MFP Copier Blog

The Week in Copiers Fifteen Years Ago

the last week of September 2005

It was ten years ago when our industry ushered in the Golden Age for Color MFPs.  The last ten years have been a great time in our industry.  I'm so excited for what the next ten years will bring us.  More and more dealers are changing to adapt to the new normal and I like what I'm seeing from our channel.  The Best is Yet to Come!

Enjoy all of the threads from 15 years ago this week

MSP IT & MSSP Industry Notes

Sponsored by

Arcoa Group

Why partnering with ARCOA makes sense
Electronics Recycling is an important and profitable part of the IT asset lifecycle, but it can be overwhelming with all you already do, varying state regulations, and the limited resources at hand. That’s where ARCOA comes in. When you partner with ARCOA, you get all the benefits of a big company without any of the capital investment. We’ve been doing this since 1989 and have the expertise, certifications, and nationwide resources to get the most for all your clients’ retired IT assets. Plus, positioning your clients as environmental stewards not only elevates their appeal to consumers, it meets government requirements and avoids fines.

What partnering with ARCOA looks like
Our role is to make it easy for you to bring more value to your clients. We work with you to help stretch your clients’ IT budget by reducing the total cost of ownership of their electronics. We’re experts at identifying and implementing the solutions your clients need for the end-of-use remarketing, recovery, and recycling of their technology assets. The sooner you involve ARCOA, the sooner you and your clients will see better results.

Xantrion Named to MSSP Alert's Top MSSPs List for 3rd Year in a Row

• MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Xantrion to the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020
• Highlights from the associated MSSP Alert research include:
• MSSP Revenue Growth: MSSP honorees, on average, expect to generate $19.15 million in revenue for 2020, up 16% from $16.47 million in 2019.
• Geography: Honorees are headquartered in 25 different countries -- up from 19 countries in the 2019 report.
• Profits: 84% of MSSPs surveyed expect to be profitable for fiscal year 2020.
• Security Operations Centers: 67% have in-house SOCs, 24% are hybrid, 6% completely outsource their SOCs, and 3% are reevaluating their SOC strategies.
• Cyberattack Trends: The most frequent attacks targeting MSSP customers in 2020 include phishing (95%), vulnerability (76%) and ransomware (69%) attacks.
• Cybersecurity Solutions: In a continued sign of market fragmentation, MSSP survey participants mentioned 129 different hardware, software, cloud, and services vendors that assist their cybersecurity efforts -- up from 95 in 2019.
• M&A: Mergers, acquisitions and private equity investments continue to accelerate across the MSSP landscape. Twenty high-profile deals involving MSSP 250 honorees have surfaced since last year's report

Y Soft And Ricoh Unveil Updated Embedded Terminal Functionality For Ricoh Devices

• Y Soft Corporation, today announced that the updated YSoft SAFEQ 6 Embedded Terminal for Ricoh multifunction devices
• The updated YSoft SAFEQ Embedded Terminalfor Ricoh is an Android-based software application integrated into the multifunction device (MFD)
• Utilizes the softkey, touch, and swipe operation capabilities of the Ricoh MFD's Smart Operation Panel to deliver a seamless and efficient user experience
• With SAFEQ Embedded Terminal, Ricoh MFD users can leverage SAFEQ authentication for secure and convenient access control and safe and personalized access to device and application functions, confidential documents, scan, and fax destinations

Konica Minolta and Kronos Announce Strategic Alliance

• Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minolta), today announced a strategic alliance with Kronos Incorporated (Kronos) to support safer return to work initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Technology collaboration will initially be available in the U.S. and Canada, where more and more states and provinces are executing reopening strategies
• This includes routine wellness questionnaires for all employees and visitors and daily temperature checks, which can be completed with Konica Minolta thermal imaging solutions

HP Unveils New Innovations for Businesses Adapting to Rapidly Evolving Workstyles and Workforces

• HP intro'd a range of enhanced PC solutions
• The HP ProBook 635 Aero G7
• HP ProBook 600 G8 and 400 G8 PC Series
• HP EliteDesk 805 G6 Series
• HP ProDesk 405 G6 Series
• HP E24t G4 Touch Monitor
• HP E24d and E27d
• HP LaserJet Enterprise 400 Series
• HP's other new Print innovations include

ZorroSign Partners with DocuXplorer to Provide Seamless Integration of Document Management ...

