Ricoh and Pagero: Offering flexibility for successful business digitalisation

Partnership start: 2020
Services: E-invoicing and related value-added services: e-archive, digital signature, and enrichment.
Markets: Europe and the Middle East, with an initial focus on Western Europe.

As a Digital Services company and a world leading print firm, the changing digital landscape placed Ricoh Europe in a unique position to help businesses with their e-invoicing challenges. “E-invoicing is part of a bigger strategy for Ricoh. We want to empower the digital workplaces of our customers, helping them in their transformation journey,” says Altan Fadil, European Head of Solutions Management – Business Process and Application Services for Ricoh Europe.

“We had originally sought to partner with a supplier that could strengthen our invoicing services and provide purchase-to-pay software for customers. However, during our evaluation process, we realised that what we really needed was a business network supplier. This means having access to the right infrastructure to support our customers’ needs today and into the future, across the entire purchasing and payment process, no matter whether they needed print, email or e-invoice distribution,” explains Fadil.

The Ricoh and Pagero partnership gives customers access to Pagero’s advanced e-invoice processing tools. They benefit from connectivity to business and government invoicing platforms, automated invoice delivery methods and built-in compliance services in addition to traditional invoices services such as Print and E-mail Distribution.

“When evaluating potential partners, we knew there were two key factors: a strong global infrastructure and agility for local deployment for the solutions we offer across multiple regions,” says Fadil. “In order to be successful and grow, we needed speed and scale, and a partner that could support us with both,” he adds.

“As an organisation, we pride ourselves on working closely with our partners to get our joint projects up and running,” says Alexander Jansson, VP of Partner Development at Pagero. “In addition to our close collaboration and integration, we have extensive product, sales, marketing and commercial support available to help train local partner staff,” he expands.

Along with Pagero’s worldwide presence and local support, another critical factor in Ricoh Europe’s decision to partner with Pagero was their unrivalled expertise in e-invoicing regulations.

“Some of the biggest questions we get from our clients are around compliance,” explains Fadil. “Pagero’s reputation in the marketplace for compliance is excellent. They are known for helping customers become and remain compliant, no matter how fast the regulations change. Having Pagero’s name behind us increases our credibility within the e-invoicing arena,” Fadil continues.

For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been a leading provider of document management solutions. Trusted to deliver critical documents, customers are increasingly turning to Ricoh as a partner in their digitalisation journeys.

“We are in a privileged position to help our customers with their digital transformation, while still supporting their paper-related needs,” explains Fadil. “This partnership is about extending our digitalisation services and capabilities to meet customer requirements,” he adds.

“E-invoice adoption is growing exponentially all across the globe,” describes Jansson. “However, digital transformations need a transition period, proper training, and support. Together, we ensure that customers can access all their paper and digital documents and evolve at their own pace, preparing for the future, no matter what the future looks like,” Jansson points out.

“For us, this is not a supplier relationship; it is a partnership. We are experts in certain matters and Pagero is an expert in others. We have a symbiotic, mutually beneficial relationship, as well as sharing ambitious long-term goals together,” Fadil states.

“Together, we are able to support joint customers and accommodate their digital and non-digital needs. We are there for them regardless of their digital maturity or specific format requirements,” adds Jansson.

“For our customers, this partnership means the possibility to migrate from paper-based invoicing to a cost-effective electronic invoicing process, at a speed that suits their organisation, clients and suppliers. For us, it means supporting the need to adapt to current and future industry changes,” Fadil concludes.