There’s no doubt that greater familiarity with technology is affecting user expectations in the modern office space. A younger generation has entered the workplace and their understanding and attitude towards technology is much different than their predecessors. These millennials grew up with computers and computerized devices. They embrace technology and expect innovation, simplicity, ease of use, and even fun.

However, beyond the obvious shift in the generational paradigm, there are other factors at play that govern these evolving expectations.

We wanted to learn more from the people who actually encounter this phenomenon on a daily basis, so we reached out to several dealers and manufacturers to learn what they are experiencing, why they think it is happening and how they are positioning their offerings to support it.

Evolving Expectations

Robert Covington, product manager, Toshiba, said that millennials were top-of-mind when Toshiba created their 9-inch customizable tablet-style user interface (UI).

To account for a wide variety of expectations, Covington said that they hold comprehensive online training sessions with their dealer community when they launch products.

“We emphasize just how the products meet specific applications for the seven primary markets we serve,” he says. “Our training team additionally touches on our network document offerings. When introducing any new software, Toshiba provides an overview of the solutions’ innovative elements while following up with how the software addresses many of our customers’ specific needs.”

Covington said that Toshiba’s product engineers work with their sales force to gain a deeper understanding of their dealer and end users’ expectations while designing and incorporating features that improve business applications.

 

“We emphasize just how the products meet specific applications for the seven primary markets we serve,” he says. “Our training team additionally touches on our network document offerings. When introducing any new software, Toshiba provides an overview of the solutions’ innovative elements while following up with how the software addresses many of our customers’ specific needs.”

What have dealers identified as the most significant changes in user expectations over the years? Chris Taylor, CEO of Fisher’s Technology, told us that they have witnessed expectation shifts primarily with the user interface experience, system to system integration, and information security.

When it comes to basic device operation, Taylor said that customers now demand interfaces that are simple, easy to learn, and familiar.

“Overcomplicated, non-intuitive UIs are no longer tolerated,” he said.

Taylor added that information security is a significant point of emphasis across all the technologies they implement.

“Health information is perhaps the most obvious expectation increase in recent years, with HIPAA compliancy becoming a dominant concern for health IS professionals,” he said. “But protection of information from theft, corruption, and being taken hostage spans all industry verticals.”

Patrick Layton, director of managed IT services for Chicago-based dealership Impact Networking, also cited increased security concerns and attributed our ‘throw away culture’ which sees customers quickly cycle through technology – especially mobile devices and computers – as the driver for these concerns.

“Customers expect releases of new versions of technology, and updates to software much more frequently because consumer technology changes so rapidly,” he explained. “Network security has always been a concern of ours, but it has become a more prominent issue for our customers in recent years.”

Unsurprisingly, greater connectivity and speed of service were mentioned as one of the more significant expectation changes. Layton noted that customers today expect to be connected at all times and from anywhere. He added that most of them also want to be able to use a single device for both work and personal applications.

“They don’t want to carry around two phones or have multiple laptops or iPads,” he maintained. “For all of the departments at Impact, we’ve seen a demand for both a faster turnaround time on service and a more connected service.”

The customers’ need for greater efficiency, connectivity, convenience, and greater speed is echoed by Frank Grasso, CEO of New York-based dealership, TGI. He believes that with equipment now being an integral part of business processes, dealers must anticipate issues and provide outstanding service to succeed.

“In the past, consumers accepted slower communication, lackluster equipment, and cumbersome workflow processes,” said Grasso. “With evolving technology, this is now a thing of the past.”

Dave Mueller, vice president of sales for Modern Office Methods, pointed out that as the industry has changed from product-based to service-based, the end user’s sophistication has increased.

“I think clients are better informed today,” he said. “Information is much more readily available for them. They do a lot of the research on the products themselves. Where they need help is how to put a program together that best fits their needs and their culture, along the products and services that we have to offer.”

Of course, new expectations also lead to disruptions. Jon Balter, COO of Houston’s Seamless Solutions, noted how customers’ expectations of increased remote support and less face-to-face time can adversely affect equipment sales.

“They want instant contact,” he said. “In the MFP work, it is coming down to cost and nothing else. Customers are picking based only on cost and the value sale is getting harder and harder.”

What is no longer of great concern to users is also revealing. Dawn Abbuhl of Repeat Business Solutions said that they rarely discuss hardware features during a customer presentation.

“It is all about applications, ease of use and software,” she said. “Customers are almost always interested in mobile printing. That never came up five years ago.”

Abbuhl added that they’ve also seen greater interest in environmental concerns such as energy conservation.

“Ricoh, the manufacture we carry, has an incredible program for being environmentally friendly and has won an impressive number of awards for this,” she said.

The Root Causes of Change

The habits of millennials are certainly a driving force in these new expectations, but other factors were discussed. Taylor attributed the higher expectations of ease of use to a maturation process that naturally seeks higher levels of efficiency and simplicity. He compared the evolution of user interfaces to how programming evolved from machine language to increasingly higher levels of code.

“The drivers of integration are similar, requiring higher levels of simplicity for cross-system communication and ease of working with those systems,” he explained.

Taylor added that he thinks information security requirements have been driven by ever-increasing threat of exploitation of customer information.

“As the interest in inappropriate use of information breaches increases, the demand on the technology and human processes around that technology increases,” he said.

Layton agreed and cited heavy media exposure as a contributing factor in driving greater security expectations. He maintained that security risks are neither new nor more substantial, but they’re often presented that way in the media.

