Print.IT Reseller - issue 75

01732 759725 12 BULLETIN Konica Minolta strengthens partnership with MGI Konica Minolta and MGI Digital Technology (MGI) have expanded their cooperation with new initiatives to benefit customers in a single-source partnership approach. These will further accelerate common go- to-market activities within commercial and industrial digital printing markets. The close strategic and financial cooperation between the two companies was first established in 2014 and expanded in 2016 with an increase of the stake in MGI to 40.5%. As a result, Konica Minolta added MGI products for production, label and packaging printing to its existing portfolio. In future, a new combined logo will be applied for all dedicated common marketing activities when Konica Minolta and MGI appear as partners. The two companies are also intensifying their links in Germany and Austria. Under an expanded cooperation, MGI systems will be sold directly through Konica Minolta's distribution network. Likewise, Konica Minolta will support MGI customers as a single point of contact for all service, support, and administration topics. Customers will thus benefit from a dense network of Konica Minolta employees for onsite support and further development of the respective customer solution. www.konicaminolta.co.uk M-Files recognised for usability and functionality M-Files has been named a Leader in the 2020 Nucleus Research Content Management Technology Value Matrix Report. This marks the seventh consecutive year that the company has achieved Leader status. Nucleus Research evaluates content management providers on two core criteria – usability and functionality, as determined by analysis of interviews with end-users and ongoing research by the firm. The 2020 report included reviews of 17 vendors and placed them in quadrants based on how Nucleus Research assessed them as Leaders, Experts, Facilitators and Core Providers. "This year, the M-Files Leader designation was driven by innovations that reaffirm the platform's unique attributes and distinction in the marketplace," said Barbara Peck, Principal Analyst, Nucleus Research. "With its metadata- based, system-neutral and AI-powered visionary platform, M-Files continues to set the standard for content management. The latest M-Files advancements further leverage metadata and artificial intelligence to extract and index data and identify business-critical content. Additionally, innovations are also rooted in the M-Files open architecture that supports connectors to other systems and repositories." www.m-files.com Remote work solutions HP Inc. has introduced a suite of remote work offerings that enable partners to deliver progressive, integrated services- based print solutions. Included in the offerings is HP Advance, a new integrated platform for managing HP Access Control Print, HP Access Control Scan, HP Mobile Connector and HP Direct Print from one admin console. By offering a modular system, enterprise customers can scale requirements easily with the switch of a license key. HP also announced that HP Command Center, a single tool for HP partners to deploy and manage cloud applications for their customers in many cases without going on site, can now enable fleet onboarding, saving partners time while freeing up IT resources. www.hp.com Prepay table service app Sharp Business Systems has announced a partnership with QikServe, offering a mobile prepay solution to help bars and restaurants come back from COVID-19. The Preoday smartphone application seamlessly integrates with Sharp’s EPoS systems, to provide a smooth and safe customer experience. The partnership with QikServe seeks to provide a forward-thinking, bespoke integration between EPoS systems and the self-service app in order to deliver an easy and enjoyable experience for the customer, and a trouble-free workload for staff – while maintaining wellbeing precautions for both parties. Danny Hamilton, National Sales Manager at Sharp said: We are excited to be working with QikServe. The integration of Sharp’s touch screen EPoS solutions to the Preoday platform ensures that our dealers can offer their customers a state-of-the-art solution that not only complies with Government COVID-19 guidelines but will also help keep their staff and customers safe, as we begin to emerge from lockdown.” www.sharp.co.uk Connecting suppliers with distributors ECI Software Solutions has launched a new platform that connects suppliers directly with distributors. ECI Supplier Partners, connects ECI’s suppliers with its collective database of more than 500,000 end-users from businesses across the UK and Europe. In turn it means ECI’s 250+ distribution partners that use Horizon and Progress have easier access to product catalogues to update existing office products and add new lines more flexibly – in line with customers’ habits and seasonal trends. Paula Newman, Head of Sales, Distribution for Europe at ECI believes the ECI Suppliers Partners platform will help strengthen relationships between all parties involved: “ECI has been a critical partner for both suppliers and office product providers, across the UK and EMEA for over 20 years. That’s why we’re enhancing our partnerships with the exciting launch of ECI Supplier Partners. “By helping our customers increase the efficiency of ordering from suppliers, it delivers a best in-class integration for all parties, offering suppliers multiple opportunities for direct exposure to the market – from increased marketing activity via our channels, to presence at ECI-hosted customer roadshows.” www.ecisolutions.com 11 February 2021