August 28, 2002 -- WhatTheyThink.com spoke with nearly 50 of our members who are commercial printers to gauge their reaction to Creo’s intended acquisition of ScenicSoft. Below, we have provided a few opinions on the subject from the people who really matter -- the customers. These printers have a variety of workflow environments that interact with ScenicSoft’s products and the comments offer a fair representation of what we heard in the field. We would like to thank the numerous people who contributed their opinions and background to help shape this and other parts of this series. Paul Baudhuin, President, Digital Color, Inc. - “We have a Prinergy system hooked up to one of Creo’s platesetters using Preps. I have no reason to think that this won’t be great for everyone involved. Any issues about the future viability of ScenicSoft or better integration with Creo products also should disappear.” Fred Ciocci, PrePress Manager, Jet Lithocolor, Inc. - “We are currently a two license user of Preps imposition software. I feel pretty good about Creo acquiring ScenicSoft because we are a Creo user. I would expect that they would refine the product to more seamlessly integrate into their workflows, as well as provide more frequent updates that would benefit Brisque and Prinergy workflows. The only downside that I see is that they have cornered the market share on a particular product and control pricing, typically their products are quite expensive. They would also be able to force customers to upgrade products in order to have them to continue to work with their systems. This could be quite expensive if they choose to inflate pricing.” Marko Rakar, Printtel - "UpFront is a significant product because it allows one to streamline and automate the generation of digital job "mock-ups" which is important since our prepress staff can not know all of the rules applied in printing and subsequent finishing operations. Upfront is a great tool in this regard since it allows one to define your finishing rules and creates templates where you just import your pages. It is a excellent planning tool which can be made to be even better. Currently, one of a kind. "ScenicSoft was always regarded as an "independent" provider of imposition and other tools. Preps is a widely known product and I think it is the defacto standard. What is really important with Preps and their other products is the extreme agility to respond to your requests, questions or problems. This support is something that is rarely or ever seen elsewhere. I can’t think of any product which has comparable support." Steve Whitman, CEO, Whitman Communications - "We are presently using Preps, and have had PrintCentral and TrapWise in the plant over the last five years. That qualification stated, I think it speaks mostly to a historical perspective. Preps works. It is a great product. That is not the question that most of the commentators have been concerned with. "The question they pose for the industry today is - will Creo lock up the assets they have acquired and make them more expensive or more restricted under the theory that they can gain more net revenue by charging more or selling more of their home grown solutions? Get real! Their business model is no easier than ours. They can't possibly ignore 20,000 users. They can't dismiss their investment as pocket change. And for Creo to succeed over the future they have to cover more of the market with a product that can be leveraged to different size users and still make them a return on their investment. "In my mind there is no problem here. We, as end users, need standards, standards, and standards. Creo's purchase of ScenicSoft gives them a wider offering to the market and the chance to deliver a standard, scalable, production tool on which printers can make a return on their investment. Let's give them a chance. That's the game we all play. If they don't deliver, we can always treat them like many of the so-called monopolies of the recent past and simply not buy any of their products. That's also how we play the game." Lori Carlson, Director of PrePress, Capital Printing Company - "It is almost without exception harmful to any product as well as customer support of that product when a big monster company devours a smaller company. To Creo, Preps is but a drop in a bucket full of tears. To ScenicSoft, Preps was their premier product. "I'm afraid Creo will never touch the level of customer service that was prevalent at ScenicSoft. Will they be so ready to test files for me, train my staff, keep me posted on bug fixes or develop the product line like ScenicSoft did? We'll see. "While it's true that ScenicSoft did not "invent" Preps, they certainly did make it the product it is today. They also worked diligently to insure it worked with everyone's systems. I can only hope Creo will make