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10 Years in the Cloud

March 2022

Lead for Envelope Printer

Keep in mind that all leads will be part of our Premium/VIP service again on April 1st.  We are offering a lifetime service for $249.  Please email me for details

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Lead for Copiers in Maine

Keep in mind that all leads will be part of our Premium/VIP service again on April 1st.  We are offering a lifetime service for $249.  Please email me for details

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Lead for Copiers in Georgia

Keep in mind that all leads will be part of our Premium/VIP service again on April 1st.  We are offering a lifetime service for $249.  Please email me for details

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At 65 There's a Lot to Like About The Imaging Channel

At 65 There's a Lot to Like About The Imaging Channel

I just felt that it would be a change to write a short blog again.

Sometimes it's not until I start putting keystrokes on the screen do I figure out what I want to write about.

It was at the age of fifteen when I aced a class for creative writing.  I'm not sure if I aced the class because I'm creative or because my teacher was hot. I like to think it was because I have this knack for being creative and my sales career only cemented how creative I could be.  After all these years I still enjoy writing, however I do realize that don't have the best grammar and that pains me from time to time. I make no bones about it that I'm a technology sales person first and a writing is something I love to do.

Writing is cool,  but when I write about our industry I always like to share my knowledge and my experiences with everyone. At times I will write about our industry and changes that I would like to see, however I'm never derogatory to our craft.  Yes, there are things I don't like but I'm not going to bring down our business because of the negatives.  Every business has their negatives and positives and if you're going to write or video about our industry you need to be able to tell both sides of the story in that blog for our video. For me it's similar to when I was coaching baseball, if you're going to promote a negative to a player you will then need to promote some positive to the player as well.

I guess what I'm saying is that when people are outside of our industry, meaning they have no skin in the game for profit, revenue, sales and losses, then they tend to more negative about what they write or speak.

They can spout to everyone what is wrong with our industry but they can't tell anyone on how to change or fix our industry.  They aren't or don't know how to be creative and offer up ideas on how to change our industry and turns those negatives into positives. They are not thought leaders.

Look for my video in the next week where I will offer up ideas on how to change our industry. Yes, I will walk the talk.

Why our Industry is awesome

It was four weeks ago when the company I work for offered up an incentive for going deeper and wider with clients. It wasn't a cash or prize incentive.  The incentive was to know more about your existing clients and how we can help. It's a fact that your existing clients are your gold mines, those clients just need to be panned.

In a recent QBR I was able to pan one of our clients and that digger deeper and wider opened a $600K content opportunity.  We've made it to the fourth meeting to present our final pitch which will happen in a couple of weeks.  There is additional potential that this could grow a lot larger for 2nd and 3rd phase initiatives. It's opportunities like these that tells me our industry is in a great space.

So, as much as some like to continue the beat down and label us as a declining business model, I will tell you that our business model is changing before our very eyes and the continued digitization of everything will give us opportunities for a long long time!

-=Good Selling=-

4 Inkjet Printer Challenges And How To Fix Them

Inkjet printers are a top choice for businesses that deal heavily in graphics, images, and sales. After all, pie graphs, charts, and advertisements don’t have the same impact without the vibrant colors and clear lines top-rated corporate-grade inkjet systems can provide. But, as with most innovative machinery, they come with their own challenges for upkeep and maintenance to keep them operating at peak performance. Here are four of the most common inkjet problems and some simple steps to resolve them.

White Lines On Your Print Job

Do you need to clean your printerInkjet prints can be more vibrant and impactful. But most offices with inkjet machines have experienced the dreaded white lines. Any of these issues can completely ruin the print job. Often, they become ongoing issues if not dealt with promptly. Fortunately, the usual causes of poor print quality are easily solved with a little bit of care.

One of the most annoying printing problems is when the printer clearly received that data but only part of the document prints. Usually, this results in a series of white lines appearing intermittently throughout each page of a print job. In addition, if multiple pages are printed, the lines will likely line up across them in a similar pattern.

The most common cause of these lines is a blocked nozzle or dirty print head. Entering the printer’s settings and initiating a print head cleaning will usually resolve the issue. The print head cleaning process flushes the printer’s nozzles with forced air to remove dried pigment and clear obstructions. It is recommended to schedule a print head cleaning and a test page to be printed at the beginning of each week to keep the problem from recurring.

If the printer’s standard cleaning process does not immediately resolve the issue, excessive build-up, dust, oils, or other obstructions may be blocking the machine from properly delivering ink. In such cases, it is possible to use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to gently clean off the print heads. However, manual access to corporate-ready machinery may be limited. Therefore, it is typically best to check the printer’s warranty, maintenance, or service contract before attempting this type of more invasive procedure.

Over-Saturated Images

It is ridiculously frustrating to pick up a full-color print from the printer only to discover the image has bled or the slightest touch causes it to smear. In this case, the printer could be delivering too much ink. Fortunately, commercial-grade printers have settings to address this sort of problem. A recalibration of the ink colors and delivery can help rein in the amount of color being dispensed, creating vibrant prints without the excess bleed or smearing.

