Brother Launches Print-As-A-Service Program, Only Available Through Partners

‘So what is the advantage for our channel partners? Again, it’s really to help capture that recurring revenue from print. ... We keep it very simple and make it easy for them to help guide a potential client into the right plan,’ says David Fisher, Brother’s senior manager for the VAR channel.

Brother USA Tuesday launched its new subscription service program for channel partners that will let customers choose from a variety of machines on a Print-as-a-Service basis, which the company calls its Value Subscription Plan, or VSP.

The program is only available through channel partners, the Bridgewater, N.J.-based company said.

“Of course, being Brother, everything we do is through the channel,” said David Fisher, Brother’s senior sales manager for the VAR channel, in esponse to a question from CRN. “So what is the advantage for our channel partners? Again, it’s really to help capture that recurring revenue from print. A lot of customers, certainly in the VAR and MSP space, even in some of the office product spaces, don’t necessarily have a deep knowledge of printing and managed print. This gives them the ability to continue to offer their white-glove concierge IT services, including print, without having to have a deep knowledge of printing and consulting skills. We keep it very simple and make it easy for them to help guide a potential client into the right plan.”

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The company said it is offering flexibility within the contracts. Customers will be able to scale up or down according to their needs after selecting a service plan.

“Brother is for businesses providing peace of mind to our customers and partners, allowing them to focus on what is important—their business,” Fernando Maroniene, Brother’s senior director for SMB product marketing, said in a statement. “We listened to our customers and built a program that we believe will help differentiate our partners in the marketplace, drive profitability and further strengthen their customer relationships.”

All tech companies have faced delays and shortages due to supply chain issues spurred by pandemic and geopolitical issues. But Brother said its subscription plan will offer a steady supply of product and parts availability.

“Supply chain is certainly critical and has been an ongoing frustration for a lot of our channel partners and end users as well,” Fisher told CRN. “But for the models that are in this program, there’s a configuration done to these devices before they are sent out to end users so we have a set of devices that are ready to go—on shelves and available. The shelves are stocked with VSP versions of all these models. Basically, from October onward, in general, we’re in a pretty good spot for the supply chain on the models in this program.”

Fisher said that in a Brother-commissioned study more than 40 percent of IT professionals responding mentioned the high cost of maintaining legacy systems as a challenge to their existing document management systems and contracts. Hybrid work, he said, also created new demand for as-a-service solutions as well. “The shifting print volumes, combined with the high costs of systems, really starts to open up some opportunities and doors to look at new ways of addressing document imaging in the office and enterprise space,” he said. “It’s no longer ‘future’ needs. Our needs now are in the distributed hybrid workforce. This is not going to change.”

Customers can sign up with nine select printer models by page volume and length of time, 12 months to 36 months. With VSP, end customers will receive print management and maintenance including supplies and repairs throughout the term. Starting pricing for plans range from $12.99 per month to $60.99 per month, depending on the printer model, length of contract and terms chosen. The nine printer models available at the VSP launch include the HL-L5200DW monochrome laser printer (starting at $12.99 per month), the MFC-L2759DW monochrome laser all-in-one (starting at $15.99 per month), the HL-L6400DW monochrome laser printer (starting at $24.99 per month), MFC-L6900DW monochrome laser all-in-one (starting at $35.99 per month), HL-L3270CDW color laser/LED printer (starting at $26.99 per month), MFC-L3770CDW color laser/LED all-in-one (starting at $33.99 per month), HL-L9310CDW color laser/LED printer (starting at $35.99 per month), MFC-L9570CDW color laser/LED all-in-one (starting at $60.99 per month) and the MFC-J5955DW color inkjet all-in-one (starting at $20.99 per month).