As an industry power player—both literally and figuratively—Innovolt has evolved with both the times and technology. Innovolt, which begins its company timeline with the discovery of electricity, has had a lot of keeping up to do as electronics have become not only more prevalent in the office, but also more critical to the way business gets done. Keeping the power on has become a necessity, and managing that power in new and innovative ways is critical to staying on the cutting edge. Innovolt has gone to the cloud, for example, with its recently released Innovolt-as-a-Service, as well as enhancing many of its existing services that will keep it on the forefront of power technology for years to come.
When we spoke to you last year, Innovolt was seeing good growth despite the economic downturn. How has the last year been?
Newton: 2013 marked another year of substantial growth for Innovolt with increased demand and adoption of our technology. Not only did we sign new agreements with major office equipment manufactures, we introduced several new platforms to our portfolio. Those platforms are all centered around enhancing our software solutions and now have real-time clock functionality so customers know the exact moment our technology remediated against a power disturbance. We expanded our reach in gaming, parking and vending, while still focusing on our core customers in the office equipment industry. Another very exciting result from the year was that our dealer and OEM partners realized real-time reduction in service costs and improved customer satisfaction.
What other new products, programs or strategies does Innovolt have in the works?
Newton: In addition to the platform enhancements mentioned above, we recently introduced one of the most exciting deployment options in our history: Innovolt-as-a-Service (IaaS). IaaS provides access to our technology in a manner that does not require customers to invest their hard-earned cash up front. Customers now can take advantage of the technology we provide today with a simple upgrade path for new, patented features and functionality introduced tomorrow. These customers are given their own customer success manager who will customize the technology deployment and provide ongoing and timely support.
What are some of the challenges inherent in the power industry as it ties into office technology, as printers and similar devices have become more powerful and more computer-like?
Newton: The reality is that as time has passed, the traditional surge protectors that were prevalent in the past simply cannot and do not protect the ever-increasing sophisticated level of technology deployed today. As electronics have become more sophisticated, their components become more sensitive to voltage fluctuations. These components require a higher degree of protection, and Innovolt is the only product on the market that provides that level of protection utilizing our patented technology. All of these electronics are not just devices we plug into an outlet; they are real business assets, the heart of business commerce. Without them, companies would falter.
What are some of the common issues a consumer (or dealer) may see in a print device that is actually attributable to an electrical problem?
Newton: Power issues can cause equipment lockups and resets, unexpected down time, service calls for unknown stoppages and communication problems. According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), power disturbances cost U.S. industries as much as $188 billion per year in lost data, material and productivity. When our customers install our technology, either plugged or embedded, there have been instantaneous improvements in service uptime and reliability of the equipment protected by our solution. The bottom line is that our technology helps OEMs and dealers avoid costly service calls.
What are some strategies dealers can take note of to be successful when selling power management programs?
Newton: Dealers should start with a good understanding of the different types of power management solutions and the anomalies they each protect against. Most customers simply think about surge, and the fact is, surge is the least problematic of all power disturbances. Innovolt’s technology is the only technology available today that protects against the five major power anomalies, period. By educating customers about the damaging effects of environmental and power disturbances, dealers can actually increase their customers’ profits by helping increase electronics uptime. The willingness to spend that few minutes educating customers on the affects power has on sensitive equipment will ensure trust among customers, increasing their chances of buying equipment from the dealer in the future.
What specific programs do you offer office technology dealers, and how do those programs help dealers be successful?
Newton: We have several programs that make a difference for dealers and OEMs that are designed to help increase their ability to differentiate themselves while also increasing revenue. As an example, our Power Up Program is a channel partner program designed to give additional revenue streams to VARs, system integrators, and OEMs. We built this program to connect Innovolt’s intelligent electronics management technology with channel partners who offer complementary products, thereby increasing our ability to provide enhanced protection and cost savings for end users globally.
Dealers can join the Power Up Program at http://www.innovolt.com/about-us/partner-program