If adjusting the print settings doesn’t resolve the issue, the printer cartridges could be the problem. Some off-brand or refilled ink cartridges can have a higher ratio of water-to-pigment than recommended. Higher water content can oversaturate printer paper and result in images that bleed at the edges. Even if the ink is absorbed correctly, it may take the image longer than expected to dry, allowing more colors to smear.

Paper Warping

In addition to bleeding or smeared imager, excessive water in a printer’s ink can easily result in wavy paper. In extreme cases, the paper may be more prone to tearing until the ink is fully dry. In either instance, the result is very unprofessional. But what happens if the ink or the printer settings aren’t stopping the problem? It could be the paper.

The paper used in a laser printer has to be heat resistant because the system uses heat to melt the toner onto the page. Similarly, inkjet printers need paper with a higher level of absorbency. Papers designed for these styles of printers use special chemical coatings to decrease the time it takes for the ink to dry. The reduced drying time keeps the paper from warping and the pigment from blurring at the edges.

But not all paper coatings are created equal. Photo paper, for instance, has a special formulation to handle a much heavier amount of ink than standard paper. So, printing heavily colored designs or images on even regular inkjet-rated paper might be too much for the standard coating to handle.

Ink Streaks

Some printers develop an issue where lines of color inconsistently run across a page, almost like someone took a brush and painted on them. Of course, it doesn’t happen to every page, and it might be a different color in some cases than others. But each page it happens to has to be trashed.

Every printer uses a series of rollers to help move documents through the processes within the machine. As rollers wear down or collect dust, they can start to pick up pigment or grab hold of pages incorrectly. The result is smearing of wet ink across the page as it is pushed through the system. Cleaning or replacing these rollers should resolve the issue.

Like deep cleaning print heads, cleaning or changing out rollers often requires more invasive entry into sensitive office equipment. Therefore, it is highly recommended that users consult the printer’s warranty, maintenance, or service contract.

Contact A Service Partner

The most common inkjet printer problems can usually be avoided with regularly scheduled maintenance from a reliable managed print services or printer leasing partner. Whether it is thorough print head cleaning, checking the rollers, or providing quality inks and papers, these printer experts can help make it even easier for businesses to focus on more important things than bad prints.

IT, MSP & MSSP Industry Notes for March 26th 2022

Sponsored by

March 27th, 2022

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.

Lead for IT Services in Virginia

Lead for IT Services in South Carolina

Lead for IT Services in Tennessee

Lead for IT Services

M-Files Named Winner in the 2022 BIG Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards -

  • announced that the company has been named a winner in the Business Intelligence Group’s Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards program
  • inaugural year, the BIG Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards sets out to recognize organizations, products and people who bring Artificial Intelligence (AI) to life and apply it to solve real problems

If you think a printer or copier can't be hacked,

CloudBlue Listed as a Representative Vendor in 2022 Gartner® Market Guide for

  • announced it has been named as a Representative Vendor in 2022 Gartner® Market Guide for Marketplace Operations Applications (MOAs)
  • report outlines market trends and directions, analyzes enterprise marketplaces, features, and complexities, and provides an unbiased understanding of the different vendors in the space
  • Per Gartner, “Enterprise marketplaces are digital channels operated by B2B or B2C companies that invite third-party sellers to sell directly to end customers. Marketplace operation applications (MOAs) provide the technology to enable enterprise marketplaces by enabling marketplace operators (the companies that offer and manage the marketplace) to manage seller onboarding, product catalogs, order routing and management, and seller compliance with marketplace policies.”

Equipment leasing study

Report from Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (ELFF) based on March survey

  • 21.4% of leasing company executives believe business conditions will improve
    • 50% = remain the same
    • 28.6% = worsen
  • 25% believe that demand for leases will increase
  • 75% = remain the same
  • 0% = worsen

ICS Buys Unified Networking Solutions To Better Secure Clients

  • Reported on CRN
  • ICS, has acquired Unified Networking Solutions (UNS)
  • ICS, a provider of IT managed services headquartered in Endicott, N.Y.
  • Unified Networking Solutions (UNS), a provider of IT products and services, of Raynham, Mass

PEI Named Top Managed Services Provider Second Year in a Row

Insight Joins New NVIDIA DGX-Ready Managed Services Program

  • announced that it is one of a select group of technology partners certified to support enterprises deploying NVIDIA DGX™ AI computing platforms under the new NVIDIA DGX-Ready Managed Services program
  • NVIDIA DGX systems is an advanced computing platform for large-scale AI infrastructure.
  • “AI is transforming organizations around the world, and the new NVIDIA DGX-Ready Managed Services program expands access to the world’s most advanced AI platforms through service providers who bring expertise in running mission-critical infrastructure for their enterprise clients,” said Tony Paikeday, senior director of AI systems at NVIDIA

LogicMonitor Wins a 2022 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award from the

