Could Big Data Bite Us in The Clouds?

Submitted by Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International
June 23, 2015

Big data has been touted as a means of helping target individual consumers for specific products and services based on a culmination of data points. It can be income, homeownership, where you live, if you have children, and so many other things. There are hundreds of different criteria that can be used in attempt to provide the right message, to the right person, at the right time, using the right media.

It’s a beautiful thing …
On the surface, big data’s virtues seem to present a win-win for marketers as well as the recipients of the barrage of marketing communications we receive each day. After all, attaching targeted demographics reduces the amount of communications being sent, thus reducing costs and increasing response rates. We benefit by receiving fewer aggravating and irrelevant communications and we receive more offers that are more targeted and match an individual’s lifestyle.

Looking at big data in this way makes it a ‘beautiful thing’. A technology and methodology that actually reduces costs to the sender and cuts down on the junk we receive in our email, mailbox and now our cellphones. Sign me up!

BUT beauty may just be in the eyes of the beholder ….
Hypothetically, what if big data had another angle to it? What if it was used to target individuals and as a result certain people were asked to pay more for the same product and/or service than someone else because they ‘could afford to’ (or not)?

I read an article this morning that is implies exactly that.

The airline industry is looking at big data to set ticket prices. In the future it may be possible that four airline passengers, who booked the same flight on the same day at the same time, end up paying four different fares because they ‘are different’. Some would pay more and others less.

If maybe you live in Manhattan, where living costs are normally higher, the airline could assume you can afford to pay more.  Maybe you live in a particularly nice zip code. You are a frequent flyer, booking 20-30 trips a year, so you assuredly would be willing to pay more and not give much thought.

According to the article, the amount you may pay for a flight in the future may no longer be just based on when and where you’re flying or when you booked your ticket. Your airfare could be based on who you are, with each fare being theoretically different for everyone.

Should we be angry or surprised?  Car insurance rates for years have been based on the value of your car and where you live while coverage usually is driven by ‘how much you have to lose’. But airline tickets?! Seems wrong to me.

So where could this take us?  The possibilities are endless, even if they today sound absurd. It is inevitable that if the airline industry goes this way, others will follow.

As I get closer to retirement, maybe I will consider selling my home and buying an old car so I can get lower airfare. It is a strategy…

Just think of the possibilities … Until next time.


The complete article reference in this post can be found on Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com/travel/how-airlines-might-gouge-you-in-the-future-121613697017.html?soc_src=unv-sh&soc_trk=ma

skip_Henk_Photo_2011
Skip Henk, EDP
President/CEO
Xplor International

Xplor Announces “Xplor at Graph Expo” Event

Complimentary Registration is now open for the 90-Minute breakfast panel discussion on Omni-Channel Communications

Lutz, FL — June 17, 2015: Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that registration is now open for the Xplor at Graph Expo event being held September 15, 2015 at McCormick Place South in Room N426a during the Graph Expo event. Complimentary registration can be found at: www.xplor.org/xplor-at-graph-expo/

Tweet this: @Xplor_Int at #GraphExpo Registration Now Open! Complimentary #OmniChannel Breakfast Keynote with only 200 seats! http://bit.ly/1HQdxRX 

The Xplor at Graph Expo Breakfast Panel, in its third year, features a keynote breakfast panel of industry end users. At PRINT 13, Xplor moved from a traditional educational format of tracks and sessions to a single keynote breakfast panel. For two consecutive years, the event has hit registration capacity, resulting in a waiting list.

This year’s event, The Emergence of Omni-Channel Communications, features four panelists with moderator Matt Swain of InfoTrends and will address seamless customer interactions, independent of channel or device, which so many consumers want. A complimentary breakfast will be served to registrants before the panel gets underway, compliments of our event sponsors which include Crawford Technologies and Xerox.

“Third time is a charm they say. With how successful the first two breakfast panels were, I can’t wait to see what this one has in store”, said Chad Henk, Marketing Coordinator for Xplor International. “The event is going to fill up fast with this pairing of education and networking during a hearty breakfast; don’t wait too long to register.”

