Office Copiers take to the Cloud!

Finally, after almost 8 years, scanning documents and printing documents to and from the Cloud is gaining acceptance.  Back in 2003 Ricoh introduced a "Cloud" Document Management System for the web, it combined Document Management software and off-site storage for those documents.  Users could share, revise and collaborate on documents that they uploaded from either the PC or the Copier/MFP.  Ricoh as far as I know had built the first Cloud MFP connector for Document Mall.

Eight years later, the "Cloud" is now embraced rather then rejected for fear of a company losing their content to hackers, or competitors.  The next version of "Smart MFP's" will allow users to connect to a Manufacturers Cloud or a third party Cloud service. 

Recently there have been many discussions on the Print4Pay Hotel forums on "Cloud Services" and how it will affect the way we do business. 

Below are clips of the discussions:

I am learning about scanning to the cloud from any MFP via email by opening a free account at......
by SSG

A real interesting concept from Lexmark by SSG

Most of my customers do not trust the cloud, those who do already have..... by AP

You can even scan directly and securely to the cloud from your Ricoh MFP(to Microsoft Online, Office 365 BPOS, SharePoint). Just take a look at .....by Constanzek

Look forward, reason back. How many of us have big generators in the parking lot because we like to be in control of our own electrical uptime? Very few. Walk into any business and ask to meet....by CashGAP


Other topics posted include "Can you trust the Cloud?", "The Snow Cloud", and "The Great Cloud Fight". 

Whether we like it or not, the Cloud is here to stay and presents and excellent revenue stream for Manufacturers such as Xerox, Ricoh, Canon and KonicaMinolta.  I would bet dollars to doughnuts that all of the copier manufacturers will offer this service as an additional option in the future.  I also wouldn't doubt that some of these smaller Cloud companies get purchased in the near future. 

Keep in  mind that the Cloud does not have to be for document storage and collaboration, the Cloud can print, the Cloud can fax and the Cloud can also host programs than can be used on line.

Some may ask, what's the downfall?  Anyone care to comment on the downfall of the Cloud, fell free to post here. Here's a good article from the people at MS, Know Your Cloud.

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Xerox "TWIX Notes"

- Xerox, through its Global division, purchased a large Canon dealer. Georgia Duplicating Products, was owned by Ed Greene, and also sold Kyocera and HP.

- Xerox announced its ACS division won a contract to process child support payments for the State of Wisconsin. Contract is 8 years, with value of $30 million.

- Xerox announced it will send out a mailer to 40,000 churches in the U.S. offering them special pricing on the color wax copier, the Xerox ColorQube series. The flyer claims:
o ColorQube produces 90% less waste during use than a color laser engine (does not mention that most of color laser waste is recyclable)
o That “everyday” color pages are only 2.9 cents per page (however, Xerox does not explain that the user can only use a maximum of 8% color coverage on a letter size page….for example, this could be a logo that is slightly more than 1.3” wide, that uses all 4 colors of wax.)



- Xerox announced that it is launching a huge new advertising campaign:
o Most expensive campaign in over 20 years (rumored to be more than $200 million)
o Goal is to reposition company as more than a copier maker
o “The whole campaign is geared around disrupting the legacy perceptions of Xerox” stated Xerox Chief Marketing Officer, Christa Carone
o When asked if customers will remember the company featured in the ad instead of Xerox, Christa Carone responded; “We’ve had our eyes open that that’s one of the risks of a campaign like this. But we think because these clients are being seen in an unusual space that it will make people look twice. We think the risk is offset by the power of the creative and the relevance of the message in the marketplace.”
o “aimed at disrupting old perceptions of the Xerox brand and positioning the new Xerox as the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management” stated Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns

o Ads will focus on products and services provided to following Xerox customers:
 Proctor & Gamble
 New York Mets
 Marriott
 Target
 Ducati
 University of Notre Dame
o TV ads will run on CNBC and Sunday morning news programs
o Print ads will appear in Fortune, Forbes and Wall Street Journal
o Uses tagline, “With Xerox, you’re ready for real business”

- Fuji, maker of most Xerox printers and MFPs, announced it will invest $23.4 million to increase capacity of its manufacturing plant in Guangdon Province of China.

