WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919
Welcome to Future Ready with Bet Club.
00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.120
My name's Steve Harley and today I'm joined by Document Solutions consultant Ian Heard.
00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:18.160
We're going to speak about his 30-year career in print and document solutions and how the industry has changed during that time.
00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:32.079
We're going to speak about how today document solutions are really a data and information management challenge and the shifting mindset that we as leaders within IT need to make to include that in our IT strategy in the right way.
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.920
I'm sure you're going to enjoy this episode.
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.799
Ian has a wealth of experience to share with us.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.439
Wherever you get your podcast, please make sure that you like and subscribe.
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.960
Welcome to the Beckler Future Ready Podcast.
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.439
I'm Steve Harley and I'm joined by Document Solutions Consultant Ian Hurd.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.200
Welcome to the podcast, Ian.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:56.320
Thank you for having me.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.679
That's been brilliant.
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:58.960
I'm really looking forward to it.
00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.200
You and I have very different experiences of print.
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:13.439
So I understand that in my in my 24-ish year career in IT, I got to the stage where I wasn't allowed to specify or sell or go anywhere near a printer.
00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:16.959
But that's not been your experience of the last 30 years.
00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:19.519
How's that world been for you?
00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.120
And I must remember that when we're when we're in the office.
00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.719
But um yeah, uh it it's it's one of those subjects.
00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:34.319
It's it's it's an IT subject.
00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:37.359
Now it it never traditionally was an IT subject.
00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:49.840
So um it's always one that generally fascinates those that I talk to, um both internally and externally, because it's almost left field from your kind of software and server and security.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:56.079
It's not core tech any, or it doesn't, it's not seen as core tech, but yet yet it is hundreds of facilities, right?
00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.239
It did used to be facilities, yeah.
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:06.239
Um and it's now become um an IT sort of subject, an IT arena, and something for them to sort of include.
00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.639
And uh and it's kind of um I think a lot of people are resistant to sort of taking print on.
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.199
Um and then it's a little bit mystifying, and that's my job essentially is to demystify it.
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:33.280
Um and I've um you know I'm very privileged to be within an organization like Becklow where it's an IT-centric organization, but I can I can practice my my my print um you know daily.
00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:35.039
Yes, absolutely, you know.
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.840
Uh well that that changed though over time.
00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.280
Uh that's an interesting point.
00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:44.159
It used to be facilities, it's now uh seen as an IT uh function.
00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:45.599
What's driven that?
00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.719
It it can't just be that that emails replaced faxes.
00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:50.479
There must be more to it than that, right?
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.319
There is more to it than that, yeah.
00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:19.840
But um it's over a period of time, um, it's now um kind of evolved to being this sort of standalone, um very paper-heavy, very um, you know, all about where it sits and the and the utilization of them and and and and the the storage of the materials to being a uh end almost an end-user compute device um within an organization.
00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.759
It is plugged into the network.
00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:27.759
Um people go up to it and can input various different things on there and type in email addresses to scan things to.
00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:35.840
So your business process now, whereas it previously was as just say just, but but it was it's previously a physical thing, but now it's a digital thing as well.
00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:36.879
Absolutely.
00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:52.400
Um so uh it it's it's quite rightly now fallen under the the IT umbrella um because of things like security, um, because it it it needs to be looked after by the uh by the IT staff.
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:53.520
Uncontrolled.
00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:01.759
And I I suppose there's also that whole whole thing where we had, you know, I remember it a few years that that the paperless office.
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:02.319
Yes.
00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.159
Is it paperless or is it paperless?
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.800
You know, is that a real is that actually ever become a thing?
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:14.800
That has been a phrase that's been thrown around now for probably about 20, 25 years.
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:23.120
So when I first started almost 30 years ago, um email was was you know really taken off and and that was seen as the way of sharing information.
00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:31.120
Um and people at the time said, oh, you know, this is this is gonna be the end of people printing because ultimately we'll just share the documents by email.
00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:40.319
Um traditionally, something came into the organization, um, it was opened post or or or what however it was, and everybody wanted a copy.
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.319
So the first thing someone walked up to the photocopier, they put it in, they type in 200 copies, press start and leave it.
00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:46.800
Yeah.
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.480
Um, and hopefully three hours later, there were 200 copies there.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.000
If it hadn't run out of paper in the meantime, um, but to answer your question, um, I haven't come across a paperless office yet.
00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:27.439
Do you know it's it's I just as you were speaking, then I was remembering a story from from um it would have been about 15, 15, maybe a little bit longer, 20 years ago, probably actually no, 20 years ago, um, when we were first talking about mobile email, and I remember speaking to a uh business leader, and he was a lawyer, and he was explaining to me how he didn't need email on his mobile phones on the go anymore, um because he had a lady that printed out each individual email he received and put it on his desk each day.
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:40.720
So so that that change though of of going that how much we rely on it has has that tilted is because it it it used to be that you'd almost want a printer on every desk.
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.279
And I remember Brother, for example, would would actually you know advocate that you know it's it's next to you, it's it's there.
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.279
Is that still the world we live in today?
00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.959
It it seems it feels like it's not, but yeah, I'm sat with paper in front of me today.
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:53.759
Absolutely.
