IDC defines a Multi Function Device as any device that can perform any two of the following—print, scan, fax, and copy and can be connected to a PC. But the definition no longer capt ures what a multi function device or an MFD can accomplish in an office today. The MFD of today has evolved to become much smarter and even more versatile.

The evolving MFD
The MFD of today is no more like its avatar of yesteryears. And right it is, when everything in the world from cars to cell-phones to PDAs are getting smarter. It of course copies, scans, faxes, and prints but can also e-mail, send a fax over the Internet, and comes equipped with virtual mail boxes for users amongst others.

The device has now become an important component of the workflow process rather than just a device that could do more things than one. Says M Lakshmi Narayan Rao, Assistant Director Marketing, OSS Value, Canon India, "The MFD has evolved to be the communication hub and is now handling the entire data communication in an office."

A common myth about the MFD is that if one function goes down, the machine stops functioning. That is the case no more.

Most devices available in the market today come with some level of redundancy built in, which translates into the fact that if one function of the machine is down, it is still performing other tasks. Says German Gennady, Marketing Director, Xerox India, "Customers sometimes feel that the multi-functional feature in the MFD is a disadvantage. There is still a feeling that these devices will fail if one or more functions stops working." Dismissing the myth says Mruclul Desai, GM, Triune Marketing, "This is not true." Interestingly the devices now come with the ability to perform more than one function concurrently. And the companies’ playing in the MFD space are in over drive to ensure that the value proposition of the product is communicated well to the end-customer and the channel. Adds Desai of Triune, "We have to educate the customer."

Growing...and rapidly
It is not without reason that IDC calls an MFD the ‘in-thing’ in the otherwise dull IT market. Both the inkjet and the laser variety of MFDs saw exponential growth in a market where everyone was talking slowdown. And what truly makes this product category a hot favorite is the fact that the trend is expected to continue. IDC expects the market to grow by 150 % for inkjets and over 70 % for laser MFDs in the year ahead. Such high growth rates though are not a true indicator of the market but definitely point to the fact that the Indian enterprise is rapidly recognizing the benefits of the convergence of functionality.

The growth that is being witnessed in the market of course is a result of buying that the large corporate houses and government have engaged in. The buying however is limited to that space. The SME and the SOHO segments have also started to adopt the product. "The integrated device offers immense value-proposition for the smaller organizations," says Pankaj Sharma, Head-Channel Sales, Sharp India. And it is this value proposition that is being clearly communicated to the right target
audience. Says Tarun Goswami, Marketing manager, Xerox India, "Some of our products are designed in such a manner that they gel well with the environment of the smaller offices." The start-ups are also among big buyers of this equipment. Says Rao of Canon, "They don’t have the legacy equipment to take care of," offering an explanation to the trend.

Buying segments
While the smaller workgroups typically buy the inkjet variety, the bigger organizations go for the laser versions. And therefore it comes as no surprise that the inkjet variety out sell the laser version by a huge margin. "An important factor for such big inkjet numbers is also the low initial cost of acquisition," says Sharma of Sharp. And with a market as price sensitive as India, price is a good enough reason to purchase. The other important reasons that figure here are the ease of maintenance and the fact that color is offered as against the predominantly black and white laser printing.

The skew in favor of the inkjets is not there to stay for long. While there is no immediate and imminent threat but laser is going to prevail. "Globally inkjet is a dying technology," says V Balakrishnan, General Manager, Gestetner India. The one single factor that will tip the scales in favor of laser will be price, though packaged differently. With operating costs as low as 40 paise per print, the total cost of ownership becomes very affordable for the smaller enterprises too. "The smaller enterprises have started to pick up the laser variety too," says Rao of Canon. Companies have started to launch products in this domain that typically appeal to this audience. The small footprint, greater reliability and low operating costs together are able to deliver an unmatched value proposition. The customer however has the option to upgrade the very machine with the addition of add-on cards to add faxing capability.

Customer concerns
What then are the customers’ concerns when the purchase is being made? "It depends on who you are selling to," answers Goswami of Xerox. While the IT Manager of the organization looks for seamless integration with the network, ease of manageability and minimal compatibility issues, the concerns posed by the end-user in an organization are different. The end-user wants the device to be user friendly, reliable and have the ability to multi task simultaneously, i.e. the device should have concurrency built in. But the concerns as expressed by the head honcho are strikingly different. The CEO or the CFO looks for ease of asset management from the investment standpoint. "The main financial concern is that the investment should be future proof and the upgradability of such machines effectively addresses that," opines Rao of Canon. "Success of the MFDs in the long run will depend heavily on service and support," says Sharma of Sharp, voicing the common concern.

Support is a critical factor
Since the MFD has evolved to take up the more mission critical tasks under its fold, the need for instant service and support have also become greater therefore. The challenging task in building an effective support infrastructure is to transition the service engineer from a copier mindset to an IT mindset. And in such a situation training the existing workforce becomes a critical part of smooth functioning. Most organizations are investing heavily in training their technical workforce. Gestetner, for instance, has made it mandatory for engineers to attend training for at least eight days per annum. Canon undertook a massive training program for its engineers last year. Even Sharp has trained its partners to address the first level of support.

Can sales training, then, be far behind?
With so much focus on technical training can the training of the sales workforce be far behind? And you get no points for guessing that one. With the MFD becoming more complex and the integration of IT, telecom and office automation becoming tighter, sales cannot be achieved through just a spiel but is only possible through the understanding of the business applications that the machine can deliver. The Canon sales force, for instance, has been trained not only in concept selling and product skills but also in strategic account management skills. E-learning has also been contributing to the effort being made by organizations.

Future outlook
While IDC expects the inkjets to grow faster, but industry observers feel that it is a matter of time before laser become predominant. As awareness grows and the finer points of the technology are appreciated and valued by customers, lasers will win hands-down.

Mohit Chhabra (DQ Channels India) in New Delhi
with Nelson Johny in Mumbai and Sunila Paul in Bangalore