Two managed print services (MPS) provider networks in Canada and the U.S. have joined forces to expand cross-border service delivery.
The National Print Services Alliance (NPSA) in Canada has teamed up with the National Printer Repair Network (NPRN) in the U.S. to allow its partners to tackle deals with companies operating in both countries.
“Initially, we were introduced through a mutual industry person that kind of knew both organizations,” said Kevin Hiebert, president of NPSA and Mississauga, Ont.-based Cell-a-Net Printer Services. Now, that relationship has been formalized for cross-border deals.
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NPSA members had been seeing an increase in demand from clients with locations both here and south of the border. The value for members of both organizations would be in bidding for deals with companies that operate in both countries said to Frank Topinka, president of NPRN.
The deal will also allow NPSA members to stay a step ahead on MPS rends, according to Hiebert.
NPSA currently has four formal members covering geographic regions in Canada, each with its own sub-network for service delivery. In the U.S., NPRN has roughly 50 members.
NPRN does have a multi-vendor approach, while its counterpart here has been mainly focused on solutions from Hewlett-Packard Co. “We do have local vendor capability but it’s probably more leaning to HP just historically,” Hiebert said. “That hasn’t changed, it just opens us up more.”
The two alliances will use the National Dispatch Portal from BEI Services Inc., a Wyoming-based performance benchmarking company, which NPRN has already been using. The groups will only use it for cross-border deals at first, but NPSA may consider implementing the system for its Canadian operations eventually, Hiebert said.