The complimentary keynote breakfast panel is limited to 200 attendees. Registration includes admission to the panel, breakfast, and a Graph Expo exhibit hall pass.

Event Details:

  • Date: September 15, 2015
  • Time: 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
    • Breakfast served from 7:30 AM to 8:30 AM
  • Location: McCormick Place South – Room N426a
  • Cost: FREE (Registration Required)

For more information or to register for the Xplor at Graph Expo event, please visit: www.xplor.org/xplor-at-graph-expo/ or you can contact Xplor Headquarters at +1-813-949-6170.


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

Connecting the Dots – Common Sense in Customer Communications

Blog Submitted by Scott Bannor

The variety of technologies available for use in the customer communications arena has grown to the point where no doubt there’s something for everyone.

Whether you’re in IT and need a way to build high volume, transactional mailings or in marketing and need a way to create targeted direct mail you can be sure there’s a vendor that has just what you’re looking for.

But as far as I can tell so far there’s no technology that consistently delivers common sense to the process. Here’s what I mean…

Last week my wife and I received new credit cards from a bank with whom we’ve done business for several years. Since the new cards were unexpected – the expiration date for the old cards was more than a year off – I wondered why we had received them. I compared the numbers on the new cards to the numbers on the old ones. Surprisingly the number on my wife’s card was the same but the number on my card was different.

This made me even more curious. Why were we getting new cards before the expiration date and why was the number on my card different?

So to get these mysteries answered I did what hundreds – perhaps thousands – of other folks do. I called the bank’s customer service.

Now for the good news: They answered promptly. Even better – it was clear from the way they answered that the bank’s customer service was US-based (apologies to anyone reading this who’s not US-based). The pleasant young woman who answered asked me how she could help. I explained what my questions were and (it just keeps getting better) she knew the answers.

The reason we received new cards was because the bank was moving from mag-stripe to chip technology in their credit cards. I was happy to hear this because having traveled internationally I was aware of the fact that the US trails the rest of the world in this particular field. But what was the reason for the change to the numbers on my card? She explained it was because chip technology requires unique numbers on each card – even in the case of multiple cards on the same account.

So the mysteries were solved. The nice young woman asked, “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” and my customer communication industry professional came out.

I said, “Sure. I’m in the customer communication industry and I’ve actually been in your production print operation a number of times and am familiar with the technologies your bank uses in developing and producing customer communications. So how come you folks don’t put a notice in with the new cards that says something like, ‘Here are your new cards. We’re replacing your old cards because… Your numbers might be different because…’. Something as simple as that would go a long way toward driving down the number of phone calls like the one we’re having right now and save your company a lot of money.”

She said, “Yes, that’s right. A note has already been passed up to customer communications on this subject to see if there’s some way to drive down all the redundant calls we’re getting to answer these questions.”

In other words in spite of the fact that this bank has spent millions of dollars on all sorts of customer communication technologies no one thought the process through. No one stepped back to think about what customers would do when they receive new cards unexpectedly and / or their new cards have different numbers. No one thought about the back end cost of “all the redundant calls” their customer service group would have to handle because of the changes.

In other words the lack of common sense as it applies to this sort of process has a profound effect on the cost of customer communication as well as on how customers perceive companies with whom they do business.

By the time the folks in customer service passed a note to their colleagues in customer communications about it a lot of money had been needlessly spent. And of course, because of this the bank isn’t getting anywhere near the value they need out of those very expensive technologies.

I suspect the situation I’ve described is repeated time and again throughout the broad spectrum of customer communications and services. What can be done about it?

Is size the problem?
The problem, besides the absence of common sense lies in the fact that enterprises have become so large, complex and compartmentalized that it’s difficult maybe impossible, to connect all of the dots involved in customer communications and service.

Customer communications in itself is so complex and involve so many different constituencies and disciplines most enterprises are challenged to have a meaningful view into or an ability to control the entire process. Not to mention all of the different channels and all the different document types by which we communicate with customers.