00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:55.439
Um it has changed.
00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:02.160
There's a shift now to a printer on every desk to maybe a printer or two on every floor.
00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:25.439
Um, and that's come about because um print has evolved, it's advanced, um, and it's very much caught up to the to the IT uh philosophy of um secure the device, um protect the data, protect the information, protect the network, um, and also audit, monitor, and control who's using the device.
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:34.639
So you had a print on every desk before because everybody wanted to print everything out and they didn't want to get up and go anywhere and go collect their print.
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:47.600
But actually, the the the the advent of things like um secure print uh or push print pull print where he needed a card or a pin to release uh the print has has meant it's impractical to put a printer on every desk.
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:48.000
Yeah.
00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:55.920
Um, and actually we've now gone to a model where there are larger, more capable devices within organizations, but a lot less of them.
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.519
Um also driven by the reduction of general print.
00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:01.839
Yeah, it's an interesting angle there.
00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:20.720
As you were speaking, I was thinking to myself, um, that that that printer on every desk, the piece where you kind of see it a lot was it's in the finance director's uh desk because he's printing out, oh she's printed out uh you know some really sensitive documentation or it's in HR, and so we can't have it left around.
00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:32.160
But that that modern security controls embedded, that presumably has taken that away and allows you to kind of get away from that and and then have that consolidation and that that management device.
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:33.600
It does, it does.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:45.680
Although um when doing audits or when speaking with uh um um you know uh key stakeholders within organizations, there is still the exception to the rule of printer on a desk.
00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:55.600
Um that's normally a CEO or a uh uh um you know a chief finance officer or whoever it might be who insists that they will want a uh printer on their desk.
00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:02.720
But but but ordinarily, yeah, the the the whole security um issue has been taken away by that.
00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:10.319
Um in fact, a lot of solutions now that incorporate um follow me print or or or pull print will allow delegate printing.
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:15.920
So actually, what you can do as if you're if you're too important to move to to to go anywhere and collect your own.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:19.839
I was gonna say inkjets as status site symbols is is is something, isn't it?
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.199
You know they can actually ask somebody else to do that on their behalf.
00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:36.159
So if you have a PA or a secretary or a colleague who is happy to um to make that three-metre journey down the corridor to the photocopier, um, then it can be programmed that they can release the prints on on your behalf.
00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.320
And that's all tracked and monitored in the background.
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:48.080
So if if if anyone thinks that something has been released that shouldn't have been released or whatever, you you you've got complete and utter auditability, shall we say, of of everything that's going on.
00:08:48.480 --> 00:09:02.399
And you know, uh apart from those security concerns and uh I obviously the cost because print has often been uh spoken about as a as a kind of a cost optimization problem, as it were.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:09.679
Um what other things should businesses be thinking about when they're considering their document solutions?
00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.360
Good question, Stephen.
00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.720
And I and it's gone beyond print now.
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:29.120
Um the the history of having a lot of printed pages within an organization and everything being printed and then uh filed and archived and that kind of thing has has has all but disappeared.
00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:39.759
Um certainly from a um from a current perspective, obviously there's a lot of there's a lot of back uh documentation that's either stored off-site or on-site.
00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:48.799
Um and those that's another subject around sort of services around backscanning and and digitization and that sort of thing, which is which is you know hot topic um as well.
00:09:49.200 --> 00:10:02.080
Um but what's happened now is is those documents that were printed and were being tracked and and audited and that sort of thing have now gone digital, they've now gone under the radar.
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:08.879
And and I say under the radar because actually when they were printed, they could be everyone knew that they were there.
00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:14.240
If there was a part of paper on a desk, you could you can see there's a part of paper on the desk and you say, Oh, what's that?
00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:15.759
And you say such and such document.
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:16.960
Well, why have you printed that?
00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:20.399
Because Sandra is uh is looking after that document.
00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.960
Get rid of that because you shouldn't have it.
00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:46.320
Um we have now with things like OneDrive SharePoint, we we we almost have a uh disorganized um filing room where anybody can just chuck a file into this room, close the door, and it's it's just uh it's a it's a it's a mess, it's disorganized, and and in some ways it's quite dangerous for it depending on your organization.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:48.559
But it's not visible in the same way, yeah.
00:10:48.799 --> 00:11:03.360
But you can't see it, and it's almost like if we can't see it, it's not a problem, but but but it is, and the and the problems facing companies now are they don't actually have a good handle as to what information they're storing.
00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:11.919
They know, you know, file properties, you can go and say, right, okay, we've got six and a half terabytes of documents, but we don't know what they are.
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.799
We don't know how much of that is duplicate data, we don't know how much of that is outdated.
00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:37.360
Um, so these very, very much are the challenges around um managing the data that exists within an organization, um, cleansing that information, and uh also being able to uh audit and track and control who's viewing it and who's uh um editing it ultimately.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:46.000
Yeah, it's really really um key, I suppose, the the the types of engagement that document solutions uh uh uh you know can can deliver.
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:51.919
You it's moved, as you say, beyond that um what's my cost per print, what's my cost to store.
00:11:52.159 --> 00:12:06.480
Um if you're talking about that unstructured data, these solutions then presumably with the ad advent of AI can give people a window into that that unstructured data that is that's just that that might be on paper or might still be in a word file document.
