CRN Channel Awards: Q&A with Glenn Griggs, CEO, Ricoh UK

Following its shortlist at the CRN Channel Awards, we talk to reseller Ricoh UK

The biggest channel event of the calendar year is approaching - the CRN Channel Awards.

One of the distinguished finalists at this year's ceremony is Ricoh UK which has landed on the shortlist for Reseller of the Year (£31m-£200m).

Here we talk to its CEO Glenn Griggs.

Why do you think awards like the Channel Awards matter? What would winning this award mean to your company?

Winning Reseller of The Year at the CRN Awards would mean a huge amount from two perspectives. Firstly, it goes without saying that this award would give us industry recognition, acknowledgement and invaluable credibility with our vendors, customers and partners. The CRN awards are essentially the Oscars of the IT industry, so everyone involved stands to benefit from the prestige and the weight of these trophies.

But aside from all that, the value to our people is even greater. I'm a big believer in saying thank you for a job well done and celebrating our wins. So, if we succeed, it'll give me yet another opportunity to recognise our people for their day-in, day-out efforts, that remain true even when we're facing tough competition and complex challenges. Winning would also be a brilliant testament to our teams and their skills in developing digital services solutions for our customers.

Winning would also be a fantastic testament to the journey we've been on as an organisation. We're now a major player in the channel for Digital Services; our DNA may be firmly set in print, but we've adapted, evolved and transformed in line with the needs of the market. Equally, both sides of our print business across corporate and commercial are performing well.

What would you say is your company's proudest achievement over the past year?

We've been awarded several accolades in the past year from Gartner, the IDC, Verdantix, amongst others. One of my proudest moments was reading this quote from the IDC - ‘With a legacy of innovation and a commitment to anticipating market changes, Ricoh showcased strength in several areas of our research, underscoring its ability to adapt and thrive in the digital era'. Innovation, adaptation and the ability to thrive rings true to me in that statement, and I think we've more than lived up to these comments.

However, our people are always my greatest source of pride. I've seen some incredible testimonials from our customers this year, and that's thanks to our employees' hard work.

In other areas, our people have also been shining. We run a calendar of diversity and inclusion events, throughout the year and to see even more people engage in the conversation has been exciting to watch. Equally, our employee-led Affinity Groups are incredibly active; our Menopause support forum is even working alongside HR to enact policy change.

What have been the biggest challenges of 2023 so far and how have you overcome them? How have your people helped with that?

From a business perspective, every challenge we face is an opportunity for growth. When we overcome a challenge and find a new way to fix a problem for our customers, we become more resilient. The opportunities we're seeing are across emerging technologies like hyper-automation and AI.

I suppose the challenges are deciding which new technologies are right for us and our customer base. Our customers are also becoming more data and digital aware - they understand their needs, so it's our job to step up and provide the technology to guide them in the long term and build a trusted partnership.

For our people, the challenges have been more clear cut. We're amid a cost-of-living crisis, so we've been working hard to help our employees with their financial wellbeing by offering inclusive support.

How do you think the channel has changed over the past year and what changes do you think it still needs to make?

The most significant change is probably the result of hybrid working. Technology doesn't exist in a box anymore; it's often distributed to meet the needs of dispersed workforces. Today, organisations need to consider how their people work and where their people work throughout any IT decision making process - from devices to infrastructure and cybersecurity.

To put that in context, we did some research earlier this year and found that 74 per cent of decision makers design employee workplace processes with hybrid working experience in mind. The channel has had to adapt to that huge shift in the market.

Within the channel, diversity of gender and ethnicity needs to improve significantly. At Ricoh, we're working hard to address this core need. Not only does it make sense ethically, but by not reflecting our marketplaces, we risk losing potential customers.

What do you see as the main opportunities for the channel in the coming year? How do you plan to capitalise on those opportunities?

As hybrid working becomes commonplace and more companies set aside budgets for digital transformation strategies, we're focusing our efforts on workspace integration and the technology, services and solution that sit alongside that strategy.
Businesses of all sizes have disparate technologies in place. We see growth coming from ambitious organisations who want to create seamless workspace experiences that prioritise employees, nurture productivity and support flexibility.

As I've already touched upon, we've been through a significant transformation in the last few years. We started our journey as a printer manufacturer 87 years ago, two years ago we launched an expanded Digital Services portfolio, and the next step is to grow our portfolio in line with the workspace integration challenge we've identified.

We'll remain focused on automation, which for me, represents a fantastic opportunity to improve the world of work, if approached in the right way.

Whilst automation is not a new concept to us (Ricoh coined the phrase ‘Office Automation' back in 1977), the recent advancements in AI make it clear that organisations need to prioritise their employee experience. This comprises several areas, from reducing tedious manual tasks to enabling employees to develop new skills.

Ultimately, everything we do internally for our people, and externally for our customers, revolves around enhancing workplace experiences.