MHC INTERVIEW
The 3-Year Window: How Print Service Providers Can Survive the Shift to Digital Communications
MHC Host
Sharon Jones Malloch, Head of Content Marketing at MHC
Guest
Didier Rouillard, Co-Founder, DNOW!
May 7th, 2025
Print service providers (PSPs) are operating in the middle of a structural shift. For decades, transactional print, direct mail, and variable data production defined the value chain. But as digital channels expand and postal systems face increasing pressure, the economics of customer communications are changing.
The technology for digital delivery already exists. The challenge is monetization. Many PSPs have added digital capabilities, but few have redefined their role in a way that captures sustainable revenue. As value moves upstream, providers must decide whether they remain fulfillment vendors or evolve into strategic communication partners.
In this Expert Insights session, Didier Rouillard, Co-Founder of DNOW!, introduces what he calls the “3–4 year window.” When market conditions shift—through regulatory change, postal reform, or digital mandates—PSPs still hold strong enterprise relationships and operational control. That creates a temporary advantage. The providers who act during this window can reposition for long-term relevance. Those who wait risk being displaced.
Across parts of Europe—including Denmark—traditional letter delivery has effectively stopped. In North America, similar pressures are building, particularly amid ongoing challenges facing the United States Postal Service. The opportunity is real—but the window may be shorter than many expect.
In this video, you’ll learn:
- Why adding digital channels does not automatically create digital revenue
- How digital transformation changes the customer communications value chain
- What the “3–4 year window” means for PSP leaders
- Lessons North American providers can draw from European market shifts
- How PSPs can reposition from print fulfillment to strategic communications partner
Key Takeaways
- Digital channels reshape the economics of customer communications—not just the delivery method.
- PSPs have a limited window of leverage when market conditions change.
- Trusted enterprise relationships create opportunity—but only temporarily.
- Providers who expand into orchestration, integration, and engagement services strengthen long-term relevance.
- Waiting for revenue decline to accelerate often means the repositioning window has already closed.
Meet the Host and Guests
HOST
Sharon Jones Malloch
MHC Head of Content Marketing
Read the bio
Sharon leads content marketing at MHC, overseeing strategies that fuel sales and demand generation. With more than a decade of experience in customer communications, Sharon brings deep insight into customer pain points, industry trends, and the critical role of solutions in managing regulatory communications. Before joining MHC, she honed her marketing expertise at Doxim, Messagepoint, and OpenText.
GUEST
Didier Rouillard
Co-Founder, DNOW!
Read the bio
Digital transformation entrepreneur and long-time CCM industry practitioner with deep experience supporting print service providers across Europe and the Middle East.
Want to Read Instead of Watching the Video?
Below is the complete transcript from this Expert Insights session with Sharon Jones Malloch and Didier Rouillard.
Use the accordion sections to expand and explore the discussion in detail.
Introduction
Sharon:
Hi everyone. I’d like to introduce Didier Rouillard, the co-founder of DNOW! and a digital transformation entrepreneur and practitioner. Didier, you’re not a newcomer to the customer communication space. And I know your journey gives you a unique perspective on the industry and on what’s next.
Didier:
Hello, thank you Sharon. Thanks for hosting me.
Q1: How has your career shaped your view of the CCM market today?
Didier:
So I’m based in Europe. I started to work in the CCM industry 25 years ago working for a software vendor in the space. This means I have exposure to what we used to call “variable data printing” and then the name changed to CCM, and lately the concept has become CXM.
I’ve worked in different geographies, in different business development and management roles, and as well as in product strategy—which gives me insights on where the market has gone and may be going. I have a specialty and my heart is with print service providers. This is where I’ve worked for many years and this is where also I have many friends and connections.
Q2: How would you describe DNOW! and your focus?
Sharon:
You have a track record with the industry and you’ve seen it grow and evolve. In terms of what you’re doing today, how would you describe DNOW! and what is the the passion and the focus of the organization?
Didier:
I started DNOW! with my previous employer when we understood that a lot of print service providers were very good at delivering variable data print in transactional, in direct mail, and other segments. And when the digital channels appeared, technical solutions were available for the PSPs to use and propose services using digital channels.
But the big challenge was that it was difficult for PSPs to understand how to make money out of it (digital). What is key to understand is that digital channels are changing the value chain in customer communications, in customer interactions. As a PSP you have to understand new business models. You have to understand maybe new companies, new personas to whom you have to sell. In turn, PSPs have to adapt their brand, adapt their go-to-market (approach), and train their sales or get different sales to be able to sell the new value proposition.
So this is where we started to provide some support, some consulting. And now DNOW! is an independent company. It’s not connected to any software or hardware vendor. We are just here to help PSPs understand where they can go in terms of digital. We are helping the PSP at a strategic level at a business model level to get there.
Sharon:
Okay. So ‘digital now’ (DNOW!) in terms of helping print service providers on the journey to digital now.
Q3: Tell us about the “window of opportunity” for print service providers. What do you mean by that?
Sharon:
Didier, I’ve heard you talk about a window of opportunity that’s available to PSPs. You’ve seen what’s happened in Europe and now for PSPs in North America, you see this window of opportunity that I’d like to hear about.
Didier: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for this.
So you’ll find this interesting. I’ve just completed an extensive survey with my colleague Andy Young where we looked at the PSP market 10 years ago in 2015. The market was kind of homogeneous in terms of digital maturity. Then something happened differently in North America versus EMEA. Because countries in Europe and the Middle East are (geographically) much smaller than US and Canada, the postal operators had to raise their rates. There was pressure on the delivery cost and on the cost of paper. And this accelerated the momentum for PSPs to adapt their business, to be able to survive in some cases.
So this external pressure is pushing the industry for greater creativity, for greater innovation. And in working with these PSPs in EMEA for about 10 years now we’ve learned all this change is creating a sweet spot for PSPs globally. A PSP for transactional communications is working with enterprise data where they have permission to use it, they are certified for this, they have credibility, they know about customer interactions. And we’ve concluded there is a three- or four-year window where they can propose to enterprises they are working with new ways of interacting with customers. They can do this because of their advantages, because of contracts already in place. And after this 3–4-year window, if a PSP hasn’t done anything with their advantages, their customers will find alternatives. And suddenly they will be out.
So when this kind of change is happening, when pressure is put on paper channels, this is the time when they need to respond and propose something.
Q4: What’s happening in Denmark — and what does it mean for North America?
Didier:
A change in Europe started in 2015 and has continued to now — where Denmark has stopped all its postal operations for letters. Zero.
We believe that this change, which had a smooth slope, will happen differently in the United States. In the news, we see the management of USPS changing, facing big trouble. So it may well be that this change will be much more abrupt in the US and, therefore, the window of opportunity for the print service providers will be even shorter.
Q5: How can North American PSPs benefit from what you’ve learned in EMEA?
Didier:
We believe that we can help print service providers in North America thanks to the experience and best practices that we have learned from all of the PSPs we have worked with. We are concentrating some best practices on how to go from print to making money out of digital channels as a PSP.
Closing
Sharon:
Well, this is like very insightful. You’re ringing the alarm bell and informing people to look at this more closely. And I know you’re there to help. At MHC we’re here to help.
I really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much for your expert insights on customer communications and what’s next, what’s coming. It’s been an absolute pleasure speaking with you.
Didier:
Thank you.