00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:09.120
Is that the sort of thing that you're getting involved in today?
00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.960
Is that how people are engaging with you?
00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.320
Those are the conversations that we're now having, um, and and they resonate as well.
00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:31.279
Um print's an older industry, and I think we're we're we're we just look we look into the churn a lot of the time about saying you've got these devices and actually you don't need this speed, we don't need this specification, and we can downgrade and print's still print's still there, it's still needed.
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:32.240
It's still a factor.
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:51.519
Um, but the conversations that we're having now and and and are are really you know getting the uh the attention of um of a lot of our clients are asking certain questions around do you know what you've got and do you know where it is and do you know who's accessing it?
00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:57.200
Um and believe it or not, a number of our conversations are now coming up around auditing.
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:07.440
Um and I didn't realise, you know, as I'm fairly naive or was fairly naive to the to the to the pain and in a lot of ways cost of auditing.
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:15.759
Um, you know, auditors coming in and saying, right, okay, we need to we need you to pull up your information on this and actually how much time that takes and how difficult that can be.
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.320
Um and unfortunately, a lot of the conversations we're having are post-audit.
00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:21.039
Gotcha.
00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.559
Rather than pre-audit.
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:29.039
And that's really what we want to start to to capture now is to almost sort of lessons learned from our from our part.
00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.240
We've learned the lessons by looking at it externally.
00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:57.840
Um we're trying to send that message out to say, look, before you get an audit, actually that let's have a conversation, let's look at how easy would it be for you to present the information if you were asked to, and actually, what is the cost as a business of of doing that in time, uh, resource, um, you know, and and possibly paying somebody externally to do that for you.
00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:05.919
I I suppose that that that's another sign of that evolution, that that conversation, isn't it?
00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:19.360
Uh and now I I I think there's been an element of when we talked about IT earlier and the transition of uh of document solutions and print into IT, how perhaps some reticence from an IT engineer's point of view.
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.879
And so you know, I graduated as a software engineering way in the midst of time, right?
00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.720
So I was always a software guy.
00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:30.399
Um, but and I would be be wary of of touching touching that kind of the physical side of it.
00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:42.159
I suppose the the the importance now is that with the the value of that data and the amount that there now exists uh and how it can be interactive with, you can't just ignore it anymore.
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.080
It it's got to be part of your IT strategy and how you engage.
00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.039
And I I suspect that's something lots of businesses miss.
00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:50.879
It is it is, Stephen.
00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:56.799
And and as time goes on, um, the problem's only getting worse.
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:04.879
Um the amount of documents that now come into an uh you know a business or or or information, I call them documents.
00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:05.039
Yeah.
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:15.440
You know, we we're thinking PDFs, we're thinking word files as documents, but actually anything that that that that that exists in a structure that you you can view as an end user can can be called a document.
00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.279
Um the the longer that goes on, the bigger the problem becomes.
00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:28.720
Um and eventually I think what's going to happen is is is there's going to be this um this situation where it reaches critical mass.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:30.720
I could believe that.
00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:38.080
I as we're speaking, I I'm just thinking to myself that this is a this is a data management problem.
00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.279
You know, that that's that's at its core what we're talking about.
00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:51.519
The format of the data being unstructured or even physical, um, we in it and in boardrooms, we allow ourselves to think it's some sort of separate problem.
00:15:51.919 --> 00:16:07.360
So we could we can talk about IT infrastructure and network connectivity, and we can talk about databases, and we can talk about the cloud storage in the cloud cloud, and we can kind of pretend that that that that document solutions is uh is a print thing that is uh you know to one side.
00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:08.000
Yeah.
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:14.960
But but it's actually about your most valuable resource, or one of your most valuable resources, being being an organization's data.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:15.360
Yeah.
00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:30.240
It's it's information, it's information management, and it's it's it's being able to um comply ultimately, I think, with with the ever-increasing um uh rules and regulations that exist out there around retaining data.
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.480
Um and we know full well what that's like.
00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:48.000
Um because if you are a um a medical business or if you're an insurance business, or if if you're in financial, uh you're a financial organization, you know full well the rules around how how much you can um how much data you can keep, how long you need to keep it for.
00:16:48.480 --> 00:17:09.200
But as a as a as a as a day-to-day business, you know, doing anything, manufacturing, uh you might be a logistics company, um marketing, you know, any any any kind of I think it applies to unregulate or less regulated industry, so I think that that those rules still exist, but I think they they they they fall down the pecking order, they fall down the list somewhat.
00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:15.920
Um actually it's realizing that you're falling foul of certain rules.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:33.680
You you you you allow data onto your system, you don't assign it a expiry date, you don't uh assign it a a level of importance, you don't say this is customer sensitive data, there's no metadata um if you don't have a structured um document solution.
00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:42.960
So if we we talk a little bit about um uh the questions that people should be asking themselves in the boardroom.
00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:50.960
How how does this view of document solutions print uh need to change for the modern modern world?
00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:58.799
You know, what what should what should the CEO, the managing director, the CFO, the CO, you know, what what should they be asking?
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.559
How should they view view this?
