I was chatting with a friend recently about what I do—interviewing office technology dealers—which prompted her to tell me that in her previous job as facilities manager for a New Jersey university the university’s purchasing manager once told her that copier salesman were the Read More

  Jerry Blaine isn’t satisfied. He owns one of the top office technology dealerships in the country, he’s got one of the most tenured sales forces in the industry, and business is good. What’s not to like? “An area where we need to improve is acquiring new clients,” says Read More

Some of you may already know that for many years I was the editor of Office Solutions magazine and for three years, an associate editor at The Office Magazine. During those years, and a few years as a contributor to Office Solutions between staff editorial gigs, I wrote many Read More

(Editor’s note: The following article originally appeared in the September, 2013 issue of ENX magazine. I thought it was worth sharing again in case you missed it the first time. You’ll also find many more articles I’ve written there over the years.) How often Read More

On Tuesday, January 21, Ricoh announced that it will acquire mindSHIFT Technologies, a Managed Services provider, from Best Buy Co. The acquisition is expected to close in February 2014 at which time mindSHIFT will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Ricoh. For Ricoh, this is a Read More

Top of the Rio’ BTA Dealer Member Appreciation Reception to Take Place at ITEX 2014 National Conference and Expo  Jan. 23, 2014 – The Business Technology Association  along with sponsors ECi Software Solutions, Katun, OKI Data Americas, and Square 9 will host a reception Read More

This week’s news that Ricoh will acquire mindSHIFT Technologies, a Managed Services provider, from Best Buy Co., once again underscores how important services are to the imaging technology space.  Or at least how important services are to their long-term survival in the spac Read More

What’s wrong with these people? Sales reps I mean. If you ask Tom Callinan of Strategy Development, the industry has changed, but some sales reps haven’t changed with it although he’s not really blaming them. “We’ve turned our sales forces into financial sales people,” opines Read More

I was talking to Bruce Malyon, president of MaxxVault, the provider of document management software, last week who told me that he thought about 70 percent of his business would be on premise these days, but it’s not. Today, it’s 50 percent on premise and 50 percent cloud. What Read More

If you’ve been around this industry as long as I have (28 years), and many of you have been here at least as long as I have, if not longer, you’ve seen a lot of comings and goings. Doors open and doors close. It’s the way it goes. Over the years we’ve all seen vendors, dealers, Read More

If you were at Toshiba’s LEAD dealer meeting last fall in Orlando you’re well aware that arguably the biggest trend confronting Toshiba, but everybody in the office imaging industry in 2014 and beyond is declining print volumes. What is Toshiba as a manufacturer and dealers and Read More

As I continue this ongoing series on the trends that will affect the various players in the office imaging space in 2014 I had the good fortune to speak with Dennis Amorosano, director and general manager, Software Product Marketing & Solutions Business Development Division, Read More

BTA Southeast to Host Winter Break Feb. 14-15 in Orlando Jan. 14, 2014 – On Feb. 14-15, 2014, the Business Technology Association’s (BTA; www.bta.org) Southeast district will host its annual Winter Break event at the Walt Disney World Swan in Orlando, Fla. The event will Read More

When I asked Gary Willert, president and CEO of LMI Solutions about the trend that’s going to affect his business in the coming year and what LMI has in store to help its dealers be successful, he gets personal and cites sustainability as a key trend. “10 years ago recycling was Read More

Isn’t it about time that the industry’s best sales reps were recognized in the press? Sure these folks reap financial rewards for a job well done, but how much of that recognition actually extends beyond their workplace? That time has arrived and The Week in Imaging and The Read More