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customers have got the latest version of the software they use or that they are using the full capability of the product to help maintain that customer relationship. “Hybrid working gives the industry its next challenge. It looks like it is here to stay and that will drive change. With less people in an office, less pages being printed, less need for devices, potentially need for less real estate as we move forward, so we all need to adapt. So how can you, as a reseller, provide value to that end user who might be sitting in their home office? And those end users that are still working in an office? The industry is getting its head around that and there are some organisations looking at devices or service options, more flexible MPS contracts, that sort of thing. “Again, it’s just presenting an opportunity really. The industry has changed – and will continue to – and I think those that are able to differentiate and stand out from the crowd are going to continue to grow. But I think overall, the channel is in a healthier position, but that could very quickly change, so everybody needs to keep on their toes and ensure they’re providing value.” Future plans PaperCut will be looking to maintain its position at the forefront of this, and Stuart says that the remainder of 2023 and 2024 will be “exciting” at a product level, with numerous new products and product updates in the works. “For instance, with PaperCut Hive, which is our multi-tenant public cloud product, that has been in a cycle of continual updates and new releases for 18 months now,” he explains. “Several key features were released in the past quarter that have helped us
drive an increased market share and the success of that product. And looking at what we’re going to continue to do there in the next six to 12 months is really exciting. That product is getting good feedback and we’ll continue to drive it and make those behind the scenes changes to give greater stability and implement new features. There has been significant investment on that platform. Meanwhile, PaperCut MF continues to be our flagship product and there will be further developments coming this year.” “We’re constantly understanding how we can improve stability; how can we increase scalability and develop our products to meet the end user’s evolving needs? “We also have PaperCut Multiverse, which has been embraced by the channel. This gives users the ability to manage all of their PaperCut customers from a single pane of glass. It has been a big help to resellers globally, helps reduce support, drive sales and increase visibility, and that product is going to get further development this year. “In the UK and the EMEA region, we’re always trying to keep an eye on the future and what we need to be doing and make sure we’re doing the right things in 18 months’ time. There are two key aspects to our approach. One is a broad and deep investment into our ecosystem and then the second is the products mentioned earlier. “For our ecosystem in the UK and beyond we will continue to support and enable our resellers, which is paramount to our strategy. We’re looking to bring in a new lead management system to help create incremental sales opportunities for our channel and improve our marketing and sales. Qualified leads help the channel grow at all levels and we see a key role of PaperCut as a channel business to drive that market demand, but then also feed that market demand back into our channel. If we can increase the quality and the volume of the opportunities that we then feed into the channel, it continues to leverage and position us as a partner of choice and gives them the ability to lead with solutions like PaperCut, knowing that we are supporting them and driving their business.”
Stuart Brookes head of channel sales
and alliances, EMEA region
papercut.com
I think the channel is in a healthy position, but that could very quickly change, so everybody needs to keep on their toes... “ ”
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