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:08.640
Uh is this cost optimization or is this is compliance or or you know how what change needs to happen there in your view?
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.400
It's it it's a good question.
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:31.359
Um I think there's a number of answers to that, but ultimately I would say if we if we look at this a little like the evolution of print over the years, um and having started out almost 30 years ago and seeing you know photocopiers and printers just dotted around and anyone could walk over to them and scan, copy.
00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:39.519
Yeah, um, oh I'm you know, it's probably before scan to email, but even when scan to email came in, it was kind of like, oh, I just want to send this to my cousin.
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.359
Yeah, you know, in Australia.
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.599
And you could just put their email address in and pop off it went, and no one really understood.
00:18:45.759 --> 00:19:05.599
So we've seen that evolution in print over the years, um, to the stage now where devices are locked down and someone in IT can bring up a um a you know a display menu or whatever it might be and actually view the printers and actually go, that's what that's what they're doing.
00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.880
Um can't do the same with unstructured data.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:27.599
And and and ultimately the question that I think most organizations need to ask themselves are um why why aren't our documents electronically in the same state as we've got our print in in terms of lockdown, fully auditable, can be monitored.
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:29.359
Why are we training them differently?
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:32.000
Exactly, it's the same data, it's the same data.
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:40.799
You've taken it from paper and you've put it into into into um digital format and allowed it to essentially slip under the radar.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:51.039
Um that would be the overarching question, I think, that that most organizations can can sort of ask themselves and see whether they have an answer.
00:19:51.200 --> 00:20:00.240
Um the other ones, I think, as you've mentioned, Stephen, around things like security and compliance, you know, actually, do we comply with GDPR?
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:06.319
Do we comply with the, you know, how long we can retain uh sensitive customer information for?
00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:13.359
If we have a document that someone's written that's got customer name, address, date of birth in, that's staying on that.
00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.119
Becomes a problem in the cloud for forever, essentially.
00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.960
And it shouldn't be the it shouldn't be the way.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:27.039
And it it doesn't have to be because there's now so much available to us that that that that actually this this doesn't have to be this way anymore.
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:46.640
I think that's I think that's the biggest thing I've taken away so far from our conversation is that that mindset shift that we need to make that um uh that that just because it's on a piece of paper or it might have started on a piece of paper, doesn't mean that it's not data and it needs to be treated in the same way and and and dealt with in the in the same way.
00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:57.200
Um for for businesses out there looking at their options to how they go about addressing that, you know, what makes Beckler unique when we're having these conversations?
00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:06.079
I'd I'd say we're unique in terms of um how we are in in other areas of our business.
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:17.200
The fact that we are uh we're independent, we're not owned by uh a vendor or a manufacturer, we're not we're not, we're not um we're not told to push a certain solution forward.
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:23.839
Um we fit the solution to the customer's requirement and not the other way around, essentially.
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:30.640
So um I think we're unique in terms of we have a spec we have specialist teams in-house for this sort of stuff.
00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:40.559
Um I have experience where in this sort of field it's very much kind of like you've asked me a question, I'll get on the phone to a particular vendor and I'll ask them what their solution is.
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:48.079
Whereas actually our job is to is to understand the market and bring the best solution forward for the customer.
00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.680
Um, what that does is delivers exactly what is required.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:57.759
It looks at all the nuances, it looks at the customer as an individual and not a oh, well, you're you're a logistics company.
00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:03.359
We've done this before for a logistics company, you must always All be the same, but no two companies are the same.
00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.319
So we take the same approach with everybody.
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:13.279
We start at the beginning, we fact find, we discover, and then we introduce the right partners, the right vendors at the right time.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:29.200
Then to blend in a whole you know a whole mixture of products and services and and and portfolio to end up with a robust and uh essentially fit-for-purpose solution for the customer.
00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:46.000
Do you know there there will be there's likely be customers of mine from 10-15 years ago who I inflicted uh a printer on on through my naivety as we're sitting there watching this now or listening to this now, going going, Steve, where was this man?
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.319
When I was reviewing our print estate.
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:55.519
Well, we can't turn back the clock, Stephen, but we can we can we can certainly make amends for that.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.880
We can get back in there, can't we?
00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.039
And we can we can start those conversations, Kevin.
00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.000
Definitely, definitely.
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.240
Ian, it's been a real pleasure to sit down with you.
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:12.880
It's been really interesting, different take, I think, around uh around a subject that that um I think is isn't isn't considered deeply enough from the people's IT strategy.
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.400
So thank you ever so much for that.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:15.200
It's been a real pleasure.
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.519
Uh you're welcome and thanks for having me.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.919
Welcome to Future Ready with Bet Club.
00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.120
My name's Steve Harley and today I'm joined by Document Solutions consultant Ian Heard.
00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:18.160
We're going to speak about his 30-year career in print and document solutions and how the industry has changed during that time.
00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:32.079
We're going to speak about how today document solutions are really a data and information management challenge and the shifting mindset that we as leaders within IT need to make to include that in our IT strategy in the right way.
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.920
I'm sure you're going to enjoy this episode.
00:00:34.079 --> 00:00:36.799
Ian has a wealth of experience to share with us.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.439
Wherever you get your podcast, please make sure that you like and subscribe.
