Alden, who joined PrintIQ at the beginning of April, told Printweek that the MIS developer would continue to follow its current course for the rest of the year, before launching the next phase of its long-term strategy.

The first year of his leadership would be one of familiar growth to clients and colleagues, he said, as he joined four months into the company’s financial year: “The plans are out, the strategies are out, and the way in which we run the business is established.

“So in the short term – this year – the goal is to deliver the plan, get to know the people of PrintIQ in the different regions, and take care of the daily operations. [This year’s plan] is a good plan, and achievable.”

PrintIQ, which was founded in New Zealand in 2008, and has an established presence there and in Australia, has in recent years established itself as a challenger to the dominant MIS suppliers in America and the UK.

Alden himself has had a busy start to his new role, with four trade shows and two internal events – in the UK and New Zealand – this quarter alone. 

In its continuing efforts to gain market share, Alden said, PrintIQ needs simply to increase the number of printers that consider it as an option when choosing MIS.

He said: “One thing I know in the MIS space: you need to increase your consideration.

“If we get companies who are in the market for an MIS to consider IQ, we will win our fair share and achieve those revenue goals. I have all the confidence in the world. Our product is just that good.”

He added that the company has had an extremely successful period in the UK market, following their unexpected entrance to the UK in 2018, a year ahead of schedule.

“We’ve definitely caught people’s attention,” he said.

Going ahead, he added: “We just want to keep building on the great work that we’ve done in the UK and Ireland.

Alden joined PrintIQ from a period of consulting work, through which he found PrintIQ.

He said: “I was doing some consulting work for a company [Banyan Software] that just happened to have bought a fresh, exciting MIS company by the name of PrintIQ – and here I am.”

Prior to setting out on his own, Alden headed up sales for MIS developer Avanti, up to and during its acquisition by Ricoh. Before then, he had worked with Xerox for 17 years, latterly managing the company’s iGen ecosystem sales for 11 US states.

PrintIQ released Version 46 of its MIS in March, featuring a number of upgrades to help printers automate their processes.