What’s new? That’s the question I e-mailed to dozens of players in the document imaging industry back in November and again in December, if they didn’t respond to my first query, about what they’ve got new for 2015 that will help their dealers and resellers be successful. The responses we’ve received to date, and I’m still trying to get more of these folks to respond, paint a broad and exciting picture of what’s in store for the coming year. Here’s the second group of responses regarding what’s new for 2015 from the perspective of the OEMs, supplies, and services and solutions providers.
“The Lexmark Dealer Meeting is scheduled for Oct. 7-9, 2015 and we’ll have a continued focus on NEW horizontal and vertical software workflow solutions tailored for the dealer channel in 2015.” Phil Boatman, Business Alliance Manager, Lexmark International
“Katun is committed to partnering with customers in 2015 to save them money and enhance their bottom line. High-value customer programs include Katun’s Partnership for Profit program, KAP and the Katun Dealer Fleet Management (MPS) portfolio.” Patrick LaVone, Marketing Communications Manager, Katun Corp.
“Continuing with its long tradition of providing educational workshops specifically designed to help office technology dealers boost the bottom line, the Business Technology Association is introducing two new workshops in 2015. The new BTA Dealer Marketing Workshop, taught by Darrell Amy, Lindsay Kelley and Jon Mitchell of Dealer Marketing, will launch Jan. 14-15 in Plano, Texas. Then, on March 18-19 in Orlando, Fla., the association will launch the new BTA Service Management Workshop, taught by Ken Staubitz of BEI Services. We are very pleased that these industry experts have partnered with BTA to share their insight and guidance with the association’s dealer members.” Brent Hoskins, Executive Director, Business Technology Association
“Looking ahead to 2015, dealers and resellers should focus on automating workflow through Managed Print Services and capture solutions. This is probably the most significant opportunity organizations have to reduce costs and drive efficiencies in the document environment.” Chris Strammiello, Vice President of Global Alliances and Strategic Marketing, Nuance Communications
“Mid-size companies are changing their view of IT from a back-office function to one that’s critical to the financial health of the overall enterprise. As a result, CIOs are rethinking their historical relationships with vendors, looking for ways to develop mutually beneficial partnerships and create novel sources of customer value. In 2015, we hope to expand a specialized training course we first offered on a limited basis last year. We’re providing coaching that should guide sales reps in their customer conversations. It can help them talk to CIOs and come away with ideas to address their bigger business needs — needs that very likely go beyond document imaging. As CIOs are pushed to look for new sales channels, new product ideas, new delivery methods and new revenue generation models, the OI industry can help make these trends actionable by suggesting where to deploy the enterprise’s precious capital.” Glen Clark, Vice President and General Manager, GE Capital’s OI Business
“Compass Sales Solutions, Your Complete Sales ERP, will be introducing a cloud based version of Sherpa via Microsoft Azure, Document Storage feature, additional SherpaGo functionality including GPS, forecasting and other new enhancements to utilize the newly completed and redesigned user interface, as well as new Dashboards with drill- down functionality. We look forward to helping [our clients] succeed in 2015!” Jim McMeel, VP of Sales, Compass Sales Solutions
“In 2014, DLL launched two programs that demonstrate our commitment to provide the best tools and people in the industry. We began piloting our mobile application—Express Finance—a unique technology tool that simplifies the sales process, providing our customers with increased speed and flexibility of doing business with DLL. Additionally we welcomed the first group of Generation Next, a new recruiting program developed in direct alignment with the Office Technology business strategy that gives high potential, young professionals an accelerated and comprehensive start to their careers in sales. We look forward to advancing these programs even further in 2015.” Bob Hunter, SVP, US Sales, DLL
“Square 9 looks to another big year in 2015 with the release of its next generation browser based content management and business process automation software. This release will be accompanied by a new analytics module designed to provide users with a means for reporting on their levels of document efficiency. This exciting new technology platform will be launched in conjunction with an enhanced education program being delivered by the Square 9 Institute of Learning. Check the Square 9 website at www.square-9.com for more details.” Scott Worroll, Marketing Manager, Square 9