00:00:46.399 --> 00:00:48.960
Welcome to the Beckler Future Ready Podcast.
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.439
I'm Steve Harley and I'm joined by Document Solutions Consultant Ian Hurd.
00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.200
Welcome to the podcast, Ian.
00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:56.320
Thank you for having me.
00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:57.679
That's been brilliant.
00:00:57.759 --> 00:00:58.960
I'm really looking forward to it.
00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:03.200
You and I have very different experiences of print.
00:01:03.439 --> 00:01:13.439
So I understand that in my in my 24-ish year career in IT, I got to the stage where I wasn't allowed to specify or sell or go anywhere near a printer.
00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:16.959
But that's not been your experience of the last 30 years.
00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:19.519
How's that world been for you?
00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.120
And I must remember that when we're when we're in the office.
00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.719
But um yeah, uh it it's it's one of those subjects.
00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:34.319
It's it's it's an IT subject.
00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:37.359
Now it it never traditionally was an IT subject.
00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:49.840
So um it's always one that generally fascinates those that I talk to, um both internally and externally, because it's almost left field from your kind of software and server and security.
00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:56.079
It's not core tech any, or it doesn't, it's not seen as core tech, but yet yet it is hundreds of facilities, right?
00:01:56.480 --> 00:01:58.239
It did used to be facilities, yeah.
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:06.239
Um and it's now become um an IT sort of subject, an IT arena, and something for them to sort of include.
00:02:06.319 --> 00:02:12.639
And uh and it's kind of um I think a lot of people are resistant to sort of taking print on.
00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:19.199
Um and then it's a little bit mystifying, and that's my job essentially is to demystify it.
00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:33.280
Um and I've um you know I'm very privileged to be within an organization like Becklow where it's an IT-centric organization, but I can I can practice my my my print um you know daily.
00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:35.039
Yes, absolutely, you know.
00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.840
Uh well that that changed though over time.
00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:39.280
Uh that's an interesting point.
00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:44.159
It used to be facilities, it's now uh seen as an IT uh function.
00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:45.599
What's driven that?
00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:48.719
It it can't just be that that emails replaced faxes.
00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:50.479
There must be more to it than that, right?
00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.319
There is more to it than that, yeah.
00:02:52.400 --> 00:03:19.840
But um it's over a period of time, um, it's now um kind of evolved to being this sort of standalone, um very paper-heavy, very um, you know, all about where it sits and the and the utilization of them and and and and the the storage of the materials to being a uh end almost an end-user compute device um within an organization.
00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:21.759
It is plugged into the network.
00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:27.759
Um people go up to it and can input various different things on there and type in email addresses to scan things to.
00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:35.840
So your business process now, whereas it previously was as just say just, but but it was it's previously a physical thing, but now it's a digital thing as well.
00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:36.879
Absolutely.
00:03:37.039 --> 00:03:52.400
Um so uh it it's it's quite rightly now fallen under the the IT umbrella um because of things like security, um, because it it it needs to be looked after by the uh by the IT staff.
00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:53.520
Uncontrolled.
00:03:53.840 --> 00:04:01.759
And I I suppose there's also that whole whole thing where we had, you know, I remember it a few years that that the paperless office.
00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:02.319
Yes.
00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:04.159
Is it paperless or is it paperless?
00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.800
You know, is that a real is that actually ever become a thing?
00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:14.800
That has been a phrase that's been thrown around now for probably about 20, 25 years.
00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:23.120
So when I first started almost 30 years ago, um email was was you know really taken off and and that was seen as the way of sharing information.
00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:31.120
Um and people at the time said, oh, you know, this is this is gonna be the end of people printing because ultimately we'll just share the documents by email.
00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:40.319
Um traditionally, something came into the organization, um, it was opened post or or or what however it was, and everybody wanted a copy.
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:46.319
So the first thing someone walked up to the photocopier, they put it in, they type in 200 copies, press start and leave it.
00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:46.800
Yeah.
00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.480
Um, and hopefully three hours later, there were 200 copies there.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:58.000
If it hadn't run out of paper in the meantime, um, but to answer your question, um, I haven't come across a paperless office yet.
00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:27.439
Do you know it's it's I just as you were speaking, then I was remembering a story from from um it would have been about 15, 15, maybe a little bit longer, 20 years ago, probably actually no, 20 years ago, um, when we were first talking about mobile email, and I remember speaking to a uh business leader, and he was a lawyer, and he was explaining to me how he didn't need email on his mobile phones on the go anymore, um because he had a lady that printed out each individual email he received and put it on his desk each day.
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:40.720
So so that that change though of of going that how much we rely on it has has that tilted is because it it it used to be that you'd almost want a printer on every desk.
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:47.279
And I remember Brother, for example, would would actually you know advocate that you know it's it's next to you, it's it's there.
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.279
Is that still the world we live in today?
00:05:49.519 --> 00:05:52.959
It it seems it feels like it's not, but yeah, I'm sat with paper in front of me today.
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:53.759
Absolutely.
00:05:53.920 --> 00:05:55.439
Um it has changed.
00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:02.160
There's a shift now to a printer on every desk to maybe a printer or two on every floor.