For example let’s look at the process of sending out replacement credit cards. I think it’s safe to assume that in many cases the same organizations that produce credit cards also produce and send out documents such as letters, invoices and statements. In fact up to a point these processes employ many of the same technologies and concepts – databases, document composition systems, postal hygiene, production speed non-impact printing systems, etc.

Of course they diverge when it comes time to produce credit cards. I won’t go into the details on this. If your organization produces credit cards and you’re curious about how it’s done I’m sure you can easily learn about it. But once the cards are produced they’re affixed to what the industry calls “carriers”. Carriers are in effect, letters. The next time you receive a new or replacement card take the time to look at the carrier. If it was done “right” it should be personalized – at least in that it has your name, address and account number. More sophisticated operations may include other information specific to you such as your FICO score, your credit limit, etc.

But is the card issuer taking full advantage of this opportunity to communicate with you?

Would it be better for the bank as well as for their customers if (in addition to common sense) they had a way to allow people in customer communications to control the process of designing, approving and updating carriers Would it be especially effective if customer communications didn’t have to depend on IT to act as a conduit between them and their production print operations?

If the carrier my replacement cards were on had contained a message explaining the reasons for the replacement it almost certainly would have eliminated the need for my call to customer service. If the bank’s customer communications group had an easy way to manage the content of the carriers without having to rely on IT resources they would most likely be proactive rather than reactive in communicating with customers regarding changes of any sort.

I should point out here that I’ve suggested this approach to people who run companies the banks outsource credit card production to. I’m sorry to report that they haven’t yet seen the advantages of offering this sort of facility to the banks they work for. It seems they’re content to manufacture the cards and affix them to relatively generic carriers. In fact in many cases the carriers are printed in completely separate operations. This is just one more example of unconnected dots. But there’s more…

Technology silos = unconnected dots
In the past it’s been normal practice for enterprises to build technology silos to address specific needs. However, it no longer makes sense financially or process-wise to continue doing this as it is a major inhibitor to connecting the dots.

So it would make sense if a system that empowers customer communications people to take control of the design and content of credit card carriers could also be used to connect those users with enterprise data sources and enterprise content as well as allow them (and others throughout the organization) to take control of the design and content of other high value, critical customer communications. These may include depending on industry, acceptance/rejection letters, application forms, order forms, premium notices, statements, bills, etc., etc. – just about anything that affects the relationship between the organization and its customers.

It might also be advantageous if the system allowed business users to make the determination (assuming customer opt-in) of how the communication is delivered – print, email, text, web, mobile or social media – again without having to depend on IT involvement.

The right technology would even allow customer communications to get creative in how they send out updates. For example would it make sense to inform customers that new credit cards were coming their way before the cards are mailed? Some customers might want to know via text message, others via their social media. Would this help cut down on customer service calls from people with questions?

Once this sort of system is in place users would find all sorts of ways to improve how their organizations communicated with customers. And they might use common sense in its application.

It’s clear this approach would save considerable time and money and more importantly, make customers happier. The customer communications arena has lots of dots to connect – isn’t it time to start connecting yours?

Xplor Resurrects “Gold Webinar Series”

Lutz, FL – June 8, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced the resurrection of the Xplor Gold Webinar Series. The 2015 series features four webinars presented by top industry analysts and consultants who will share the latest trends, new technologies, and best practices in the document communications industry.

Tweet this: Xplor resurrects ‘Gold Webinar Series’ beginning June 16th with @JohnBiehler on #3DPrinting bit.ly/1JzHIhM 

The 2015 Series was created as a result of requests from the Xplor community and include the topics of 3D printing, Managing Customer Experiences, and Inkjet Printing.

“People kept approaching me asking when Xplor would do a Gold Series again”, said Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor International. “I’m happy to finally announce the 2015 Gold Series. The four events, they will be jam-packed with information!”

Registration is open to everyone, with recorded links provided to actual attendees and Xplor members via the Member Portal. For additional information, or to register for any of the events, please visit the 2015 Gold Webinar Series on the Xplor Website.

Scheduled Speakers Include:


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

2015 Xplor Scholarship Accepting Applications

The Association’s Scholarships Open to Xplor Member’s and Their Families

Lutz, FL – June 3, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that they are accepting applications for their 2015 scholarship program through the deadline of June 30, 2015.