• ZorroSign, Inc. announced a new strategic partnership with DocuXplorer, a leading Document Management Solution
• DocuXplorer’s native integration with ZorroSign will allow a seamless process from document management through to encrypted electronic signing of documents

Indata announces software release

• INDATA, announced a software release providing enhanced functionality and productivity improvements
• INDATA utilizes NLP (Natural Language Processing), a subfield of AI, to offer improvements in important areas by automating complex workflows and eliminating keystrokes

Collabrance Brings Together Cybersecurity Experts to Share MSSP Best Practices for IT Channel

• Collabrance LLC, announced a free online event focused on best practices for technology providers to grow their IT business with cybersecurity
• MSSP Acceleratorwill feature different cybersecurity industry thought leaders from: CharTec, Pax8, ID Agent, Solar Winds, Fortinet, Datto, and GreatAmerica
  • MSSP Accelerator
    October 7^th, 2020
    9:00AM – 4:00PM
    collabrance.com/mssp-accelerator

Konica Minolta Offers LTE Connected Chromebooks to Help Conquer the Digital Divide

• Through its alliance with Sector 5, All Covered will offer LTE connected Chromebooks to its education customers in the United States
• All Covered (All Covered) is proud to announce its reseller partnership with Sector 5, Inc. (Sector 5), which sells cellular connected Chromebooks
• Working toward providing every K-12 child with an internet-enabled Chromebook device

Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Integrates Verimatrix's Whitebox Cryptographic Key ...

• Verimatrix announced that its value-added reseller, Japan-based Toshiba Information Systems (Japan) Corporation, has implemented Verimatrix Whiteboxcryptographic key protection technology inside consumer printers
• Whitebox is part of the Verimatrix Application Shielding family of solutions

Kognos Emerges from Stealth, Launches Cybersecurity Industry's First Autonomous XDR Platform ...

• Kognos launched the Autonomous XDR Investigator, a platform backed by security-aware AI that empowers customers to automatically detect, investigate and respond to attack campaigns in real time
• Founded by CEO Rakesh Nair, former Head of Engineering at Netwitness/RSA, Kognos was built by security practitioners for security practitioners

Mandiant Introduces New Cybersecurity Services for Microsoft Customers

• Mandiant® announced new cybersecurity services to support Microsoft technologies
• new services bring together Mandiant expertise and intelligence with Microsoft security products to provide security capabilities
• Mandiant Managed Defense will include support for additional Microsoft Security solutions to ensure holistic protection for customers

Cybrary Survey Finds Cybersecurity Skills Gap Threatens Job Effectiveness Amidst Increasing ...

Cybrary, released the findings from the "Cybrary Skills Gap Research Survey and Report

Green House Data Expands Services, Footprint, Rebrands as Lunavi as it Helps Organizations ...

• Green House Data, is rebranding to unify its recently acquired companies and nine locations throughout North America under one brand name –
• The company’s new name, Lunavi, combines two critical attributes "Lu" meaning light and "Navi" meaning navigation

Synoptek Partners With NPWR Group to Extend Salesforce Capabilities

• Synoptek, announces its strategic partnership with Orange County-based boutique Salesforce Partner, NPWR Group
• Combining Synoptek’s global delivery and scale with NPWR Group’s deep Salesforce consulting and design expertise will enable Synoptek to expand its Salesforce portfolio

Beachhead Solutions Launches Co-Managed IT Services (CoMITs) Capabilities for MSPs; Immediately Available Within the SimplySecure for MSPs™ Platform

• Beachhead Solutions announced that MSPs can now provide co-managed IT services (CoMITs) using the SimplySecure for MSPs™ platform whenever they and their clients desire the capability
• Beachhead’s CoMITs functionality provides a framework for MSPs to efficiently grant change control privileges to the internal IT staff of MSPs’ clients while still ensuring the MSP steers all security policy and strategy decisions
• Beachhead’s CoMITs offering places a protective framework around the activities of businesses whose MSPs grant them change control privileges

Cybersecurity Update

The federal Office for Civil Rights (under Department of Health & Human Services) announced following settlements based on HIPAA violation investigations: o $15,000 = All Inclusive Medical Services of California

• $70,000 = Northeast Behavioral Health, part of Beth Israel Lahey Health of Massachusetts
• $3500 = Dr. Patricia King Psychiatric Clinic of Chesapeake, VA
• $10,000 = Wise Psychiatry of Centennial, CA
• $38,000 = Housing Works Health of New York

Bay Area Medical center, part of Advocate Aurora Health, in Marinette, Wisconsin, notified 2,979 patients that their PHI was exposed after paper medical records were discovered left behind in former facility.

