Interview with Bill Avey, VP of Partner MPS for HP
Date: January 18, 2012
New York, NY -- As part of our continued efforts to give you extra insight into printers, ink, and their respective industries, we recently had the opportunity to speak with Bill Avey who works with HP’s MPS group. Here’s what he had to say.
CI: When did HP’s MPS program begin and why?
BA: HP got into MPS 12 years ago. At that time, companies were beginning to rationalize their IT environment. What they were seeking was the ability to do better and reduce costs. Gartner and the other analyst firms look at the management of printers as an area that had not been conquered. Companies were spending 1 to 3% of their REVENUE, not their profits even, on printing and related tasks. Gartner as well as other analyst firms informed customers that they could save up to 30% by moving to managed print services instead of doing the service in house. That is where HP started to make a footprint.
We’ve been doing it well for sometime and customers are saying help us save money. It wasn’t just customers in the enterprise space, either. A lot of customers in the mid-market space (below enterprise) are also looking for ways to improve their cost. One of the evident changes is that most documents now are both physical and virtual. Customers are now looking to get value from the workflow of these documents, and the documents in the cloud. Today, we are moving into a “document ecosystem” where documents can cycle from paper to electronic multiple times during its lifecycle. As this trend continues, businesses will look to improve their workflow, and streamline paper-based processes. This is where managed print service engagements will be extended.
Companies are looking to get more value than just the consumables like toner, ink, and hardware. They want support for working and sharing in the cloud and secure and reliable printing among other things.
CI: With the services of Printelligent now acquired for HP, what new segment of the market does it allow you to interact with?
BA: With the acquisition of Printelligent, HP is now developing its channels to do even more to help small to medium sized businesses. Through discussions, we decided it was best to acquire the resources that Printelligent provides and from that, we made a world-class investment of people, processes and intellectual expertise with everything they do. This acquisition has allowed us to invest with our channel partners and make the solutions that much more scalable.
With an ecosystem of channel partners, it now affords us the ability to extend our reach to customers and have a conversation with businesses about opportunity. It’s less about ink and toner.
CI: What are some of the key features of HPs MPS that make it different? Scalability? Document management? Etc.
BA: We believe that there are two major differences with HP’s offerings. The first thing is the customer-value proposition – that is once you come into a contract with us, you never have to worry about your printing ever again. It doesn’t matter what brand of printers you have. Let me explain. When you call for support, there is a good chance our remote monitoring has caught the problem already and we’re aware of it. If it’s not caught, we confirm the product number (which is easily located to read on the sticker at the front of the machine), confirm the client’s location, and then we’re on the road going to fix the problem. We generally see customers within 2 hours, with a 90% first time fix rate. There’s a difference between the technician for HP and other technicians. With an HP technician, we’re going to go in there, do our best to fix the problem, and if we can’t fix it, we’re going to be upfront and honest with you. If the technician needs a part, he’ll order it before he leaves the client’s office, and tell the client that he’ll be back the next day to finish the job.
The second difference is that we are a channel company. That is, once you get below the enterprise space, you’ll be better serviced through local resellers rather than larger multi-million companies. Working through the resellers allows us to be more responsive and to accomplish some of things I mentioned in the first paragraph.
CI: Have you integrated HP’s ePrint technology into your MPS offerings? If so, how has this revolutionary technology helped you?
BA: Right now, we have a development team to integrate not just ePrint, but all of different services such as Hiflex, FutureSmart Software, digital management software, to name a few. We are working so that eventually all of HP’s organic and inorganic offerings for our customers can be fully integrated into the solutions we provide.
CI: Where do you see HPs MPS going in the next 5-10 years? Where do you the MPS industry going?
BA: We will continue to strengthen our position in the middle market and in doing so, invest further on the channel. We’re taking the assets and intellectual expertise acquired through Printelligent, and building out the partner managed print services model in the United States. Looking forward, we’ll take the core model outside the borders and plan an expansion into Asia, Europe, and the Middle East/Africa. Our solutions will be multi-currency, multi-language, etc. We will also look to our closer neighbors in Latin America and Canada. Actually Mexico and Brazil are two of the best and most advanced markets right now outside the United States.
As for the industry, it will be who is able to work in the cloud, the document ecosystem, and whatever else comes down the line. Customers will continue to broaden their focus from saving cost to improving their productivity, and managing the workflow of documents. As the market continues to evolve, I will continue to stay in close touch with customers needs, and determine how HP can best service their needs.
About Bill Avey, HP Vice-President LaserJet & Enterprise Solutions
Bill Avey joined the HP Partner MPS leadership team following HP’s acquisition of Printelligent. Mr. Avey’s career with HP began in May 1998 in the finance organization. His path through HP has included positions in HP Services, the Imaging & Printing Group, Worldwide Sales & Channel Operations, and most recently, Mr. Avey served as the Worldwide Director of Marketing for LaserJet & Enterprise Solutions. Mr. Avey’s is chartered with bringing the HP Partner MPS offering, inclusive of world class service and consultative sales, to the rest of the United States and around the world. Prior to joining HP, Mr. Avey provided Document Management Services to Fortune 500 clients involved in complex litigation and regulatory matters.