In 2010, Xplor decided to go beyond its traditional member offerings to help promote and support the next generation of professionals in the electronic document and communications industry. The Xplor Member Scholarship program was founded to provide financial assistance to Xplor members and their families who are looking to pursue a career in the electronic document and communications industry.

The program is funded by the generosity of Xplor Elite Sponsors: Crawford Technologies, GMC Software Technology, NEPS, Solimar Systems, Canon Solutions America, HP, Neopost USA, Ricoh, and Transformations.

Scholarship recipients are selected based on their pursuit of a career in the electronic document and communications industry, which includes all phases of document and communication creation and delivery, as well as academic achievement, participation in school activities, and service to the community.

“Everyone should apply!” says Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor International. “Not only are our member’s eligible, but their children and grandchildren are as well. We really want to foster the next generation, so be sure to spread the word!”

Each year scholarships are awarded in various denominations, up to $1000 USD. The deadline for applications is June 30th. For more information, visit www.xplor.org/scholarship.


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

A look at Xploration 15 from the Student Perspective

Xplor International University Chapter, Ryerson University
Interview by Skip Henk, EDP with Ryerson students Valerie Drozdowsky and Kyle Tavares


Almost two years ago Xplor International and Xplor Canada launched their first University Chapter at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Since that time Xplor Ryerson has prospered with student members holding onsite campus events, a job fair, attending Xploration 14 as well as the 2014 Xplor at Graph Expo event and most recently Xploration 15 in Orlando, Florida.

And as time has passed some of the “founding” members of the chapter are graduating and venturing into the workforce.

I recently asked Kyle Tavares and Valerie Drozdowsky, two of the founding members of the Xplor Ryerson Chapter what their thoughts were on Xploration 15.

Skip: What was the value to you and the other Ryerson students in being able to speak with vendors and other document professionals at Xploration 15?

Kyle: Although we are used to speaking and networking with vendors when we attend other trade shows, Xploration 15 was a unique experience for all of us. As a student we usually do not get the “time of day” from the sales people because they know we are students and will not be purchasing their products or services.

At Xploration15 it was the exact opposite – we were able to speak with people who wanted to converse with us. Many of the vendor participants were decision makers who were very interested in what we thought about the Xploration15 experience, and they took the time to educate us on the goods and services they provide.

Valerie: The value that I find in speaking with vendors and other document professionals as a student is getting a chance to learn more about the mission that the vendors are trying to create as a company and also gaining the confidence to even speak to them. It may seem funny but being a student, it’s hard to know where you stand against these professionals who have worked in the industry for years. After a bit of time, the main value I get is recognition. When they start to remember your name and who you are, you feel valuable.

Skip: Was there anything in particular that you learned that may help your career?

Kyle: The experience taught me a lot about networking. As a student I found the educational sessions were very well done. I was able to attend most of the sessions that interested me and pull very valuable information from all of them. The best ones for students I thought were the LinkedIn and networking sessions. I found those very applicable for students. Many of the panel discussions also contained great information. It was great to be able to ask insightful questions about the topics.

Valerie: I have learned that building relationships is a very big part of being successful in the business world. Watching how everyone interacts at these conferences I now understand how to act, dress and communicate professionally in a conference and a working environment. All of this has made me develop a passion to work in the industry that I am entering. I have also learned how to approach and communicate with others, whether they are much older or much more experienced than I am. Being the second conference that I have attended, I found it easier to join in conversations and discussions, whether personal conversations or group discussions.

Skip: Any opportunities you may have to explore employment opportunities?

Kyle: For me personally it was a great opportunity to speak with a variety of vendors. I spoke with several vendors including Mary from NEPS to inquire what their business was all about. Later that evening their President approached me and asked if I would like an opportunity to interview with NEPS. Just following Xploration15 I had an interview and I am now a NEPS employee.

Valerie: Last year I was able to make a connection for an internship opportunity with Symcor, in Mississauga for the summer of 2014. It was required to complete a 420 hour internship at a company related to our school work and the graphic arts industry.