“More people are paying attention to data breaches because everyone is aware of the incidents with such companies as Target, Sony, or Amazon that was felt personally by millions of consumers,” he said.

Balter believes that the increase in home technology has played a role in the change of attitudes, particularly when it comes to remote support.

“When end users have TV or cable issues they have to deal with support remotely more and more at home,” he said. “This is creating a better understanding of remote support.”

Abbuhl thinks that the growing familiarity with software among many segments of the population has provided a different level of comfort and acceptance.

“The hardware is now just a way to access an amazing array of workflow applications,” she said. “In addition, people are more environmentally conscious and feel good about using products that support these initiatives.”

Ultimately, Grasso stated that it is the combination of technology improvements and a new generation that have contributed to today’s expectations.

“Expedited information and service to consumers is what they are accustomed to,” he said. “They expect an easy way to communicate and a quick and custom response.”

The Manufacturer’s Perspective: Tailoring Solutions to Expectations

Clearly these new expectations are placing pressure on manufacturers to provide new and innovative offerings. Manufacturers today are thinking beyond the device by providing solutions, tools, training, and support to the channels. The manufacturers we spoke to gave us their thoughts on the impact of millennials, other new expectations and how they plan on supporting it. The most commonly discussed themes were mobility, workflow and education.

Tom O’Neill, director of product marketing, Canon USA, acknowledged that the “consumerization of complex technology” characterized by the millennials has brought a level of “technology transparency” and a new set of expectations into the workplace.

Ultimately, he stated, Canon educates their channel partners to help them gain a full understanding of the business outcomes that their customers aim to achieve.

“Customers are not acquiring technology for the sake of technology,” he explained. “They expect technology to deliver measurable and positive improvements to their business. Once the sales person understands the business outcomes desired, they can then choose the most appropriate Canon technology and solution software or services to apply to help the customer get those outcomes.”

O’Neill also explained how Canon is expanding its portfolio of software, services, and solutions to enable their dealers to support the evolving document workflows in the office.

“Canon understands that office workers today are more mobile, and are looking for innovative solutions to reduce output and streamline document workflow, and expect on-demand information on the care and feeding of their document output fleet,” he said. “Our approach provides sales and technical training and support, tools, and consulting to allow our dealers to capitalize on these trends without having to internally develop all of the assets and competencies normally needed to sell and support these solutions.”

Doug Frazier, solutions engagement manager, NA channel, Lexmark, said that they are seeing a fulfillment of the expectations discussed for the past few years, but possibly at a faster rate than originally expected.

“In today’s customer-driven environment, we all expect to exert minimal effort and enjoy a positive experience, from start to finish,” he said. “We want it digitally. We don’t want to deal with paper, scanning, faxing, frustration, complexity, or delays in the process. The challenge with this is that, today, the systems that run most businesses were not designed to meet customer demands for engagement and timely response.”

Workflow is a chief concern for Lexmark. In the last few years, the company has invested heavily in capture and print management solutions. Frazier said that they are supporting dealers by providing training and solutions support to help them transition to a consultative sales approach. He explained that this helps them better understand a broader set of customer needs around process and workflow.

“With this information, the dealer can then build a set of recommendations and proposals that address the customer’s specific needs and will reflect a clear ROI,” said Frazer.

Other companies now helping their dealers adapt to these evolving expectations include the major supplies manufacturers, such as Phoenix-based LMI. Chief Strategy Officer Doug Johnson believes today’s decision makers are being driven by millennials who derive their knowledge primarily from the web and social media sources, which, he said, fundamentally changes the way they interact with their dealer base.

In order to help their dealers support the evolving document workflows taking place in the office, Johnson said that LMI is expanding its portfolio of software, services, and solutions.

Johnson also stated that LMI is looking for innovative solutions that reduce output and streamline document workflow. He said that LMI will be prepared to help dealers as they meet the expectations of on-demand information relating to the care and feeding of document output fleets.

“Our approach provides sales and technical training as well as support, tools, and consulting,” he said. “This allows our dealers to capitalize on these trends without requiring them to internally develop all of the assets and competencies normally needed to sell and support these solutions.”

 

Lou Stricklin, director of marketing and sales support, Muratec, acknowledged that mobile printing and connectivity has been driven primarily by millennial habits. He said that they are addressing workflow by focusing on software that modifies print behavior and eases integration between mobile devices and MFPs for mobile printing.

Stricklin also said that their integration with Papercut enables companies to work smarter and enhance their print environment by increasing efficiencies and controlling costs. He added that their MPH101 solution can be installed on a printer or MFP and enables instant, secure printing from mobile phones and tablets.

“Smart solutions such as these are enabling us to evolve to meet our customer’s needs,” he said.

These evolving expectations are certainly pushing the manufacturers to become increasingly innovative, often exploring areas beyond their traditional expertise. However, Chris Taylor advises that ultimately, it is the consultative approach that will help to better understand customers’ expectations and anticipate their needs. He said, “Beyond technology, our customers expect us to engage strategically with them—not as a sales and service vendor, but as if we are the CIO—taking a seat at the executive table with them and designing a technical infrastructure and support system to meet their needs now and well into the foreseeable future. This also includes our need to specialize in industry verticals—so that we understand and can adapt to the evolving needs specific to our customers’ industries.”

Whether millennial, baby boomer or whomever, it’s clear that manufacturers and dealers have been working hard together to ensure that users’ experience with office technology is what they have grown to expect. And as those expectations evolve, they will certainly continue to do that in the future.