00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:25.439
Um, and that's come about because um print has evolved, it's advanced, um, and it's very much caught up to the to the IT uh philosophy of um secure the device, um protect the data, protect the information, protect the network, um, and also audit, monitor, and control who's using the device.
00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:34.639
So you had a print on every desk before because everybody wanted to print everything out and they didn't want to get up and go anywhere and go collect their print.
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:47.600
But actually, the the the the advent of things like um secure print uh or push print pull print where he needed a card or a pin to release uh the print has has meant it's impractical to put a printer on every desk.
00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:48.000
Yeah.
00:06:48.160 --> 00:06:55.920
Um, and actually we've now gone to a model where there are larger, more capable devices within organizations, but a lot less of them.
00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:59.519
Um also driven by the reduction of general print.
00:06:59.839 --> 00:07:01.839
Yeah, it's an interesting angle there.
00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:20.720
As you were speaking, I was thinking to myself, um, that that that printer on every desk, the piece where you kind of see it a lot was it's in the finance director's uh desk because he's printing out, oh she's printed out uh you know some really sensitive documentation or it's in HR, and so we can't have it left around.
00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:32.160
But that that modern security controls embedded, that presumably has taken that away and allows you to kind of get away from that and and then have that consolidation and that that management device.
00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:33.600
It does, it does.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:45.680
Although um when doing audits or when speaking with uh um um you know uh key stakeholders within organizations, there is still the exception to the rule of printer on a desk.
00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:55.600
Um that's normally a CEO or a uh uh um you know a chief finance officer or whoever it might be who insists that they will want a uh printer on their desk.
00:07:55.680 --> 00:08:02.720
But but but ordinarily, yeah, the the the whole security um issue has been taken away by that.
00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:10.319
Um in fact, a lot of solutions now that incorporate um follow me print or or or pull print will allow delegate printing.
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:15.920
So actually, what you can do as if you're if you're too important to move to to to go anywhere and collect your own.
00:08:16.079 --> 00:08:19.839
I was gonna say inkjets as status site symbols is is is something, isn't it?
00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:23.199
You know they can actually ask somebody else to do that on their behalf.
00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:36.159
So if you have a PA or a secretary or a colleague who is happy to um to make that three-metre journey down the corridor to the photocopier, um, then it can be programmed that they can release the prints on on your behalf.
00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.320
And that's all tracked and monitored in the background.
00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:48.080
So if if if anyone thinks that something has been released that shouldn't have been released or whatever, you you you've got complete and utter auditability, shall we say, of of everything that's going on.
00:08:48.480 --> 00:09:02.399
And you know, uh apart from those security concerns and uh I obviously the cost because print has often been uh spoken about as a as a kind of a cost optimization problem, as it were.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:09.679
Um what other things should businesses be thinking about when they're considering their document solutions?
00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:11.360
Good question, Stephen.
00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.720
And I and it's gone beyond print now.
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:29.120
Um the the history of having a lot of printed pages within an organization and everything being printed and then uh filed and archived and that kind of thing has has has all but disappeared.
00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:39.759
Um certainly from a um from a current perspective, obviously there's a lot of there's a lot of back uh documentation that's either stored off-site or on-site.
00:09:39.919 --> 00:09:48.799
Um and those that's another subject around sort of services around backscanning and and digitization and that sort of thing, which is which is you know hot topic um as well.
00:09:49.200 --> 00:10:02.080
Um but what's happened now is is those documents that were printed and were being tracked and and audited and that sort of thing have now gone digital, they've now gone under the radar.
00:10:02.240 --> 00:10:08.879
And and I say under the radar because actually when they were printed, they could be everyone knew that they were there.
00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:14.240
If there was a part of paper on a desk, you could you can see there's a part of paper on the desk and you say, Oh, what's that?
00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:15.759
And you say such and such document.
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:16.960
Well, why have you printed that?
00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:20.399
Because Sandra is uh is looking after that document.
00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:22.960
Get rid of that because you shouldn't have it.
00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:46.320
Um we have now with things like OneDrive SharePoint, we we we almost have a uh disorganized um filing room where anybody can just chuck a file into this room, close the door, and it's it's just uh it's a it's a it's a mess, it's disorganized, and and in some ways it's quite dangerous for it depending on your organization.
00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:48.559
But it's not visible in the same way, yeah.
00:10:48.799 --> 00:11:03.360
But you can't see it, and it's almost like if we can't see it, it's not a problem, but but but it is, and the and the problems facing companies now are they don't actually have a good handle as to what information they're storing.
00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:11.919
They know, you know, file properties, you can go and say, right, okay, we've got six and a half terabytes of documents, but we don't know what they are.
00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.799
We don't know how much of that is duplicate data, we don't know how much of that is outdated.
00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:37.360
Um, so these very, very much are the challenges around um managing the data that exists within an organization, um, cleansing that information, and uh also being able to uh audit and track and control who's viewing it and who's uh um editing it ultimately.
00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:46.000
Yeah, it's really really um key, I suppose, the the the types of engagement that document solutions uh uh uh you know can can deliver.
00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:51.919
You it's moved, as you say, beyond that um what's my cost per print, what's my cost to store.
