Growing With E-Commerce
I enjoyed reading your "Riding the E-Commerce Wave" cover story (May, page 66) and feel we also have an excellent e-commerce solution. In January 1999, we launched orderprinting.com, an internet procurement solution for a variety of products. It excels at handling corporate identity work (business cards and other products that entail numerous identity rules for designs). More than 10,000 corporations use our solution, and many of them are Fortune 500 firms. Our distributor customers are adding 10 to 15 new end user corporations per business day.
Peter Posk
Senior Vice President
Business Cards Tomorrow
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Industry Should Embrace E-Forms
I read with interest the recent Mailbag comments regarding electronic forms from Mark McKinney and Pete Guglietta (February, page 6). McKinney said software firms are selling their systems based on eliminating printing costs, and Guglietta said e-forms are a good idea, but their usage and practicality aren't as widespread as many industry professionals believe. Both comments are correct, but usage of e-forms is growing and will continue to grow.
As distributors, we must keep in mind that even with a traditional printed form, the user purchases what's on the form and appreciates functionality. Producing the printed form is how we get paid. In today's e-forms world, the same scenario still exists--the user may eliminate the printed form, but the need to purchase what's on the form still exists. It doesn't matter whether
e-forms are practical. The decision I get to make is whether to adjust to the demands of the marketplace and find a profitable niche or become extinct.
External forces will continue to drive the industry's migration to e-forms. For example, we have a software client that recently advised each of its 300 users that printed forms wouldn't be supported as of a certain date. If we're proactively in the e-forms business, that's 300 new accounts needing multiple e-forms, not 300 lost accounts.
As an industry, we have no choice but to embrace e-forms, whether or not we agree with their practicality. E-forms technology is one of the most significant challenges the document industry has faced, but the challenge also presents a tremendous opportunity. Distributors are positioned to have a role in defining emerging e-forms technologies and can create residual income.
J. Mark Staley
President
ConmarSystems Inc.
Peachtree City, Ga.
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