What is Print and Imaging as-a-Service?

tx

good stuff

I definitely see per-seat billing for MPS in the near future for the more progressive dealers with one huge benefit being that under such a program the goals of the dealer and client agree a aligned, because both benefit from less printing. It will make sense for dealers that have successfully transitioned from a transactional business model dependent upon hardware placements to a services business model where the priority is growing recurring revenue. I could even see hardware being bundled for an additional fee per user that is essentially a rental. As the hardware becomes less important, & inexpensive A4 devices become more durable & feature rich, it becomes increasingly more feasible. This radical departure from the status quo, however, will likely require a changing of the guard at the executive level in most dealers, because the old school simply doesn't understand capturing revenue & greater margins over time by choosing a rental model for device deployment over traditional leases that provide more immediate top line revenue.  

I've heard of dealers doing seat licensing on smaller tabletop printers for MPS accts but not for larger MFP's. I've heard this being done in the Chicago Metro market place. Chicagoland adopted the MPS programs real early & the BTA dealers have really penetrated the market in a big way by now. The dealers are now fighting to differentiate themselves & offer something different & this seat licensing seems to be the new buzz. I never heard of it being done in any other geographic markets. But obviously the software tracking/monitoring companies are aware of it.

From my understanding, "per seat" billing isn't designed to overcome leasing objectives. It's designed to add additional revenue in deals through Managed IT Services, which uses per seat billing.

Both products get amalgamated under a single solution with a single invoice based solely on the amount of employees that require the service. 

For me, the big question is who pays for the equipment? Can a dealer really support financing/purchasing a large volume of MFP's and putting them out on 1 or 2 year "per seat" billing contracts?

It's a neat concept, perhaps a little too creative for dealer owners. Are there any dealerships currently selling per seat billing? Would love to hear from them.

Old Glory ty for the comment.  Yes, Facilities Management could be just a different spin on an old theme. 

MFP seat licensing would solve many issues that we have with selling the customer  a traditional finance lease. 

This just sounds to me like Facilities Management under a different name. Facilities Management is the practice of setting up a printing operation within a company as a service to the company. The people operating the equipment are employees of the Facilities Management company not the corporation. It is buying the apples, not the tree taken to the extreme. It's not uncommon that all postal services are packaged in as well.

As far as MFP seat licensing...I don't see it ever coming to pass.