This Month's Spectrum Summary:

(The following is an excerpt from the June 2007 issue of Spectrum, a proprietary monthly briefing published exclusively for the clients of I.T. Strategies, Inc. © 2007)

Web fever expected to drive industry transition;
Print 2.0: HP's bold vision to survive and thrive

This month we meet with Mark Hanley who shares his reflections on what he sees as the best strategic direction for our industry, insights prompted in part by two major industry events last month, ISA and AIIM/OnDemand.

The shows for him symbolize two basic directions. OnDemand is basically about digital hardware for commercial printers, ISA about graphics. At OnDemand, it was easy to get the impression print is no longer driving the dynamic of the market, that the center of gravity is moving toward software and services. At ISA, print was not peripheral; it was and is expected to continue to remain central. Taking the long view, Mark suggests the graphics world is the best route for our industry, that it means sticking with what we know rather than trying to reinvent ourselves as a kind of software company with document printing just a peripheral.

He sees three trends that support this. There's the underlying economic link, the motivation to find a growing market. There's the inkjet technology link, and the underlying link in demand, the fact the same people who want to buy all these added value, variable print, special communication services are indeed the same people who buy the display graphics.

The main message is a reminder that industry values can best be preserved by a shift in the center of gravity, to draw the graphics and on-demand document world into one. Otherwise, long term, Mark feels the digital print industry seems destined to follow the analog print industry toward maturity and eventual sunset. Market communication services do not look like realistic salvation unless they are positioned to serve graphics and print rather than vice versa. The direction symbolized by the ISA event seems like the most realistic lifeboat for our industry.