b.cognosco

printChannel, a San Francisco-based provider of web technologies for on-line print procurement and order management, was funded by WarburgPincus. printChannel CEO Oliver Pflug last week announced plans to cease operations by November 15.

This closure highlights the difficulties of selling technology and infrastructure services to an industry dominated by small- to mid-size businesses. Technology is often too transient and intangible to be a comfortable purchase for such companies -- those that can build their own will do so. Those that cannot will often just do without.

While there are still a few players offering pure technology services to the print industry, the trend is to have such services come from one of two fronts:
1) Infrastructure services provided by heavy equipment vendors such as Heidelberg and Creo, designed as a value-added service for equipment purchasers.
2) Internal services from larger print providers who tie them closely to tangible goods delivery.

In the end web technologies will become transparent, an expected norm for doing business. The shift from specialized providers to expected service is a normal, but still painful, stage in the maturation of this technology.