We have seen enormous change to our personal lives over the past 18 months and for most of us, such impact is a once in a life time change. This change also translates into our business and our end-customer’s lives, with the adoption of cloud-based technologies and solutions on the rise. Our everyday conversation now picks up new lingo with the ‘hybrid’ connected workplace gathering speed as we have shifted to a more diverse and dispersed workforce than ever before. For print channel partners, we have operated in a largely mature stable market up until recently, where this traditional way of working is behind us all.

Only a few months into the pandemic, a McKinsey & Co. survey to Global executives and senior managers revealed that the share of their interactions that are digital with their customers went up from an average of 36 per cent in December 2019 to 53 per cent in July 2020. During the same period, the average share of products and/or services that were partially or fully digitised went up from 35 per cent to 55 per cent. According to the consulting group, across the Asia-Pacific region the adoption rate of digitisation and digital change has accelerated by ten years! This accelerated growth in digitised products and services stems from buyer demand, as more customers seek flexible and scalable solutions to accommodate the new hybrid office.

From an end-customer service perspective, print channel partners now have the opportunity to tap this new demand and offer a diversified mix of digitised products. Today, there’s a significant risk of being left behind from not updating your service offering and capabilities in line with current end-customer demands.

Cloud-First - new market, new customers

As most other IT applications have moved to the cloud, now is the time for Print Channel Partners to adopt a cloud-first approach to better connect with end-customers. We all connect with customers every day, as partners you know customers want simplicity, mobility & flexibility to manage the hybrid workforce. Customer’s require insight via analytics to provide guidance of change and they have management requirements to deliver savings with a solution which is secure and compliant.

At Lexmark, our aim is to assist Print Channel Partners in navigating this change, using all your knowledge, capability and trust you have built up with managed print services to move to managed services. We offer partners a ‘starter pack’ - our Cloud Connector and Cloud Fleet Management which are free to allow partners to start to build additional services revenue, remote capability and enhanced fleet reporting, while at the same time reduce servicing costs.

As you build your skill set, our partners can then build an offering for your customers around the cloud, Cloud Print Management is a subscription per device per month, so you can build recurring revenue over time. This allows the partner to build a cloud-first approach and transition towards managed services and connect with your end customer.

Cloud print management is a critical factor for buyers

According to Quocirca, over 72 per cent of organisations today are looking to increase their use of Cloud Print Management by 2025. Their research also revealed that almost half of end-customers say cloud print service provision is a key supplier selection factor, further strengthening the pressures of supporting your end-customers during their digital transformation journey.

This also proves the important role of print infrastructure has in a customer’s wider digital transformation program in the connected workplace. With Lexmark’s suite of cloud-based solutions, partners can deliver remote device management, print job management, document accounting and mobility, ensuring users are always capable of printing and scanning documents, regardless of their location.

Through Cloud Fleet Management, users can easily configure printers, capture cost-saving metrics, and keep devices current and working, all from a remote operations centre, which saves time and money. With Cloud Print Management, partners can help customers of all sizes simplify processes, streamline costs and relieve the IT burden. These solutions will improve customer service and reduce service and support costs.

With the changes to the connected workplace here to stay, partners need to stay relevant and competitive in this new agile business environment. Print Channel Partners now have the unique opportunity to drive change, improve support for end customers by adopting a cloud-first approach for the connected workplace in post-pandemic business environments.