This year was a bit different. I did get to meet a lot of new employers, mostly from the U.S. Since I am looking for employment in Canada I wasn’t able to find an employment opportunity directly from the conference but I did make additional connections. I had a third interview with TC Media a week ago and I am still waiting for a response. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

Skip: Sounds like it was a great event for you both. Do you have any closing remarks?

Kyle: My involvement with Xplor International and the Xplor Ryerson Chapter has provided me opportunity to not only expand my knowledge and personal network, but also launch my career. I would recommend any student looking to be part of the Communications Industry to join Xplor, and if your school has an Xplor University chapter become part of it.

Valerie: It’s always valuable listening to the latest trends in workflows, listening to how companies are getting the younger generation more involved and how the companies are evolving their mission statements to cater more to and fit in with the millennials.
Skip: Valerie and Kyle, thank you for sharing your experiences about Xplor as well as Xploration 15. I look forward to seeing you both next year at Xploration 16.

Note: Any college or university that would like to discuss the possibility of having an Xplor University Chapter can contact Chad Henk at chad@xplor.org or call +1-813-949-6170.

 

Xplor Canada Adds Xplor Ryerson Intern

Intern to Support Membership Programming and Activities
Submitted May 12, 2015 – Cross Posted from Xplor Canada

Xplor® Canada, an affiliate of Xplor® International, today announced the addition of intern Jim Phan to support membership programming and activities within the Canadian Region.

Jim PhanIn his a 3rd year studying in the Graphic Communications Management (GCM) program at Ryerson University, Jim takes an active role in his Course Union (GCMCU) serving as the President – and in the past as Vice President of Events. He also took part in planning events for the Ryerson International Experiential Learning Program as well as contributing to the Ryerson Communications and Design Society campaign team. With the coming 2016/2017 year, Jim hopes to be able to get students in GCM involved in more academic, professional, and social events.

“It is a very exciting to be able to work with so many members with such diverse backgrounds,” says Phan. “Currently I am working towards planning out the logistics of Xplor Canada’s annual Golf Day. I also look forward to showcasing Xplor in creative ways in order to support Xplor’s mission of opening more Xplor university student chapters.”

Mr. Phan is an active member of the Xplor Ryerson University chapter, in Toronto. Launched two years ago, Ryerson became the first university chapter of Xplor International.

“We are very happy to support the Ryerson GCM program, especially since they were the inaugural Xplor student chapter” says Paul Abdool, Xplor International Board Member focused on student chapter development. “When I interviewed students at the Ryerson University GCM Job Fair, there were many great candidates, but I knew Jim was our guy. I liked his energy and his ‘make something from nothing’ attitude.”


Xplor Canada Media:
+1-905-469-9062
info@xplorcanada.org

Harry’s Corner – Star ‘n Cones

Submitted by Harry Stephens, President/CEO of DATAMATX
May 11, 2015

Anyone who knows me well knows I love everything about the mail. Even when I travel, I like to visit the local post office to see what it is like—particularly in countries outside the U.S. Recently, I was in Italy on a trip that took us from Rome to hilltop towns built up to 10 centuries ago and to Florence. It was quite a trip with our driver (Paulo) who explained the history of things along the way. Of course, my request was always to stop in each town to see how they managed their mail. What I learned was the post offices in Italy don’t resemble any post office we have here in the United States. Unlike here, where we view the post office as a place to buy stamps and send packages, the Poste Italiane is a place where you can accomplish all sorts of tasks.

You can pay certain bills, collect a pension check, renew a passport and even buy health insurance. Seriously—you can. It is also a competitive operator in the area for financial and payment services: savings accounts, interest-bearing bonds, national and international money orders.

Additionally, you can shop for things like books, CDs and even cell phones. There are posters all around promoting these things and there are consultants on site to help you with whatever you need. In Florence, when I entered the door of the Poste, I saw a machine that dispenses numbered tickets based on what you were planning to do there. Then, similar to the DMV, you waited until your number came up on the screen. The Florence post office was a veritable hub of activity.

