From Hybrid Dealer to "Galactic-Hybrid" - The World is Not Enough

January 27, 2009

There is no such thing as "Hardware Agnostic"...or is there...? 

Perhaps the business world of tomorrow requires Galactic Vision, today... 

Some very smart people at the Photizo Group tell me that the industry is changing. The successful dealers will be part I.T. VAR,  part copier dealer. 

That the BTA model will evolve from hardware-centric to service-centric, and the successful players will be, must be, hardware agnostic. 

I am a big fan of the "You, Inc." movement. The term refers to self-promotion, self-branding(that must hurt), and self-promotion - I would add, self-improvement, self-awareness, self-healing, and self-adapting. As a matter of fact, some of my "friends" (people whose last name I actually remember) have heard me go off,

"...the only boss you have is the one looking back at you in the mirror..."

Imagine for a second an "organization" or "Universal, collection of individuals who share the same goals and visions...wired together via the latest Social Networks..."; Web 3.0. 

This organization performs assessments and analysis in every type of business on the planet. This organization has at its fingertips on every connected device, live and online. 

This organization has no geographic boundaries. 

This organization can service every single copier or output device in existence. This organization can provide pre-sales expertise on all hardware; from Okidata 9-pin impact printers to DeskJet, Canon, Ricoh, Edgeline, to Indigo. Wide-format and scanners. 

Business experts recommend and support all facets of Managed Print Services; hardware, software, wetware. No hardware manufacturer holds dominion over this organization. Software house court this firm.  

The Organization is a collection of "You, Inc." types - ex-Canon, ex-Ricoh, Oce, HP Ikon, K/M, Sharp, Xerox, IBM, Microsoft, CISCO, EDS, etc. Technicians, engineers, and Selling Professionals with High Intent, managers of process, not people. 

No inventory. No "logistics". Very few traditional employees, 95% 1099. 

Relationship, account, and service-centric - solving business problems.

How could this come about? 

What sort of cataclysmic shift would need to occur? 

A bad economy? Shifting personal beliefs? 

"Bullet-Proof" connectivity? 

And who could possibly bring something like this about? IBM? HP? Canon? RiKON? Konica/Minolta? Synnex, Ingram? 

No.  The establishment is crumbling.

You.  All is possible, in the organization of You.

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