The Datamax Thinking Blog

Educating, collaborating, and sparking ideas for maximizing the technology that matters.


What Should I Do, Lease or Buy?

When a company looks at their printing methods and is considering acquiring new printing, copying and scanning equipment, it can be confusing whether purchasing or leasing new equipment is the right choice for the business. In truth, the answer is that the best method depends on the goals of the organization, its resources and the intended use of the office equipment.

Here are a few of the main advantages and disadvantages of leasing office equipment to help businesses decide what acquisition method is best for them.

Cloud Computing on the Rise

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about cloud computing.  A system that integrates all of a company’s documents and files into an easy-to-use file sharing system that is remotely based rather than in a physical server, cloud computing is the next wave of technology to hit the data management industry.

The electronic storage of information on the Internet isn’t anything new. Companies that offer to store information in large online databases have been around for a few years now, boasting the safety of online storage vs. storing things physically. Their main selling point has always been the “peace of mind” approach (similar to insurance) in letting their customers know that their important information is protected against force majeure or other catastrophes.

How can this affect the data management industry as a whole? Companies are getting more and more in tune with this new way of thinking and, pretty soon, they will be asking about using cloud computing in their offices or firms. So, for those of you who may be newcomers to this term, here are some facts about cloud computing that you may be unaware of:

By 2015, the Internet will connect 2.5 Billion people and more than 15 billion devices.
A new server is added to the cloud for every 600 smartphones or 120 tablets.
90 percent of Microsoft’s 2011 R&D budget was spent on cloud computing strategy and products.
41 percent of senior executives say they are using or plan on using some kind of private cloud.
Cloud providers have increased personnel from zero in 2007 to over 550,000 in 2010.

The technology industry is the most dynamic environment today. New innovations sprout up daily and companies need to learn how to adapt to growing trends and changes. For other information regarding the cloud computing revolution, contact us today.

Selling More Print Equipment in a Down Market

When the markets are up and businesses are free with budgets, selling virtually any product is very easy. When revenues and profits are up, it is easy for budgets to be free.

The challenge that every business has during a down market is to prove their worth in a way that allows clients to see the value in what they have to offer. Selling in a down market can be a real challenge when the most common objection heard by a sales rep is, “I am sorry, but we just can’t spend any money right now because of the economy.”

In reality, most businesses don’t buy because they view your product as a cost and not as an investment. In a down economy, you have to help your clients understand that they will get more out of what you sell than they will give up in money. Helping your clients see past the box and understanding the solution can be a challenge, but there are some key things that you can do to help build consumer confidence in you and what you have to offer. When you build your credibility and consumers are confident in you, you will find that your sales will increase whether the market is up or down.

Write a Blog
Write Case Studies
Speak At Industry Events
Use Social Media
Use Email

Building credibility doesn’t have to be hard. You can do little things everyday that can gain you notoriety. Help people understand your value and they will naturally want to buy your product. As long as you continue to do business the way you have always done, you will stagnate and decrease in any market condition.

The Argument For Scanners and Scanning pt. 2

This article is an extension of the previous post. Here we discuss how scanners and scanning are essential in the quest for the paperless office. The quest continues!

When you take into consideration how long interoffice mail takes or how long it might take to get an approval on a document in your organization, it may not be a surprise to consider that electronic transfer for those documents really can save time in your business process. Scanning your paper documents can take your business process and not only allow for the document to be utilized by your employees on their computer more quickly, but it can allow for multiple employees to perform separate tasks at the same time on the same document. You may be able to copy a paper-based document, but then you wouldn’t all be working on the same original.

The single biggest advantage to creating electronic files from your paper-based documents is that you no longer need to file those documents in filing cabinets. Not only can you finally send all that paper back to the recycling mill, you can more quickly access your documents online from anywhere on the network or internet, you can also more effectively adhere to government regulations. Compliancy to legal requirements such as HIPAA, FACTA and SOX becomes a much easier task but also simplifies the process for all those that need access to the documents in a timely manner… all while mitigating the risk of lost or misplaced documents.

The paperless office is more in reach now than ever. With the ability to have your multifunction systems provide direct scanning to email, your network or desktop drive and even directly to your document management system, there is no reason why you shouldn’t start enjoying the benefits of improved communication, faster business processes and having an electronic instead of paper archive for your documents.

Make the Switch to Color and Get the Most From Your Documents!

As color printing becomes increasingly popular in the office and business environment, it can be more and more obvious when a company prints only in black and white. With improvements in technologies, color printing is become less costly and more economical than ever. Most organizations can in fact afford to print in color but just don't recognize it.

