August 26, 2017

HP FutureSmart Firmware – Partial clean function now available through EWS

Administrators can remotely perform a Partial Clean firmware reset from within the EWS.Administrators can remotely perform a Partial Clean firmware reset from within the EWS.This feature is critical for solution providers managing a remote printer. The remote Partial Clean allows
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Protect the Power to Protect Your Bottom Line

Many dealers still do not automatically protect the power of the devices they sell and of all the poor decisions that dealers make, this may be the worst. There seems to be a variety of excuses. The client does not want it. The sales person does not want it included in the deal.
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The New Leasing Standards: What You and Your Company Need to Know

I recently returned from a week of the dreaded 40 hours of annual continuing education required to keep my certifications valid (at least the classes were in beautiful Coronado, California). Since the Accounting Godfathers have finally agreed to new leasing standards and
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Stop Managing the Past and Start Building the Future: Why Leadership is More Important than Ever

We have all heard the saying “time is running out,” yet many people fool themselves into believing they still have time. Why is this? It’s a case of procrastination or delusion. About ten years ago, I began talking with dealers regarding my vision of managed IT services. In those
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Prosource’s “Customer Obsessed” Philosophy Leads the Company to Double-Digit Growth

If there is such a thing as a healthy obsession, a case could certainly be made for Cincinnati’s own Prosource, a 32-year-old dealership serving Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia. Prosource has developed a relentless, single-minded customer obsession that drives its
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Account Management: It’s About Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

I’ve spent the last ten years coaching business owners and sales leaders on the proper design of their sales model. While I generally focus on new business and how to drive net new revenue growth, in this article I want to discuss something different: best practices to protect
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Growing Competencies: Dealers Make Case for Developing Internal Managed Services Platform

A continuous drum that has been beaten in the office technology space is the ongoing movement toward offering managed services as opposed to taking a pure hardware play approach. Yet, even as dealers successfully ramp their capabilities in MPS, managed IT, document services,
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Konica Minolta Acquisition of Muratec Signals Deeper Investments in Industrial Printing

At first glance, Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A. Inc.’s acquisition of Muratec America appears to be motivated by the companies’ longstanding OEM relationship and complementary office technology businesses. Konica Minolta gains B&W A4 engine technology, an installed
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Straight Talk: Vision Office Systems’ Fred Habbal Predicts Independent Dealers Will Prevail

The tides of change are swirling all about the office technology space, but don’t pass along any gloom and doom predictions to Fred Habbal. The founder and owner of Vision Office Systems (VOS) of Charlotte, NC, has logged nearly 40 years of experience in the industry, and he’s
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The Rebirth of Xerox: How a Century-Old Manufacturer is Transforming the User Experience

It stands to reason that if one wants to still look good at the age of 110, it takes more than a little cosmetic surgery to make it reality. For the Xerox Corporation, it began with January’s separation into two companies: Conduent, a business process outsourcing company, and
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Managed Print and IT: Gateways to a Growing World of Dealer Services

Sell everything as a service. Anyone who has sat in on a conference presentation exploring the future of the office technology space is familiar with that refrain. It’s a conversation that begins, but doesn’t end, with managed print services and managed IT. Think of these two
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