Hamilton--Who Needs a Systems Integrator?

Today, much of that guidance is coming in the form of how to integrate the Internet into prepress operations. Far beyond a slick Website, many prepress operations need to provide a secure FTP site for clients to upload and downlaod files during production, remote proofing and databasing.

Given the plethora of direct sales firms such as Dell and Mac Warehouse, some integrators—especially the good ones—prefer to let you buy the hardware yourself, or through them for little more than cost plus a few points to cover the hassle. And while dealers want to sell systems to get the ongoing consumables contract, they struggle with the hard-core technical issues in which integrators excel. Although there are many competent systems people in the dealer channel, they are "maxed out" and can't cover all the bases.