the same effort." Larry Vogl, Information Services, Cedar Graphics, Inc. - "If they keep the product open to be used on any output device it's good. If they somehow move the product to only Creo equipment, it's bad. I'm saying that as a Creo user. We use both UpFront and Preps, and have been Preps users for quite a few years. The good thing about independent software development is user choice. Integrating with multiple manufacturers can always be difficult, I think ScenicSoft has done a great job in that regard. Open, industry standards help." Andy Varno, Digital Imaging Specialist, NYS Senate - "In our facility, I work with two different Harlequin RIPs, and two Agfa RIPs, plus Agfa's PrintDrive. We have a quick copy area using Creo's Spire workstations on two Xerox Docucolors. I find the fact that Preps interacts with all of these unique RIPs and workflows seamlessly to be of great value. "As a user of many different platforms for rendering, I have to wonder if someone at Creo is thinking: If we buy ScenicSoft, we'll turn Preps into something that forces everyone to use our RIPs, our platesetters, etc. "As the prepress environment gets closer to the pressroom, the press technology has more voice in what the requirements of the prepress technology will be. With DI and CTP technology, if the prepress area drives those requirements, it can be the proverbial tail wagging the dog. We're all in the printing business, not the ripping business." Gregory Hill, Mgr. Electronic PrePress Systems, Sandy Alexander Inc. - "Creo's acquisition of ScenicSoft is potentially beneficial to Sandy Alexander. We use ScenicSoft Preps as our main imposition program in conjunction with Creo Lotem platesetters. While we have basically been happy with this application, certain functionality is limited when using the Creo (Scitex) file format. “Hopefully with Creo ownership some of the limitations we occasionally run up against will become more of a priority for the software developers. Many printers who work in other "rip once plot many workflows" may benefit as well. While the tech support has been good for Preps, perhaps with the involvement of Creo's excellent support machine it will get even better." Curt Tomhave, President, MCS a Print-On-Demand & Distribution Company - "I do have some concerns. We currently are a customer of both Creo and ScenicSoft. Both are highly reputable companies with strong R&D commitments. My concern has more to do with the relationship ScenicSoft has with third party integrators. Specifically we use Prism in combination with Standard Register's SmartWorks. Prism is a third party integrator for ScenicSoft Upfront and a direct competitor with Printcafe. My experience with this type of relationship in the past has not been favorable to the former incumbent." Daniel J. Kelliher, Vice President, Carter Printing Company - "Carter Printing Company has been a user of Preps Pro for many years, first in conjunction with an AGFA workflow, then switched to Rampage five years ago. More recently, we have added CtP utilizing Creo's Trendsetter 4557 VLF with their FM screening. This runs from Prinergy Entro. "As we have experience with many of the "top flight" workflow providers, I find that three companies stand out; The first is Rampage, then ScenicSoft, then Creo. All of these organizations are top flight, so I do not expect any "bumps in the road" as a result of the acquisition. I do feel this helps both Creo and ScenicSoft operations in the long run if Creo enables both companies to share the knowledge. "While I do believe Creo will do whatever it takes to integrate ScenicSoft's product line into theirs, I do see a good mix possible. This purchase has the makings of one of the better buy outs in the last several years. ScenicSoft has what Creo needs. What else could ScenicSoft do to expand their markets? Both companies have great support programs, albeit on the higher side with cost. "Where will Rampage be in a few years as a result of this? I ask that because Rampage recommends Preps as the imposition software of choice. Will they be able to do that now that it is part of a fierce competitor? More printers will be looking elsewhere for imposition solutions, so some of the others will see more sales as a result! I think that is good. We need competition in this day and age of consolidation. "For us, I do not see a downside. If Enovation can sell Kodak Polychrome products and also sell other non-Fuji competitive lines, so can Creo!" We would like to thank Molly Joss and Gail Nickel-Kailing for their help with this series. Molly Joss, Contributing Editor to WhatTheyThink.com, is also a freelance writer and book author. She can be reached at [email protected] Contributing columnist, Gail Kailing, is principal consultant at Business Strategies Etc.and can be reached at [email protected].