Fairfax County Public School District of Virginia notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.

Roper St. Francis Healthcare of Charleston, SC notified 93,000 patients their PHI was exposed after hacking incident.

Geisinger Health location in Berwick, Pennsylvania notified 700 patients that a former employee illegally accessed their PHI.

Community Medical Centers of California notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Children’s Minnesota Hospital notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Hebrew SeniorLife of Massachusetts notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

Augusta University Medical Center of Georgia notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after hacking incident.

The University Hospital of New Jersey notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Artech Information Systems of Morristown, NJ notified an unknown number of employees and customers that this info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

ZDNet magazine published results of study of COVID-19 era security issues: o 40% increase in unsecure remote desktop PCs (working from home employees)

o 400% increase in brute force attacks using remote desktop protocol

o 667% increase in email phishing attacks

o 3 times more employees clicking on email phishing schemes during pandemic

o 90% of COVID-19 created domains on the Internet are scams

o 72% more ransomware attacks

DarkTracer Research reported that it found data from 605 companies posted on the Dark Web as a result of ransomware attacks successfully being completed by 14 different hacking groups this year.

Floral Park-Bellerose Public School District of New York notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Crowdstrike report shows: o During first half of 2020, they found 41,000 intrusions (up 15%) by hackers that were hands-on, meaning human hackers actively explored systems themselves, rather than using botnets

Dunkin’s Brands Inc. of Canton, Mass, agreed to pay $650,000 to state of New York to settle data breach negligence lawsuit.

Jekyll Island Authority of Brunswick, Georgia notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Federal prosecutors have charged 5 hackers in China with breaching more than 100 companies in the U.S. Since there is no extradition policy with China, arresting them will be impossible if they stay in China.

Erlanger Health of Chattanooga, TN notified 4,938 patients that their PHI was exposed after a CD-ROM was misplaced that had their records.

A former patient of St. Louis, Missouri-based BJC HealthCare filed a class-action lawsuit against the health system over a cybersecurity incident o

• BJC HealthCare reported three employees' email accounts were breached on May 5 and may have exposed PHI
• The information included patient names, medical records, clinical information, insurance information and Social Security numbers.
• plaintiffs are seeking financial compensation, lifetime consumer credit protection and monitoring services and restitution.

Facebook has been accused of spying on its Instagram users for 'market research' by secretly accessing their mobile cameras through the app, according to a new lawsuit filed in San Francisco, CA

• is accused of intentionally activating smartphone cameras to collect 'lucrative and valuable data that it would not otherwise have access to', Bloomberg reported.

The Veteran Affairs Department notified 46,000 veteran patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.

Spectrum Health of Michigan notified its patients of a “vishing” scam, where criminals are pretending to be hospital employees and calling patients in attempt to steal PHI.

Millstone Township School District of New Jersey notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Somerset Hills School District of NJ notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Newhall School District of Valencia, CA notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

West County School District of Missouri notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

St. Louis County government offices of Missouri notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

West Mifflin Area School District of Pennsylavania notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

The City of Carmel government in Indiana notified an unknown number of citizens that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Skidmore-Tynan School District of Texas notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.

Guilford Technical Community College of Jamestown, NC notified an unknown number of students that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack

Feds now call out printers/MFPs/faxes in SRA

• The federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) unveiled version 3.2 of its Security Risk Assessment (SRA) tool that healthcare providers are to use when conducting a HIPAA risk assessment
• The new version now actually mentions printers, copiers and fax machines as part of the “assets” that a healthcare organization is supposed to list and what the security status of the device is if it handles PHI (protected health information)
• The tool also requires a listing of all vendor contacts that are involved

The Week in Copiers Five Years Ago

for the last week of September 2015

Opportunities are on the rise along with many potential orders for October.  Even though our Governor extended the State of Emergency for another 30 days I'm seeing a lot of activity poised for the end of the year.  All is not lost and there is everything to gain, we just have to have the desire to want it.