  • announced it has been honored with a 2022 Artificial Intelligence Excellence Award from the Business Intelligence Group
  • Artificial Intelligence Excellence Awards recognize the organizations, products and people who bring artificial intelligence (AI) to life and apply it to solve real problems
  • LogicMonitor seamlessly monitors everything from networks to applications to the cloud

GRSi Wins 4 Year Contract to Deliver Business Intelligence

  • awarded a four-year contract to provide program management, end-user IT support services, and business intelligence and reporting development to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). NIMH is the lead federal agency for the latest research on mental disorders
  • GRSi, named Government Contracting Company of the Year for 2021

MPS Monitor offers new features

Is a provider of printer/MFP monitoring solutions for dealers offering managed print services contracts

  • Launched version 4.0 of its DCA (data collection agent)
  • Uses MQTT IoT messaging protocols to provide real-time connection
  • with HTTP/2-GRPC for traffic optimization
  • SSH for remote device access
  • Fleet managers can access and navigate printer/MFP device web pages from browser
  • Uses single code base for all main platforms
  • Can define each different type of data, such as meters, consumable levels, alerts and messages
  • Define each type to be updated
  • Optimized network discovery for stability and efficiency
  • Supports SNMP v3 security protocols
  • Full integration with Papercut

Spectrum Enterprise Launches Enterprise Network Edge Solution

  • announced Enterprise Network Edge (ENE), a new solution designed to help businesses simplify the management and migration of complex, larger-scale networks
  • ENE offers advanced security and SD-WAN capabilities along with a portfolio of connectivity options
  • Spectrum Enterprise, a part of Charter Communications, Inc., is a national provider of scalable, fiber technology solutions serving many of America's largest businesses and communications service providers

Six new leading technology and services providers join Vertafore Orange Partner Program

  • announced the addition of six solution providers to its Orange Partner Program
  • gives Vertafore customers more options to increase their productivity, manage E&O risks, improve client engagement and access specialized IT support
  • There are 34 partners in the program
  • Vertafore is modernizing and simplifying the insurance life cycle

NWN Carousel Awarded Texas Department of Information Resources Contract for Unified Communications, Carrier, Managed Services & Contact Center Solutions

  • awarded NWN Carousel, the leading integrated Cloud Communications Service Provider, a new contract, DIR-TELE-CTSA-014, to deliver unified communications, carrier, managed services, and contact center solutions for the Texas public sector
  • NWN Carousel is a Cloud Communications Service Provider (CCSP)

Xerox Launches Full Range of Workplace Productivity Solutions

Lock in on Cyber Security with ARCOA

  • customer has a staggered refresh cycle, the value of the equipment can be issued in the form of a credit growing over time
  • identifying assets that are usually passed over and often have significant value
  • Will generate Environmental Impact Reports at no charge

Lexmark Unlocks AI-Enabled Edge Applications for Organizations of All Sizes

  • today announced the latest addition to its Optra IoT Solutions portfolio
  • Lexmark Optra Edge executes AI applications closer to the point of data generation at the edge without necessitating the transfer of data to the cloud
  • allows organizations to sense, analyze and act on real-time digital and physical data generated by IoT devices such as cameras
  • Lexmark creates cloud-enabled imaging and IoT technologies

Face to face selling still vital

Research published by Stellar Global

  • In-person selling situations are 34 times more successful than those made over email
  • Close rates form face-to-face = 57%
  • 65% of customers would be more likely to buy a product/solution/service if receiving a demonstration
  • Human brain is wired for connection and appreciation

Cybersecurity Notes

  • Denso Car Parts manufacturing notified an unknown number of customers that their info was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Protenus Security published results of US healthcare vertical breach data collected in 2021:
    • 50,406,838 patients had their PHI exposed due to a breach, up 24%
    • 75% of breaches caused by external hackers
    • 13% caused by insiders
    • Breaches were undiscovered for an average of 132 days
    • 5% of all breaches involved paper medical records (print, copy, fax
  • Verizon published research:
    • 58% increase in breaches this past year in healthcare vertical
    • 77% of breaches compromised personal info
    • 67% of breach exposed PHI
  • DataHEALTH of Austin, Texas notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • SentinelOne Cybersecurity of Mountain View, CA, announced it will spend $616 million to acquire Attivo Network Security, located in Silicon Valley, CA.
  • Labette Health of Kansas notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyberattack.
  • Capital Region Medical Center of Jefferson City, MO notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
  • Memorial Village ER of Texas notified 80,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after “hacking incident”
  • Ultimate Care of Brooklyn, NY notified 15,788 patients that their PHI was exposed after email phishing attack.
  • Alliance Physical Therapy Group of Grand Rapids, MI notified 14,970 patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
  • East Tennessee Children’s Hospital of Knoxville, TN notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI may have been exposed after “IT security issue’
  • Bridgestone Tire Corp., headquartered in Nashville, TN, notified an unknown number of employees and customers that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
  • H.P. Hood Dairy Corp., headquartered in Lynnfield, Mass, notified an unknown number of employees and customers that their info may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
  • Contoocook Valley School District of Peterborough, New Hampshire, notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after “cyber attack”.

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