Kyocera unveils managed service

Vendor's latest scheme will take the pressure of stock holding away from resellers

Alex Ward: Midwich will make the most of the opportunity.

Printer vendor Kyocera has launched a managed service that it was claimed will give resellers the chance to graduate from unprofitable one-off transaction sales and generate recurring revenues from consumables and support.

Logistics for the Kyocera managed service, which launches today, will be handled from the vendor’s purpose-built Milton Keynes-based support centre. The vendor will take the burden of holding stock, and configuring it, from the reseller.

Under the new scheme, resellers will take orders from clients and pass directions on to Kyocera, which will then take responsibility for delivery and installation. The sales channel will be handled by distribution partner Midwich.

Kyocera’s distribution manager, Alicia Shepherd, said: “The printer is the only IT product whose sales model has not changed in 10 years. There are endless options for print applications, so customers will only get the most out of their printing inventory by adopting it as a managed service.”

Unusually, Midwich is not involved in stock holding, which means it can devote more resources to help the reseller, claimed Midwich commercial director Alex Ward.

“Our duty is to work with the reseller to make the most of the opportunity. The resellers can spend more time speeding out their client’s needs,” he said.