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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.
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