But just how can color actually aid your business obtain the results you're looking for? First of all, it improves your image, draws in more attention, and improves the recall of the advertisement or printed materials. It can also have a powerful result on your consumers because of the emotions that color evokes in all of us. Think of these kinds of details when deciding if you should print in color:

Color enhances your image: In a community where designs count, it is crucial that yours stands out above your competition. Color will certainly grow a person's professional image to all individuals that notice your printed material significantly.

Color permits people to discover you faster: Color makes it easy for a consumer to find you the first time. Rather than scanning a sea of monochrome, a potential consumer or client is able to see that your offer is different, therefore making it easier to find.

Color enhances comprehension: The use of color has been proven to enhance and improve comprehension levels among those that view the material. The reason being people tend to be more likely to focus on something in color and start connecting different parts of the material with different colors.

Color captures attention: Color is capable of grab the interest of an individual passing by or just glancing over material. Use color in leaflets, print ads, etc. to get the attention of your target audience.

Now that you know of a few of the great things about printing in color, you can use this potent tool in your everyday business applications. Contact us to discover more!

Get Eco-Friendly In Your Office

Business entrepreneurs and employees just about all appreciate that designing a strong eco-friendly atmosphere is a great deal more than just creating a sustainable future; it's also related to reducing expenditures and improving revenue in the long run. That's why we believe that it's so significant that the businesses and companies of the modern day are aware of a few things they could be accomplishing to be much more eco-friendly. Not only will you be saving the environment, but your business will often be eliminating costs in the form of reusing and recycling resources.

Here are some of the top ways that your business can jump into the world of being environmentally conscious:

Order In Bulk: Buying your office supplies in mass will usually save you on per-unit expense and will decrease the waste linked with packaging. This same rule can be applied to acquiring toner as well as cartridges.

Consolidate your Office Supplies: As an alternative to implementing a printer, faxer, and copy machine in each room of your office, try joining together your units in a single multifunction system. This will save money on cartridges, toner, ink, and servicing costs.

Choose Energy-Saving Products: Choose products which will save you on energy bills. Look for phrases such as high-efficiency whenever choosing equipment for your office and understand the consumption patterns of your place of work.

Go Paperless: Go paper free as much as possible at the office. This consists of delivering memos and communications via email or keeping more things stored electronically.

Utilize Reused Paper and Recycle Used Paper: Did you know that it is the paper industry?s target to reach 60% paper recuperation by the end of this year? Do your part and acquire recycled paper and reciprocate this pattern by recycling your paper.

With these types of simple recommendations, you will be able to encourage a green friendly office that saves you money! Contact us to discover much more!

Tips to Improve Presentations

Presentations may be a powerful method to share a message to an audience or client. Commonly, presentations are a more personal method of interacting compared to electronic mail or other elements of office connection. It permits the viewers to observe a far more personal part of the speaker and furthermore can help to make the viewers feel more engaged and intrigued.

But just what tend to be some factors that a good presenter does well and, at other times, a inadequate speaker can improve on? In particular, just how does a powerful speaker's layout of the presentation enhance the level of quality of the message? While the list could be almost endless, we've identified a few do's and don'ts of presentation layout.

Color

Do employ color to communicate.

Do always keep your color palette uncomplicated (sorry, no aqua green!).

Don't neglect how hues interact with one another.

Don't blend far too many colors.

Structure

Do maintain your concept easy and to the point.

Do take advantage of bullet points.

Do restrict the number of slides and terms on each slide.

Don't overpower your audience with your slides.

Design

Do keep the layout simple.

Do begin with an intro slide.

Do use titles, sections, and dividers.

Don't muddle slides with unnecessary components.

Don't stray from the topic or appropriate subject matter.

Don't overdo it on design and layout.

Armed with these valuable ideas, you can now be more comfortable with putting together a terrific presentation. Get in touch with us to learn more!

Managed Print Services, A Basic Rundown

Most organizations underestimate the total cost of print production by as much as 50%. According to a recent Gartner Group study, organizations can spend as much as 3% of their total annual revenue on document output. Very often, those organizations will find that the majority of the output is from laser printers. Those costs range from toner and parts to service labor and network management. The real challenge is that most organizations do not understand how to measure or manage these costs. Without measurable controls in place to control these costs, positively affecting the bottom line is nearly impossible.

HP Marketing Success eBook Chapter 2

HP has released a new eBook for assisting companies with marketing. They are releasing a chapter per month and Chapter 2 has recently been released. You might find it interesting.

HP Marketing Success eBook

HP has released a new eBook for assisting companies with marketing. They are releasing a chapter per month and you might find it interesting.