This meeting had quite a big turnout from the members with 8 companies and 24 people present. The meeting was hosted by Blue Brain, which was celebrating its 5th anniversary.
Two main topics were covered:
- There was a formal presentation by OneQ, a Danish software company providing cutting-edge Secure Print Management solutions as well as server-less print options. There was further discussion on security in connection with GDPR, the new European regulation on data privacy, which represents an opportunity for IMPSGA members, to develop new security related services to help their customers address this challenge.
For example, printed documents are a major source of data covered by the privacy regulations; electronic content management is also a major area of privacy concerns, especially as a lot of ECM new software is now in the Cloud, for the usual benefits of cost, mobility and convenience, so compliance is of great importance, but this involves a complex interlink of legal and technical issue, which end-users will need help to deal with. - EUVIC, which owns 25% of Blue Brain, and is responsible for developing and maintaining the PrinterCare software used in Poland, gave a presentation highlighting its capability to develop advanced software, serving many large European companies. Among others, the PrinterCare software designed by BlueBrain and developed by Euvic, is now promoted throughout Western Europe, attracting a lot of interest from companies who have commercial access to large numbers of SMB companies.
This is clearly an area of growth for all players in the MPS market.
SMB is still a mostly untapped opportunity in Europe and finding the proper value proposition for millions of European companies through the right mix of technology, channel access and marketing efficiency was a core part of the discussions held in Krakow. Another big potential development in this area is the advent of online sales portals, giving partners the ability to offer SMBs the opportunity to configure and buy simple, cost-effective MPS solutions, without the need for expensive direct sales calls.
UK member M2 is developing PrintSimplicity to address this, and the portal will potentially be available for other members to licence.