LEXMARK
offering programmes to our channel partners to promote the use of our devices for a longer duration. Think about extended warranties for not four years, but for seven or eight years. That’s exciting; it’s a shift in thinking, because when you look at the channel partners, a lot of times things like pay plans are set on that churn. But there’s tremendous benefits from a sustainability perspective.” Arjan adds that Lexmark is also a leader in having post consumable content in its devices. “We want to have 50% of PCR plastics in all our devices by 2025,” he says. “For Lexmark it is now 39%, which is well beyond any guidance from whatever government institutes you’ll find. Over 90% of the materials are already with 60% PCR. Add to that the cartridges where 100% of the material is recyclable, we really have a fantastic sustainability story. We need to go out and sell that story a little bit more.” Digital transformation As mentioned, Lexmark is also a leader in cloud print, and looks to help customers and channel partners with their digital transformation journey and adoption of cloud technology. “We run cloud strategy workshops with our channel partners, which we started this year,” says Arjan. “The reason we’re doing that is that we find that everybody talks about cloud, but it’s important to have a strategy. Channel partners are all in a different evolution of the journey; some are at the beginning, some are a lot more sophisticated, and it requires a different approach. “We have a lot of offerings with benefits. We have cloud fleet management, that is a platform that helps with monitoring,
management, replenishment, things like that. Underneath that platform are add-ons such as cloud print management, which is essentially a follow me solution. We also recently introduced a translation assistant on the cloud, where you can use your multifunction device with a document that you have, for example, in English and translate it into another language.” Security is another priority for customers, Arjan notes. “Cloud security continues to be of tremendous importance and there are big opportunities for channel partners in this,” Arjan says. “We’ve seen digitisation, especially over the last couple of years, but as a report from Quocirca noted, 70% of companies remain highly dependent on print and of those companies, 79% expect to increase their security spend around print over the next year. “The message to the channel partners is make sure that you have these discussions, make sure you talk to Lexmark about our capabilities that are built into our cloud offerings, for instance. This is where the whole cloud strategy comes into place because you have these different building blocks and security is critically important and will remain so.” Arjan is confident about the future for Lemark in the UK, anticipating that growth will continue, with the company’s range of solutions for businesses large and small. “It’s a very busy vibe,” he says. “Things like AI are coming in and there is cloud adoption that’s changing the market. “I’m excited about Lexmark, we’ve made very significant investments into our managed print services platform and we are ready to push our growth in the UK and elsewhere.”
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This is where the whole cloud strategy comes into place because you have these different building blocks and security is critically important and will remain so.
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printinthechannel.co.uk
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