Smart Managed Document Solutions seen as key focus for partners in FY14.
In May, OKI Europe (Middle East, India and Africa branch) held their annual Distributor
Conference in Estoril, Portugal, just outside of Lisbon. The conference was attended by
delegates from over 17 countries across the regions, from nations as diverse as Egypt and Sri
Lanka. The conference was supported by both OKI Europe Deputy Managing Director, Solutions
Senior Manager Javier Lopez and OKI Data Corporation representatives Takatoshi Nakano and
Global Solutions Director Marty Oikawa.
The program of the distributor conference included meetings on OKI’s development strategy,
marketing activities, product development concepts and the new products and solutions
roadmap for 2014. A lot of effort is being taken to ensure that all parties fully understood where
each product can be placed in the business market and the corresponding verticals and how
competitive they are in the differing segments.
OKI and Alidata (Portugal) have jointly developed a print management solution Sendys Output
Manager (OM). Although the solution's features are not entirely new to the imaging industry,
from a user perspective the software is attractive as it offers an all-in-one solution to meet the
typical needs of a busy small and medium business (SMB). OKI and Alidata recently developed
an Android and iOS mobile application free to download for Sendys OM users. Representing a
key differentiator for Sendys OM, the app not only enables general scanning and sharing of
functions available on the latest MFP interfaces, but also unlocks older MFPs that would normally
not have the typical functions of connected devices. App users can select the legacy device from
the network and start printing, copying, scanning, and sending documents to shared folders
such as SharePoint, Dropbox, and Google Docs.
This new application was shared in a hands on practical demo session of SMART MDS run by
Javier Lopez and top representatives from Alidata on several OKI machines, including the colour
MFP MC780 and mono all-in-one MB491, as well as competitor models to show how the OM
could work with legacy printers. This enabled the distributors the opportunity to familiarise
themselves with the software and learn exactly how the different applications could be used.
This knowledge can now be passed on to the customers during site visits in their home
countries.
The ‘downtime’ during the conference was used to take a tour around Lisbon’s Alfama district
both on foot and by go-cart. The determination of the OKI family was shown in this activity as
the rain and wind proved no deterrent to driving up and down the hills of the capital!
The conference concluded with the annual awards being given to the distributors as follows:
Distributor of the Year – Al Eqtessad of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Dot Matrix Distributor of the Year – Jawad Sultan Technologies of Oman
Mono NIP Distributor of the Year – MABCO of Jordan
Colour NIP Distributor of the Year – Al Eqtessad of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Outstanding Achievement Award – COREX of Malta, PSI of Lebanon, Mabco of Jordan,
Smartec of Egypt, Fakhro of Bahrain
