Dominic Keogh, marketing director of managed document services (MDS) at Ricoh Company, Ltd., and an executive member of CompTIA’s UK Channel Committee, has been a member of the CompTIA Trustmark community since June 2013. After working closely with CompTIA for a number of years, Ricoh decided to undertake the Managed Print Services Trustmark process in order to assess its profitability and development standards in relation to industry best standards.
Ricoh, a services-lead manufacturing company, supplies office equipment by utilizing a network of channel partners to connect its clients with its products. Despite being recognized as a leader in the managed-print marketplace, it still faces heavy competition. As Keogh noted, manufacturing companies everywhere work to get ahead of each other in the managed print services industry. With so many big names, all marketing similar services, Ricoh chose to not only to get certified, but to make obtaining the Managed Print Trustmark a requirement for all of its channel partners. In effect, Ricoh used the challenging market and turned it into “a great opportunity to help channel partners develop,” Keogh said.
Aiming to jumpstart the process towards the continual optimization of its services, Ricoh examined its sales department to truly understand its customers’ existing processes. Ricoh wanted to know how MDS could help its customers in the future and knew that CompTIA would be proficient in “looking at [all] aspects of a business, not just one,” in order to ensure “all the skills needed for success were there,” Keogh said.
For the employees at Ricoh, gaining the Trustmark meant “using their knowledge and expertise to show they have the ability to grow their business in a profitable way,” and, Keogh said, it helped prove that their “[channel partners] have the necessary pieces in place.” With its new business orientation, Ricoh was able to utilize the detailed Trustmark process to become more adaptable in the global community, particularly with the development of an effective fees assessment for customers. Above all other features, this stuck out as the most impactful to Keogh, since being able to recognize your worth in the industry, he noted, is what makes companies successful.
Considering Ricoh’s base in the UK, Keogh expressed his desire for the expansion of CompTIA’s presence in Europe and beyond. When speaking of expansion, he was quick to comment that he was “eager to ensure that we can promote the Trustmark as a true marker in the industry.” Even outside of the U.S., the Trustmark has helped create distinction among competition. Because the Trustmark criteria is developed by people, oftentimes members’ peers, in the industry, Trustmark certified companies such as Keogh’s find it that much more gratifying when they exceed the standards.
Just as all aspects of a business must work in conjunction to create successful output, each distinction that a division receives serves to raise the standards of the whole. Ricoh confirmed this via the Managed Print Trustmark, as, Keogh said, it endorsed its activities overall. The confidence that came with this endorsement helped Ricoh in two ways, as it validated for Ricoh that its practices were sound and the added credentials made its clients feel secure in the products and services they purchase from Ricoh.
For “those who are making the effort to attain this certification,” Keogh said, getting a Trustmark “is a great way to make sure that you have the requisite information to make money in the market.” He said the Trustmark process has changed the way he sees his competition, as well as his partners.
Jordyn Goffo is marketing and communications intern at CompTIA.