Enjoy these cool threads from 5 years ago this week

Image

Sinners

Art Post · 9/29/1512:17 AM

Video

shout out

Art Post · 9/29/1512:15 AM

Image

group pic

Art Post · 9/29/1512:19 AM

The Week in Copiers Ten Years Ago

the last week of September 2010

The push is on and the last quarter of the year is upon us.  Who will be the winners and the losers? After speaking with a few more Office Equipment Dealers this week I'm encouraged with the rate of transformation that is taking place.  Dealers are not waiting for things to happen they are making things happen.  More and more dealers are adopting new services and products for their clients.  The question becomes when do the copier manufacturers become irrelevant to the Office Office Equipment dealer?

Enjoy these most popular threads from ten years ago this week.

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirty-Five of Selling Copiers

Today was one of those days when you it was non-stop action all day long.  I finally finished up about 5 minutes ago with presenting an existing client a creative way to keep their existing copier.  (PM me for details)

I didn't receive any docs today but had two more clients that want to move forward with new MFP's.  One was an existing account that I've been chasing for two years and another is a net new for a small A4 MFP which had some decent GP in it.  Funny after I received the verbal for the net new I asked the client this "I know you received a lot proposals, and our entire correspondence was via email, can you tell me why you made Stratix your choice?"  I received my answer that was two fold with the least important being the brand of copier and the most important was how we would support the MFP and the client for the next three years.  

Over the years I've learned to be as thorough as possible with my quotes/proposals and try to make the transaction simple and explain the proposal in their language.   Thus I don't use our language for proposals I use their understanding of our business.  Which in most cases is very limited.  I don't use CPC, FMV, Clicks, ARDF, SPDF acronyms, I spell it out for the clients so that there are no questions about what those acronyms mean.  In other words I try to communicate with their level of knowledge about MFPs.  In this case it worked and all of the extra work was much appreciated.

I still have all of the other deals in a seven day cycle that I spoke about.  Hoping within the next seven days I can have $60K to Make October Great!

There was zero time for prospecting, inmails or emails today.  All of the calls and emails were focused on moving orders across the finish line.  Thus the last two days of this week made up for the bad beginning to the week.

I'm hoping by the end of tomorrow to have three orders completed and then perform follows up calls and email on the remaining 30 opportunities that I have open.

Lately I've been spending more time on Linkedin looking for those special treats.  I posted one a few weeks that I thought was interesting and thanx to Dayna Karron I found another treat today.  See below

I especially loved the part about dopamine rush. Yup I am that junkie that needs his dopamine rush as many times a week as I can get it.

If you get the chance connect with Michele and Dayna you'll be glad you did.

-=Good Selling-=-

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Xantrion to the Top 250 MSSPs list for 2020 (http://www.msspalert.com/top250). The list and research identify and honor the top MSSPs, managed detection and response (MDR) and Security Operations Center as a Service (SOCaaS) providers worldwide.

The rankings are based on MSSP Alert's 2020 readership survey combined with the digital media site's global editorial coverage of managed security services providers. The fourth-annual list has expanded from 2019 (200 honorees) and 2018-2017 (100 honorees) amid MSSP Alert's continued, organic readership growth.  

"It's an honor to be named to the MSSP Alert Top 250 Managed Security Service Providers List for the third year in a row," said Anne Bisagno, president, Xantrion. "We are excited to be included because we pride ourselves on our cybersecurity and compliance track record and expertise."

"After Nines Inc. and MSSP Alert congratulate Xantrion on this year's honor," said Amy Katz, CEO of After Nines Inc. "Despite the coronavirus pandemic, this year's honorees continue to accelerate their businesses, mitigate customer risk and safeguard digital assets worldwide."

Highlights from the associated MSSP Alert research include:

• MSSP Revenue Growth: MSSP honorees, on average, expect to generate $19.15 million in revenue for 2020, up 16% from $16.47 million in 2019.
• Geography: Honorees are headquartered in 25 different countries -- up from 19 countries in the 2019 report.
• Profits: 84% of MSSPs surveyed expect to be profitable for fiscal year 2020.
• Security Operations Centers: 67% have in-house SOCs, 24% are hybrid, 6% completely outsource their SOCs, and 3% are reevaluating their SOC strategies.
• Cyberattack Trends: The most frequent attacks targeting MSSP customers in 2020 include phishing (95%), vulnerability (76%) and ransomware (69%) attacks.
• Cybersecurity Solutions: In a continued sign of market fragmentation, MSSP survey participants mentioned 129 different hardware, software, cloud, and services vendors that assist their cybersecurity efforts -- up from 95 in 2019.
• M&A: Mergers, acquisitions and private equity investments continue to accelerate across the MSSP landscape. Twenty high-profile deals involving MSSP 250 honorees have surfaced since last year's report.

