With Airmail2, Dealers Can Make Money when Their Customers Don't Print
If you read this blog regularly, then you know I'm skeptical that managed print services can continue to drive revenue indefinitely for companies in the channel. One of the key goals of MPS is to get customers to print less and less printing usually means less money. Ultimately, the only way that the channel can keep generating more cash selling MPS is to learn how to make money when customers opt not to print.
With its Airmail2 technology, DocSolid, a firm that markets enterprise document scanning solutions, claims it can help its customer do just that. The firm says by providing a best-practices approach to document capture, its software can help dealers deliver more value through their managed print services and generate revenue whenever end users scan as well as print.
Airmail2 is a cloud-based universal capture solution designed to support all MFPs, digital copiers, and scanners regardless of vendor. End users affix a stamp to a document being scanned and press the Airmail2 button displayed on the machine's front panel. The scanned document is sent to the cloud-based Airmail2 Post Office where the Airmail2 Mail Man sorts it, which is an image processing service. According to the information in the stamps, the service separates each document and executes the delivery instructions. PDF files can be delivered to a user's inbox or a network folder. Captured images can also be sent to a document management system like Autonomy, iManage, and Worldox.
"In most offices today, there is a paper scanning free-for-all going on that we call Scanarchy," says DocSolid president Steve Irons. He explains that most enterprises are engaging in some sort of unmanaged scanning via an assortment of MFPs and scanners that are isolated and lack any established controls, security, or support. Mr. Irons says Scanarchy is a real problem and insists, "If you manage all of the printing there is an opportunity to manage all that scanning. Nobody does that right now."
Mr. Irons says not only does the technology streamline end-user workflow, Airmail2 also makes life a lot easier for a company's IT team. The technology is not integrated into a corporate e-mail system, so setup is simple. Images are also delivered either as attachments or as links to eliminate image storage and trafficking issues. "When you explain Airmail2 to CIOs, they get it. Enterprise scanning can be a real headache for IT organization and our technology adds real value by making scanning much more efficient."
DocSolid released Airmail2 Enterprise Scan Capture for Law Firms in January and Mr. Irons realized at that time it would also be popular with companies offering MPS programs. He says Airmail2 is appropriate for MPS programs that support roughly 500 users, although he says that number is not etched in stone. "I'm not saying this is always the case, but if a customer is big enough to buy MPS, they would probably benefit from a managed scanning grid." Mr. Irons reckons that Airmail2 can add 5 percent to the price of a managed print contract.
DocSolid tapped Supplies Network to distribute Airmail2 to its dealer channel. In a prepared statement, Supplies Network senior vice president of managed print services Doug Johnson said, "Their [DocSoild's] device-agnostic, SaaS-based solution enables our resellers to add a simple, yet comprehensive scan capture solution to their MPS engagement—all while using their customers' existing MFP infrastructure." Supplies Network indicated that by partnering with DocSolid, it broadens their MPS services portfolio significantly to included managed scanning as well as managed print.
Initially, Airmail2 for MPS will be distributed via a pilot program run by Supplies Network for between 15 and 20 MPS-related resellers. The full rollout to Supplies Network resellers is expected in June. Stand-alone pricing for the scanning service includes a one-time $3,995 enterprise-wide licensing fee and it costs $495 annually for each enabled capture device. There is also a $995 annual support fee and each stamp costs 4 cents.
I think that Airmail2 could be popular. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of scanning management solution quickly become a key component of any MPS offering. Currently, it's not unusual to find scanning and workflow tools in most large, enterprise MPS contracts. My only skepticism is how well will the channel be able to sell the service to SMB customers. Regardless of how attractive a scanning solution might be, the ultimate success of Airmail2 will be largely dependent on how well the channel can articulate its value proposition.
Posted by Charlie Brewer on 04/27/2011