Standing there I started thinking about our post offices—what may be missing and it sparked an idea (if you read my column, you know I have made several) for an option that might help alleviate some of the financial burden it carries. If European towns use the post office as a hub for other things besides mail, why can’t we? I know we can’t let a government institution go into banking or sell insurance. Private enterprise would not allow it. But how about getting support from private enterprise in another way?

For example, what if a company like Starbucks® stepped up and decided to help out the situation by creating a franchise model that would rent space from the USPS, similar to how the USPS operates within a Staples store? Or a telecommunications provider, like Verizon® or T – Mobile® have a franchise model that rented space from the USPS? If it was the type of products and services people wanted, and the franchise was located within the USPS real estate, perhaps it would spur activity around the post office itself, encourage local involvement and help offset the costs of operating the building.

This idea strikes me as particularly relevant for local post offices in rural areas where services like the ones mentioned are needed and not always available. A model like this might be a good gesture on the part of a company like Starbucks or Verizon and bring in more foot traffic to help keep our smaller post offices open. A few years ago there was a survey that found at least 6,000 post offices in the U.S. served a volume of only 3.3 people each day. 3.3! People in these areas don’t want to lose their post office—or their jobs. So if it’s some of my earlier suggestions, like “no work Wednesdays,” or decreeing “Saturday a day of rest” that might help save the USPS—or sharing space with Star ‘n Cones—the point is we all know something has to change.

Until next time – Harry
Harry Stephens


Harry Stephens is President/CEO, and founder of DATAMATX, one of the nation’s largest privately held, full-service providers of printed and electronic billing solutions. As an advocate for business mailers across the country, Stephens is actively involved in several postal trade associations. He serves on the Executive Board of the Greater Atlanta Postal Customer Council, Board Member of the National Postal Policy Council (NPPC), Member of Major Mailers Association(MMA), and member of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service . He is also immediate past president of the Imaging Network Group (INg), an association for Print/Mail Service Bureaus. As an expert on high-volume print and mail, he has frequently been asked to speak to various USPS groups, including the Board of Governors, about postal reform and other issues affecting business mailers. Find DATAMATX at www.datamatx.com.

Xploration® 15 Deemed a Success

The Customer Communications Conference is well received by Attendees

Lutz, FL – April 29, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that they deemed Xploration® 15 a success. Xploration® 15 was held in Orlando, Florida April 14-16, 2015.

The event featured over 60 educational sessions in addition to the general sessions and vendor forum. The vendor forum featured 38 leading-edge providers of document technology products and services. The conference also included daily networking events, two keynote speakers, the second annual Customer Engagement Program and pre-conference programs provided by Madison Advisors and PrintMediaCentr.

For 2015, the conference Education Committee once again focused on user experiences as part of the agenda, resulting in more end user presentations that featured real world experience and best practices.

“We are extremely pleased with the results of the 2015 event. We made many changes based on recommendations from our 2014 attendees that were well received.” said Skip Henk, EDP, President and CEO of Xplor. “Next week we start planning Xploration® 16. which will once again take place in the March-April timeframe. Additional details will be announced in the upcoming weeks.”

Although attendance was on par with the 2014 event, first time and international attendance rose. Approximately 38% of Xploration® 15 attendees were first-timers and 18% of attendees came from outside of the United States. International attendance included delegates from Columbia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, and Sweden.


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

An Interview with Mike Jackson, CEO of eLynxx Solutions

By: Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International

I was recently introduced to Mike Jackson, CEO of eLynxx Solutions and although I was not familiar with eLynxx, Mike certainly had some interesting insight on some of the relevant issues in our industry.

I decided to go back to Mike, ask a few more questions and share them with the E-Document News audience.


Skip: For our readers who are not familiar with eLynxx, give us your 15 second elevator pitch.

Mike: eLynxx Solutions provides cloud software that serves a very specialized need in the marketplace. Our software is purpose-built to help organizations plan, source and manage the acquisition of custom marketing materials such as direct mail, publications, POP signage and all things print. Our platform connects stakeholders and coordinates all steps from planning to payment. In short, it strengthens the marketing supply chain by bringing complete order and transparency to a process that’s usually managed through a maze of emails and spreadsheets.