-=Good Selling=-

Ricoh's DocumentMall "New Beta Eval"

Ricoh's DocumentMall is a Software as a Service (SasS) that allows users to share documents vis the Internet. Documents can be uploaded via MFP, PC or email. DocumentMall has been around for years and continous upgrades to the software has been enhanced over the years.

Seems, Ricoh is at it again with a new user interface that claims to have better functionality. Basically it's designed to simplify basic user tasks as for uploading and searching of documents. Ricoh has added some advanced feature such as Check in / Checkout and Barcode are hidden from the casual user.

DocumentMall can be purchased with time and storage space. For example you can get a one year subscription that's good for 15GB, or three years and 15GB. The cost about $1,000 for the one year and $3,000 for the 3 year subscription. Both of these packages have a limit of 5 users. There's also a DocumentMall advanced package for 25 users which includes 50GB of storage for one and three years with a price tag of $7,500 and $21,000.

Over the years, I've sold quite a few DocumentMall subscriptions to my accounts. Point is, when it came time for renewal, none, count em, none of the companies renewed the subscription. I've realized over the years that DocumentMall is not for everyone, besides have a high price, there is a decent learning curve to DocumentMall.

What I'd like to see from DocumentMall is another level of pricing for on-line storage. Let them create a folder structure for the documents, and cut out the document management applications and feaures. Keep it Simple!  I beleive you can use this starter package as a seed to get many new users and then offer upgrades to the full DocumentMall service.

From meetings with customers in the field, most are now accepting off-site on line storage as something they would like to have. However, at a cost of $80 per month for 15GB, it doesn't cut the mustard on being economical for the SMB user.

Off them them the 15GB for $30 per month and cut out the extras, once they find themselves using DocumentMall, and then having to retrieve documents, they'll see the advantages of having the full version.

Just my opinion, DocumentMall as it stands right now is only a viable soluition for a handful of accounts. Make it affordable and scalable and the users will come!.

-=Good Selling=-
















users

Ricoh MPC Series "Turbo Charge Your Ricoh MFP"

How can you get the most out of your new Ricoh MP Series Multifunctional Device without breaking the bank and getting the best bang for your buck?

By adding the these three Ricoh solutions you can enjoy increased productivity, reduce paper, reduce costs and reduce down time. Along with knowing that you are doing your part to conserve resources.

The solutions that I've outlined will add less than $100 a month to the typical 5 year copier lease, and depending where your companies workflow and volumes stack up, the savings could be well over the investment.

Our first solution is to add Document Mall 3 year/1GB Solution with the MFP browser. Document Mall is a robust off-site Document Management Software SaaS (Software as a Service) that can enable your Ricoh Multifunctional Device to push documents to an off-site Document Repository. From the LCD screen of the MFP, any user can see the file folder structure and then select where the paper documents need to go. Document Mall will then organize documents by type, using indexing and full search. Document Mall can also be used as a collaboration tool, where you can work on documents together, edit documents and create markups. What I like most about Document Mall is the ease of use, along with the ability to access documents where ever there is an Internet connection. You don't have to have a degree in order to enjoy the benefits of Document Management and you don't have to have an IT infrastructure to keep the system updated and running. This package can be leased for under $60 per month.

Moving on to Embedded Print Director, all Ricoh MFP's now have the ability to embed software on a Java card, thus enabling features that can be used through the MPF's LCD display. Embedded Print Director will monitor every copy and print on Ricoh MFP's. The long and short of is that every print and copy can be tracked for charge backs and accountability. At the end of the year the system can provide a full report on what was printed, copied, identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies on the network and can help IT maintain a balanced budget for Total Cost of Ownership. A single MFP package can be leased for under $20 per month.