The Top 250 MSSPs list and research were overseen by Content Czar Joe Panettieri (@JoePanettieri). Find the online list and associated report here: http://www.msspalert.com/top250.

About Xantrion Inc.

Experts in cybersecurity and technical support, Xantrion provides outsourced IT services for midsized companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Its team of IT experts brings impeccable technical and business skills to every assignment. Featuring an award-winning strategic approach, SOC2 Type II certified security practices, 24/7 help desk, fixed fees, and a 99.9% uptime record, Xantrion is a proven partner for managed IT and security services.

Contact: 
Anne Bisagno 
Xantrion 
510-588-8201 
abisagno@xantrion.com 

About After Nines Inc.
After Nines Inc. provides timeless IT guidance for strategic partners and IT security professionals across ChannelE2E (www.ChannelE2E.com) and MSSP Alert (www.MSSPAlert.com).  ChannelE2E tracks every stage of the IT service provider journey — from entrepreneur to exit. MSSP Alert is the global voice for Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs).  

• For sponsorship information contact After Nines Inc. CEO Amy Katz, Amy@AfterNines.com
• For content and editorial questions contact After Nines Inc. Content Czar Joe Panettieri, Joe@AfterNines.com

SOURCE Xantrion Inc.

COVID19 Remote Working Day One Hundred and Thirty-Four of Selling Copiers

On Monday of this week which was day 132 I wasn't in a good place.  All of the hard work that I put in wasn't going to come to fruition for September.  All of the calls, emails, inmails, posting content on Linkedin and my own Jersey Plotters site just didn't get me to where I wanted to be.  

It was the end of a quarter and a quarter that I had a decent shot to rack up some bonus dollars. In the end I finished with one of my worst months in the last six months. Hey I can only chalk it up to as sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you.  The only saving grace is that I have a huge funnel going into the last three months of the year.  

I want to finish the year strong, I want that bonus, and I want to get to another Presidents Club trip.  But more importantly I want to prove to my-self that I can still hit my numbers in middle of arguably the worst crisis our industry has even seen.  It's dedication, it's pride, it's determination and dedication that will drive me for the next three months

Each one of these blogs I posted on Linkedin with a short snippet with one of the paragraphs I wrote about.  Monday's blog seemed to hot a note with many of my connections in the industry.  Just thought I'd like to share some of those with everyone tonight.

Thanx to all of those that took the time to post a thread for the blog.   I was especially fond of the thread Pamela posted.  I was also thankful that she noticed the writing and the content is real, there's nothing made up and we're all in the same struggle together.

Not going to write about today, but I will write about yesterday for a few more paragraphs.

I had three virtual appointments yesterday.  One at 3PM, one at 4PM and One at 4:30PM.  One was net new and the other two were existing clients.  The net new ghosted me, however I had a call/meeting from an existing client.  That call went rather well, I had submitted a proposal for 4 devices two months ago, however I was told this wouldn't have legs until the second quarter of 2021.  Turns out they are going to move forward in the next two weeks with four devices that should add up to $32K.  It's going to be in three segments and the first one came over today.  

My 4PM call went well but no order, the DM stated they were getting another quote and was hoping to have it by the end of this week.  I was also told that they would get back to me with the brand and model to see if they are comparing apples to apples.  Just that statement told me pretty much that I'm in the drivers seat.  That's a $7K deal that feel pretty good for the next week.

My 4:30PM meeting went well for knocking out a competitive device in one of my own accounts.  After reviewing the virtual proposal the DM gave the verbal to move forward with two devices for a total of $18K.  Those docs went out this AM.

Then a late night text and call with a net new brought a $12K deal to life also.  Those order docs went out to day also.

I don't count deals until I have them in hand but it all goes well in one weeks time I can make up for September and might be able MAKE OCTOBER GREAT AGAIN!

-=Good Selling=-