Skip: Can you tell us about eLynxx itself and perhaps a short history?

Mike
: I’ll try to give you the short description of a long history since eLynxx has been around since 1975. Throughout our forty year history, we’ve helped buyers and producers of custom print work more effectively together to the benefit of both parties. We have extensive experience and expertise working initially with printers to help them compete for GPO projects and later expanding our focus to work with private sector print buying organizations.

A pivotal point in our history came when we invented and patented a method for sourcing custom print. This method solved the so called iron triangle, allowing print buyers to achieve required product quality, on time delivery and lowest price – all at once. Conventional wisdom had previously been that you could only achieve two out the three at any given time.

Today’s eLynxx is principally a software company offering the most robust cloud software available to help print buyers and their organizations achieve cost and operational efficiencies.

Skip: From a positioning stand point, where do you see your products and services in the industry?

Mike: When it comes to buying and managing custom print, organizations have to decide whether they want to have responsibility for it or if they’d rather have someone else do it for them. If they want a third-party to take everything over, there are plenty of capable firms but that’s not our business. When an organization wants to maintain full control of everything and manage it themselves, we can greatly assist them with a solution that’s rather unique in the market.

The concern over working with a BPO or broker that I most often hear in the market is that it requires relinquishing control. Decisions over critical elements like what vendors are used, how much is paid and so forth, are placed in someone else’s hands. Depending on the arrangement, there may be limited transparency or access to information. But on the surface, the business case may look attractive because their buying power likely brings economies to the table.

When organizations maintain control by employing people to directly source and manage projects, they have the benefit of being in charge of everything but typically lack tools made for the job. Too often it’s a highly manual process that relies extensively on spreadsheets, memory, and email. That’s where we come in. As a purpose-built tool built for print buyers, eLynxx software positions organizations to have the control they want and the economic benefit they need. It’s not one or the other.

Unlike third-party arrangements, eLynxx has no print capabilities or vendor relationships. Our clients use our software to empower their own people, streamline their own process and work more effectively with their own trusted vendors. When working directly with print vendors, the inherent profits of the broker model are eliminated. And when our patented sourcing method is applied, the cost of print is reduced to levels that are often favorable to what the third-parties achieve through volume discounts.
So in short, we’re positioning organizations to have the best of both worlds – full control and the most competitive cost. We sum it up as your people, your process, your vendors, better results.

Skip: Let’s talk a little about the technology. How can enhanced workflows change an organization?

Mike
: When it comes to custom print, every organization has some level of prescribed or required workflow in the lifecycle of a project. The stages typically begin with planning and then move to sourcing and production management before concluding with approvals and payment. When they’re planning they may be going to vendors for budget pricing. When they’re ready to buy, they may do so under a contract, through a competitive bid and award process or they may even hand it to their favorite vendor without competition. And once a job is in the hands of a vendor, someone has to monitor whether the project is being produced on time, at quality standards, and ultimately ensure that the vendor is paid the right price.

The steps that happen along the way usually involve a lot of people and there are often change orders after the project is in production. So there are a lot of moving parts. When you are in the spreadsheet and email world, you rely heavily on people’s gray matter to insure that details are cared for, that boxes are checked, and that things are done in accordance with policy. Technology can effectively deal with all this complexity and transform workflow. For example, our eLynxx software allows organizations to streamline complex workflows and dependencies in a way that creates full accountability, transparency, and record keeping without adding friction. This allows our clients to embrace the complexity and deal with the workflow in a way that assures compliance. When people are freed from chasing tactical details, they’re able to focus on strategic actions.

Skip: Two questions that are somewhat related. First, what impact is the cloud going to have on how we do business and second, how will the cloud affect communications management?

Mike: The cloud is having a bigger impact on business every day. One obvious attraction point is that organizations don’t have the traditional investment in infrastructure and support costs. One common concern is that their information is being stored somewhere outside of their own four walls, so to speak. But we see a growing number of organizations, even ones who not long ago were averse, coming to embrace cloud-based solutions.

