Soooo what the hell is MPS?

Lately there has been resurgence of discussion over the definition of MPS in discussion groups. Honestly this has become a very tiresome, repetitive effort that doesn't seem to make much progress.

Early in the year this was the hot topic. Everyone was jumping into MPS and touting their version of MPS. Until recently it appeared that everyone went back to their business and were trying to see what results they achieved using their respective definition.

Now it appears that more MPS community members have come to realize that a definition, in and of itself, is completely useless unless it addresses a prospects business problem. And their problem is not that they pay too much for toner, service, etc.

The value that MPS provides does not exist in a vaccum. It is relative to the current business environment of each prospect. And, more importantly, that value can, and will, change over time. The flexibility of a providers program will, long-term, be proportionate to the success that they realize in delivering MPS.

It seems widely accepted that the "gold standard" of MPS is a provider that can manage any fleet regardless of the device manufacturers. This has been a difficult pill to swallow for the majority of MPS providers because they come from a hardware background. This mentality says, "If I can't service the device with my own technicians, how can I manage it?"

If the only value you bring to your clients is your response time, uptime %, first call completion %, etc., then you just aren't ready to turn your company from a copier or printer company to an MPS company.

The really valuable stuff that the best MPS providers bring to the table is their intellectual capital. A well rounded knowledge of the tools available in the marketplace to create a more efficient flow of communication (in the form of documents/data) and the ability to put that knowlege to work in the real world is what separates the men from the boys in MPS.

Too many people are still focused on the hardware and service metrics to see that there is more to the picture. Further, only a small group of those that have the intellectual capital to design these kind of solutions can effectively deliver them.

The good news for everyone out there is that not every prospect is looking for a fully evolved MPS solution. Prospects are still in the infancy of their adoption so, for the time being, the majority of MPS opportunities are up for grabs. And there are a lot of companies that can deliver MPS as long as it involves nothing more than hardware and the associated service.

Define it how ever you like. There are many ways to skin a cat. Just make sure you don't kill the cat in the process.

Soooo, what the hell is MPS?

Forget what you or I think about it. Ask your prospect! Their opinion is the only one that matters anyway.