00:11:52.159 --> 00:12:06.480
Um if you're talking about that unstructured data, these solutions then presumably with the ad advent of AI can give people a window into that that unstructured data that is that's just that that might be on paper or might still be in a word file document.
00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:09.120
Is that the sort of thing that you're getting involved in today?
00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:10.960
Is that how people are engaging with you?
00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.320
Those are the conversations that we're now having, um, and and they resonate as well.
00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:31.279
Um print's an older industry, and I think we're we're we're we just look we look into the churn a lot of the time about saying you've got these devices and actually you don't need this speed, we don't need this specification, and we can downgrade and print's still print's still there, it's still needed.
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:32.240
It's still a factor.
00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:51.519
Um, but the conversations that we're having now and and and are are really you know getting the uh the attention of um of a lot of our clients are asking certain questions around do you know what you've got and do you know where it is and do you know who's accessing it?
00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:57.200
Um and believe it or not, a number of our conversations are now coming up around auditing.
00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:07.440
Um and I didn't realise, you know, as I'm fairly naive or was fairly naive to the to the to the pain and in a lot of ways cost of auditing.
00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:15.759
Um, you know, auditors coming in and saying, right, okay, we need to we need you to pull up your information on this and actually how much time that takes and how difficult that can be.
00:13:16.000 --> 00:13:20.320
Um and unfortunately, a lot of the conversations we're having are post-audit.
00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:21.039
Gotcha.
00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.559
Rather than pre-audit.
00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:29.039
And that's really what we want to start to to capture now is to almost sort of lessons learned from our from our part.
00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:32.240
We've learned the lessons by looking at it externally.
00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:57.840
Um we're trying to send that message out to say, look, before you get an audit, actually that let's have a conversation, let's look at how easy would it be for you to present the information if you were asked to, and actually, what is the cost as a business of of doing that in time, uh, resource, um, you know, and and possibly paying somebody externally to do that for you.
00:13:59.039 --> 00:14:05.919
I I suppose that that that's another sign of that evolution, that that conversation, isn't it?
00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:19.360
Uh and now I I I think there's been an element of when we talked about IT earlier and the transition of uh of document solutions and print into IT, how perhaps some reticence from an IT engineer's point of view.
00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.879
And so you know, I graduated as a software engineering way in the midst of time, right?
00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:24.720
So I was always a software guy.
00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:30.399
Um, but and I would be be wary of of touching touching that kind of the physical side of it.
00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:42.159
I suppose the the the importance now is that with the the value of that data and the amount that there now exists uh and how it can be interactive with, you can't just ignore it anymore.
00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.080
It it's got to be part of your IT strategy and how you engage.
00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:49.039
And I I suspect that's something lots of businesses miss.
00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:50.879
It is it is, Stephen.
00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:56.799
And and as time goes on, um, the problem's only getting worse.
00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:04.879
Um the amount of documents that now come into an uh you know a business or or or information, I call them documents.
00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:05.039
Yeah.
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:15.440
You know, we we're thinking PDFs, we're thinking word files as documents, but actually anything that that that that that exists in a structure that you you can view as an end user can can be called a document.
00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:19.279
Um the the longer that goes on, the bigger the problem becomes.
00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:28.720
Um and eventually I think what's going to happen is is is there's going to be this um this situation where it reaches critical mass.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:30.720
I could believe that.
00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:38.080
I as we're speaking, I I'm just thinking to myself that this is a this is a data management problem.
00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:41.279
You know, that that's that's at its core what we're talking about.
00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:51.519
The format of the data being unstructured or even physical, um, we in it and in boardrooms, we allow ourselves to think it's some sort of separate problem.
00:15:51.919 --> 00:16:07.360
So we could we can talk about IT infrastructure and network connectivity, and we can talk about databases, and we can talk about the cloud storage in the cloud cloud, and we can kind of pretend that that that that document solutions is uh is a print thing that is uh you know to one side.
00:16:07.759 --> 00:16:08.000
Yeah.
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:14.960
But but it's actually about your most valuable resource, or one of your most valuable resources, being being an organization's data.
00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:15.360
Yeah.
00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:30.240
It's it's information, it's information management, and it's it's it's being able to um comply ultimately, I think, with with the ever-increasing um uh rules and regulations that exist out there around retaining data.
00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:32.480
Um and we know full well what that's like.
00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:48.000
Um because if you are a um a medical business or if you're an insurance business, or if if you're in financial, uh you're a financial organization, you know full well the rules around how how much you can um how much data you can keep, how long you need to keep it for.
00:16:48.480 --> 00:17:09.200
But as a as a as a as a day-to-day business, you know, doing anything, manufacturing, uh you might be a logistics company, um marketing, you know, any any any kind of I think it applies to unregulate or less regulated industry, so I think that that those rules still exist, but I think they they they they fall down the pecking order, they fall down the list somewhat.
00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:15.920
Um actually it's realizing that you're falling foul of certain rules.
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:33.680
You you you you allow data onto your system, you don't assign it a expiry date, you don't uh assign it a a level of importance, you don't say this is customer sensitive data, there's no metadata um if you don't have a structured um document solution.