From an operations standpoint, I think the fundamental opportunity with the cloud is that it provides a means to access information, execute actions, and collaborate from anywhere, at any time. With our software, for example, all you need are internet access and credentials to login. This means people are no longer tethered to their desks or phones. The ability to see and do things from anywhere at any time makes people more productive.

Skip: Do you believe that more companies will be looking toward the software-as-a-service model?

Mike
: Absolutely. I think that not only will more companies look toward it, but those companies who are already using it will look to do more things with it. I foresee a day, not too far out, where the majority of activities are happening through cloud software.

Skip
: Compliance is a major issue for organizations. What challenges do organizations face and how have you been able to help them?

Mike
: In print procurement, the biggest challenge I see with verifying compliance is that it’s usually done on a spot-check basis. If an organization wants to pressure test whether they’re meeting compliance objectives, they have to pick random samples of jobs. The next step involves grabbing data in many forms from a lot of disparate systems. This often includes auditing email trails and may even require doing interviews to document recollection of phone conversations. So when compliance is monitored through a manual, spot-check process it’s time consuming and by definition incomplete.

What we have done with eLynxx software is insure that all jobs are managed through the same system allowing all activities, communications, and approvals to be indelibly captured in one place. Whether metrics or actions are based on time, quality or cost, our clients always have an up to date single repository. This not only affords uniform compliance monitoring, but it also means you can proactively see when a job is about to go out of compliance. It’s a very powerful business tool.

Skip: What is the importance of balancing compliance with operation efficiency?

Mike
: Getting back to my example of a more manually driven environment, if you want 100% compliance, the only way you get to that is by sampling 100% of the jobs. That means you have to add more personnel in the form of analysts and auditors. All that adds excessive administrative cost to the point where you can’t afford to get to 100% compliance. Compare that with using a purpose-built platform that automatically monitors and measures compliance as work is being done, not as a separate effort after the fact. Not only can balance be achieved, the return almost always exceeds the investment.

Skip: If I am looking for software, should I build it, buy it or both? What are the pluses and minuses?

Mike: I meet many organizations that have progressed beyond using spreadsheets to procure and manage custom print projects, often by creating an in-house system. The thing they have in common is they believe that if they build something they will get exactly what they want but not have to pay for things they don’t want or don’t need.

Now, if you’ve ever been involved in one of these projects, and I have, what you find more often than not is that, they take longer than anticipated to build, they end up costing more than expected, and you never end up with everything you’d hoped for. There’s also a requirement for operational people to be heavily involved in the design and acceptance testing which detracts from their ability to do their core jobs. So organizations typically end up dealing with trade-offs anyway, so what they get in the end is something that is less than 100% of what they wanted.

Assuming you get all this right in the first place, more unforeseen issues loom on the horizon. If they haven’t made a commitment to continually support and upgrade the software to meet their changing business needs then it will start to fall out of phase with requirements on day two. I have met organizations that are working with 10 year old home-grown systems and tell me that because it was never updated they’ve had to create numerous manual workarounds. It’s a back to the future scenario.
I think the advantage of buying it is that you are typically dealing first of all with software that was purpose-built for solving the common problems of many organizations. This brings broader perspective. And because the software is the core business of the provider, they are always looking to innovate and keep pace with changing market demands. Access to these upgrades typically comes at little to no cost to individual clients because the burden is shared across the provider’s entire client set. In the case of eLynxx software, for example, upgrades are included in the subscription price so our clients are always using current software.

The benefit in this regard, with eLynxx in particular, is that our software is designed to be tailored to fit each client’s specific business. By that I mean clients don’t have to change the way they do business to fit our software. Instead, our software is configured to fit the way they do business. That’s one of the many things that make eLynxx software unique in the marketplace.

Skip: Mike, thanks for taking the time to speak with me and share some additional thoughts and insights. Anyone wanting to learn more about eLynxx can go to their website at www.elynxx.com or can reach Mike at michael.jackson@elynxx.com.