HP offers a new strategy designed to capitalize on the growing ties between printing and the Web.

Hewlett-Packard's splashy Print 2.0 kickoff in late summer highlighted a $300 million marketing effort to address the changing nature of printing brought about by how businesses and consumers are using the Web.

HP's response to these changes is a series of introductions, ranging from Web 2.0 staples like blogs and wikis, to a new channel program that will open up enterprise sales opportunities for select HP solution providers.

But with all the talk about Web 2.0 and changing printing practices, solution providers looking to shore up profits and open new revenue streams may be wondering what Print 2.0 means to their bottom lines.

Although the service provider angle will continue to evolve over the next several months, some benefits are already becoming clear, say solution providers and HP executives that attended the event.

The continuing integration of Web-based capabilities, such as remote-management applications for multifunction products (MFPs), are helping solution providers adopt a more expert-consultant role with customers, says Jim Fall vice president for strategic planning at solution provider Cannon IV (www.cannon4.com). "Remote monitoring and the Web interface makes it easier to manage what's going with each device, as well as really understand the costs," he says.

Trillions of pages
According to HP's research, almost half of all print jobs now come from Web pages. Within about two years, printers will be churning out nearly 53 trillion pages annually. Although HP announced a variety of products to capture growth in consumer-based printing, it also emphasized business solutions and the fundamental changes it sees occurring for partners in the printing and imaging market. Companies that "get it" will be those who stop thinking in terms of "printers" in favor of a mindset around "printing," says Anneliese Olson, director of product marketing for LaserJet business in the Americas.

"It's all about moving beyond printers to a systems sell with add-ons, such as supplies, warranty care packs, and, as you move up the continuum, smart printing services," she says. "A partner can help its customers come up with a convenient agreement that provides them with predictable monthly payments to manage their printing environment."

Online communities
Teeing off on key Web 2.0 collaboration components like blogs and wikis, HP asked partners to follow its lead in establishing and participating in online communities that encourage communications among customers and partners. "If [partners] don't understand how their business needs to move online, then we can help them get there," says Tara Agen, HP Imaging and Printing LaserJet Business and SMB printing strategist and planner. "If you're not doing blogs, wikis, and customer communities, you're not really understanding where customers want to interact with your company. That's what our research has told us."

Olson adds that online communities "aren't just a consumer or a teenager thing. The more you dive into them, the more you'll see this is where people are now going for content."

She says that communities can also serve as a kind of ad-hoc help desk that may reduce support burdens for solution providers. "When people start helping themselves by learning from other people, it can mean a cost savings for solution providers who don't have to pick up the phone every time a customer has a question."

Fall agrees. "Blogs and wikis provide access to an almost tribal knowledge about the best practices for using a certain technology. That can really accelerate a customer's application of that technology more broadly into their organization," he says.

Enterprise angle
Other highlights of the kickoff event included:

Advance word on an enterprise channel program: The details of the strategy are still being finalized, but HP describes the enterprise program as an extension of its Solutions Value Incentive Partner Elite (SVIP) program, which provides solution providers resources designed to increase printing and imaging market share and profits. Eventually, the enterprise program will offer certifications around solutions for optimizing the IT infrastructure, managing IT environments, and transforming workflow systems.

Print cost estimator: A tool that uses representative commercial printing costs to help end users decide whether it's more economical to produce color materials in house or send them to a print shop. "The estimator is part of the larger conversation about the value a solution provider can bring to its customers," Olson says. "If a client is sending a print job out of house for $500 a month, and you can show them how to print it for $100 a month, you've really helped them manage their printing costs."

HP Imaging and Printing Open Extensibility Platform: A developer's toolkit for creating additional capabilities for HP multifunction printers. The Web-services framework helps programmer's address industry-specific requirements for security, regulatory compliance, and document captures.

HP Instant Printing Toolkit 2.0: Targeted for the architectural, engineering, and construction industries, this toolkit for Web developers helps end users save money by efficiently creating in-house construction documents.

HP Designjet T1100: An MFP for graphic arts technical professionals. It includes the HP Graphic Arts Capture Business Development program with new business development tools, training resources, and other services.