over time.

Cloud computing is broad and has some vague definitions. As you have read through the article you have realized that many technologies that have been branded as “cloud computing” have existed for a long time before the “cloud” label came into existence. Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle put it best, “Cloud computing is everything we currently do and it will have no effect except change the wording on some of our ads.” 

Where do you go for assistance for understanding technologies like these and learn how to maximize your opportunities? Among the best are the BTA workshops on business planning to assist you with understanding the details needed to assist you with accomplishing implementation and execution on any of the opportunities I’ve listed.  They also offer Service Management University to teach service leaders and managers how to leverage technology to improve results, maximize these opportunities to support the infrastructure, and how to effectively service MPS agreements for maximum profit. And on the front end, there are workshops available to teach MPS specialist how to target MPS opportunities, assess the environment and win MPS contracts.

2010 is a year of opportunity for the dealer community regardless of the economy, but it will take you learning then teaching your organization about the technology that is changing the print patterns in “The Cloud” today, understanding the infrastructure that supports the opportunity in your current service and back office operations, then leveraging all of this information from an IT perspective on how you can best support this initiative CIOs are tasked with today.

David Ramos is a consultant for Strategy Development. The firm provides Sales, Service & MPS information, including workshops for the BTA as well as a MPS Sales eLearning program with InfoTrends. Ramos also instructs a basic selling skills workshop, and is a class presenter at ITEX tradeshows. At www.strategydevelopment.org or email ramos@strategydevelopment.org.