01732 759725 46 Andrew Smith distributed workforce. People are working from lots of different locations and they have to manage devices and keep the flow of data seamless. We are well-positioned to support that, whether it’s with our data workflow propositions, managed print, IT infrastructure or cyber security. We have one of the fastest growing cyber operations in the industry right now and we can deliver real value to our customers. Q: How do you see the print and IT reseller sector evolving over the next five years – any disruptors or opportunities on your radar? A: There’s bound to be more consolidation. I don’t think print will disappear but printing habits will change. It will be harder to be profitable and we’ll see growth coming from IT services and attached value services. By far, my bet is around cybersecurity, it’s having the biggest impact. I also believe the way we deliver propositions and how the value-add will evolve are intrinsically linked to the use of AI. It’s not about replacing people but, if we’re not utilising it, we will be left behind and customers won’t see us as valued partners or trusted advisors. Q: What advice would you give a young person starting a career in the industry? A: Stay curious, the changes in technology have been phenomenal over time and you have to be open to learn. I think what will stand out these days is a strong work ethic and drive, and actually, the one thing that I talk about with the young community in our business is communication and relationships. They don’t seem to create them like the previous generation. Q: What excites you most about the future? A: A real passion of mine right now is the evolution of the culture within our organisation. I’m really interested in how culture is developed and maintained in this new working environment. It’s tough, you’ve got different generations that create relationships in different ways and what excites me most is the possibilities of getting that right. market if you’re not truly adding value to the customer. So to summarise, AI and convergence are by far having the biggest impact on the business today. Q: What’s one strategic decision your business made recently that you believe will pay off long-term? A: Our investment in cybersecurity is a strategic decision that is going to have a long-term impact on the value we deliver to customers. But underlying that, if you don’t have the culture and people to drive it forward, it doesn’t work. Bringing the three group companies together and building a unified team with one culture by far is the single biggest thing that’s driving our business forward. I spend more time on internal culture and how that serves our customers, than I do on anything else right now. Q: What role do partnerships and collaboration play in driving innovation and growth in your sector? A: Partnerships and collaboration are fundamental because we can’t innovate in isolation. Being part of a global manufacturer gives us scale, technology and R&D that resellers in our space just don’t have access to. If you take PrintGuardian, two of the technologies sitting behind that are Kyocera group companies, the third product is a third-party solution. The IT market is quite used to doing that and the print market is catching up. Vendor and channel partnerships I think will become even more important to create differentiated solutions. Q: What do you see as the key challenges or pain points businesses are facing in today’s hybrid working model and how can you help your partners/customers to address these? A: Since my change of role, I have had a different perspective on this scenario. I believe the intangibles of bringing people together are so fundamental to create a culture of success that we need in a challenging market. From a customer perspective, I think hybrid working is stretching organisations. We often hear about challenges around security of a Q: What’s currently having the greatest impact on your business? A: AI is massively impacting our business; it is changing what customers expect from us and how we build propositions to market, from document workflows to security to solutions, etc. The second thing which we’re obviously at the forefront of, is the convergence of print, IT and cyber security. Customers are no longer buying those elements separately; they want a relationship with a partner who can join up all three. From our perspective, the print market is in a structural decline and profitability in that space is a challenge. But I think this is where we can reinvent ourselves. I often say to our team, good business is good business, and bad business is bad business. Generally, you will always come under attack in the Andrew Smith, Managing Director, Kyocera Document Solutions UK, Annodata, and MCL Industry insight ONE-TO-ONE
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