00:17:34.400 --> 00:17:42.960
So if we we talk a little bit about um uh the questions that people should be asking themselves in the boardroom.
00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:50.960
How how does this view of document solutions print uh need to change for the modern modern world?
00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:58.799
You know, what what should what should the CEO, the managing director, the CFO, the CO, you know, what what should they be asking?
00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:00.559
How should they view view this?
00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:08.640
Uh is this cost optimization or is this is compliance or or you know how what change needs to happen there in your view?
00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:10.400
It's it it's a good question.
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:31.359
Um I think there's a number of answers to that, but ultimately I would say if we if we look at this a little like the evolution of print over the years, um and having started out almost 30 years ago and seeing you know photocopiers and printers just dotted around and anyone could walk over to them and scan, copy.
00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:39.519
Yeah, um, oh I'm you know, it's probably before scan to email, but even when scan to email came in, it was kind of like, oh, I just want to send this to my cousin.
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:41.359
Yeah, you know, in Australia.
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.599
And you could just put their email address in and pop off it went, and no one really understood.
00:18:45.759 --> 00:19:05.599
So we've seen that evolution in print over the years, um, to the stage now where devices are locked down and someone in IT can bring up a um a you know a display menu or whatever it might be and actually view the printers and actually go, that's what that's what they're doing.
00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.880
Um can't do the same with unstructured data.
00:19:11.039 --> 00:19:27.599
And and and ultimately the question that I think most organizations need to ask themselves are um why why aren't our documents electronically in the same state as we've got our print in in terms of lockdown, fully auditable, can be monitored.
00:19:28.160 --> 00:19:29.359
Why are we training them differently?
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:32.000
Exactly, it's the same data, it's the same data.
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:40.799
You've taken it from paper and you've put it into into into um digital format and allowed it to essentially slip under the radar.
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:51.039
Um that would be the overarching question, I think, that that most organizations can can sort of ask themselves and see whether they have an answer.
00:19:51.200 --> 00:20:00.240
Um the other ones, I think, as you've mentioned, Stephen, around things like security and compliance, you know, actually, do we comply with GDPR?
00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:06.319
Do we comply with the, you know, how long we can retain uh sensitive customer information for?
00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:13.359
If we have a document that someone's written that's got customer name, address, date of birth in, that's staying on that.
00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:17.119
Becomes a problem in the cloud for forever, essentially.
00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:18.960
And it shouldn't be the it shouldn't be the way.
00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:27.039
And it it doesn't have to be because there's now so much available to us that that that that actually this this doesn't have to be this way anymore.
00:20:27.359 --> 00:20:46.640
I think that's I think that's the biggest thing I've taken away so far from our conversation is that that mindset shift that we need to make that um uh that that just because it's on a piece of paper or it might have started on a piece of paper, doesn't mean that it's not data and it needs to be treated in the same way and and and dealt with in the in the same way.
00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:57.200
Um for for businesses out there looking at their options to how they go about addressing that, you know, what makes Beckler unique when we're having these conversations?
00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:06.079
I'd I'd say we're unique in terms of um how we are in in other areas of our business.
00:21:06.240 --> 00:21:17.200
The fact that we are uh we're independent, we're not owned by uh a vendor or a manufacturer, we're not we're not, we're not um we're not told to push a certain solution forward.
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:23.839
Um we fit the solution to the customer's requirement and not the other way around, essentially.
00:21:24.079 --> 00:21:30.640
So um I think we're unique in terms of we have a spec we have specialist teams in-house for this sort of stuff.
00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:40.559
Um I have experience where in this sort of field it's very much kind of like you've asked me a question, I'll get on the phone to a particular vendor and I'll ask them what their solution is.
00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:48.079
Whereas actually our job is to is to understand the market and bring the best solution forward for the customer.
00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.680
Um, what that does is delivers exactly what is required.
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:57.759
It looks at all the nuances, it looks at the customer as an individual and not a oh, well, you're you're a logistics company.
00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:03.359
We've done this before for a logistics company, you must always All be the same, but no two companies are the same.
00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.319
So we take the same approach with everybody.
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:13.279
We start at the beginning, we fact find, we discover, and then we introduce the right partners, the right vendors at the right time.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:29.200
Then to blend in a whole you know a whole mixture of products and services and and and portfolio to end up with a robust and uh essentially fit-for-purpose solution for the customer.
00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:46.000
Do you know there there will be there's likely be customers of mine from 10-15 years ago who I inflicted uh a printer on on through my naivety as we're sitting there watching this now or listening to this now, going going, Steve, where was this man?
00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:50.319
When I was reviewing our print estate.
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:55.519
Well, we can't turn back the clock, Stephen, but we can we can we can certainly make amends for that.
00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:56.880
We can get back in there, can't we?
00:22:56.960 --> 00:22:59.039
And we can we can start those conversations, Kevin.
00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.000
Definitely, definitely.
00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.240
Ian, it's been a real pleasure to sit down with you.
00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:12.880
It's been really interesting, different take, I think, around uh around a subject that that um I think is isn't isn't considered deeply enough from the people's IT strategy.
00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:14.400
So thank you ever so much for that.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:15.200
It's been a real pleasure.
00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:17.519
Uh you're welcome and thanks for having me.
