![](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/McLaughlin-Ed-e1431522648741-150x150.jpg\")
Ed McLaughlin<\/p><\/div>\n
With more than 40 years in the information and imaging industries, McLaughlin was the right person to deliver that message. He is currently the vice-chairman of electronic asset protection vendor Innovolt and CEO of holding company Valderus. He is also the former president of Sharp Imaging & Information Company of America.<\/p>\n
Unstructured data is any data that resides outside of a business\u2019s core database, transaction, and reporting systems–for example, email messages, social media content, statements of work, presentations, scanned documents, or meeting notes. Until relatively recently, unstructured data was stored and managed separately, with hardcopy in file cabinets or storage boxes and digital files archived on storage media.<\/p>\n
Information and document\/content management software now have features that make it easier to integrate offline, unstructured data with core business systems and processes. McLaughlin presented a vision of where that trend is heading and the technologies that will drive it. In a nutshell, that future is of interconnected devices and more powerful analytics platforms to make sense of the vast data those devices generate.<\/p>\n
There are an estimated 2 billion people connected to the internet using 15 billion connected devices. The data generated by these people and devices is estimated to be 9 zettabytes (a zettabyte equals 1 billion terabytes). Connected devices might include smartphones, tablets, cars, medical devices, or machinery. The increased connectedness and improving software to analyze and manage the data guarantees change. \u201cWhat\u2019s next?,\u201d asked McLaughlin. \u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
McLaughlin advised dealers who might want to leverage change to not do it alone. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to partner with people [who have the right expertise]. Otherwise, you\u2019ll never catch the train.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participants in McLaughlin\u2019s roundtable discussion agreed and advised using caution when evaluating new opportunities. Kelly Moran, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Gordon Flesch Company said that it\u2019s easy to be enthralled with the future, but he takes a guarded approach. \u201cWe won\u2019t take on a new line until we see what happens in the market,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford a slip-up. It\u2019s gotta work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA new adjacency area can take years to learn,\u201d said Leo Bonetti, CEO of Flo-Tech. \u201c[It takes time to gain] the trade knowledge–how to price right, cost after sale. You don\u2019t know the culture of the adjacency.<\/p>\n
Offering a new area can help with a dealer\u2019s image even if it is not a huge success. Jerry Blaine, president and CEO of LDI Color ToolBox, said that his company made a large investment in 3D printing. While he has not seen big success in 3D yet, it has reflected positively on his company. \u201cOur clients are not really buying 3D, but they do think of you as forward looking,\u201d he said. \u201cIt may become a wise investment in the future.\u201d Blaine said that dealers should not take on a new line like 3D printing unless they can afford to make a mistake. \u201cBut you have to take some risk as a forward-looking company.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou\u2019re in the unstructured data business. You have been all your life.\u201d This is how Ed McLaughlin opened his keynote address, \u201cA Vision for the Future of the Industry,\u201d at the Business Technology Association\u2019s (BTA) Grand Slam event in Boston last week. McLaughlin was making a point that technology is changing the way dealers should think of the industry, and those who still see themselves only as sellers of hardware will be at a competitive disadvantage. With more than 40 years in the information and imaging industries, McLaughlin was the right person to deliver that message. He is currently the vice-chairman of electronic asset protection vendor Innovolt and CEO of holding company Valderus. He is also the former president of Sharp Imaging & Information Company of America. Unstructured data is any data that resides outside of a business\u2019s core database, transaction, and reporting systems–for example, email messages, social media content, statements of work, presentations, scanned documents, or meeting notes. Until relatively recently, unstructured data was stored and managed separately, with hardcopy in file cabinets or storage boxes and digital files archived on storage media. Information and document\/content management software now have features that make it easier to integrate offline, unstructured data with core business systems and processes. McLaughlin presented a vision of where that trend is heading and the technologies that will drive it. In a nutshell, that future is of interconnected devices and more powerful analytics platforms to make sense of the vast data those devices generate. There are an estimated 2 billion people connected to the internet using 15 billion connected devices. The data generated by these people and devices is estimated to be 9 zettabytes (a zettabyte equals 1 billion terabytes). Connected devices might include smartphones, tablets, cars, medical devices, or machinery. The increased connectedness and improving software to analyze and manage the data guarantees change. \u201cWhat\u2019s next?,\u201d asked McLaughlin. \u201cEverything.\u201d McLaughlin advised dealers who might want to leverage change to not do it alone. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to partner with people [who have the right expertise]. Otherwise, you\u2019ll never catch the train.\u201d Participants in McLaughlin\u2019s roundtable discussion agreed and advised using caution when evaluating new opportunities. Kelly Moran, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Gordon Flesch Company said that it\u2019s easy to be enthralled with the future, but he takes a guarded approach. \u201cWe won\u2019t take on a new line until we see what happens in the market,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can\u2019t afford a slip-up. It\u2019s gotta work.\u201d \u201cA new adjacency area can take years to learn,\u201d said Leo Bonetti, CEO of Flo-Tech. \u201c[It takes time to gain] the trade knowledge–how to price right, cost after sale. You don\u2019t know the culture of the adjacency. Offering a new area can help with a dealer\u2019s image even if it is not a huge success. Jerry Blaine, president and CEO of LDI Color ToolBox, said that his company made a large investment in 3D printing. While he has not seen big success in 3D yet, it has reflected positively on his company. \u201cOur clients are not really buying 3D, but they do think of you as forward looking,\u201d he said. \u201cIt may become a wise investment in the future.\u201d Blaine said that dealers should not take on a new line like 3D printing unless they can afford to make a mistake. \u201cBut you have to take some risk as a forward-looking company.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":115,"featured_media":20318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1638],"tags":[127,2806,2743],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20317"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/115"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20317"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20491,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20317\/revisions\/20491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}