Each year ITEX brings in the big guns, unleashing an arsenal of new information and product to help the office channel. The ITEX strike force is again in motion with its tenth show to address the current state of the “office economy.” Each year they find and deliver red hot information to industry providers that’s aimed at ramping up their arsenal of business tools. The annual tradition of arming the evolving Dealer, VAR, ISV, CTO and other providers in the channel has ITEX delivering key information to help organizations widen their knowledge on new innovations for product and supplies, service and IT, on document solutions or emerging programs such as MPS. Bottom line?  ITEX assists providers in repositioning their business models to magnify profits.

Professionals in office technology have found that the environment has shifted due to the “new economy” and are looking for answers; to address the changes along with their customers’ demands for cost-efficient and conveniently acquired product and services. Within this transformation, providers see the need to integrate & merge offerings of hardware, software and services to become better, single-source providers to their customers in order capture and retain market share

As providers evolve into “hybrids,” ITEX breaks it down and provides an actionable tool kit.

When a company wants to go paperless and begins to scan the contents of their filing cabinets into a document management system many are surprised to find many files previously thought to be lost.

When it comes to document storage, filing cabinets are simple things with no brain. We’re provided a drawer and a key and the rest of the work is left up to us. There’s no advice on where to put documents, we’re not told exactly where certain documents can be found, documents aren’t automatically routed to the right people in workflow, and our key certainly can’t be taken away to stop our access to the files.

Filing cabinets have gained the reputation as the office “Bermuda Triangle” of lost documents. Over the years multiple people in the office file, misplace and not return documents to the filing cabinets. As people organize to their own standards and methods, documents are inevitably filed in the wrong places and the next time a file is needed, it can’t be found.

The Hewlett-Packard Company Foundation today announced that it has committed $500,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund to support relief efforts in Haiti following the earthquake that devastated the country this week.

The HP Company Foundation also announced that it has committed up to $250,000 to match eligible contributions by employees of HP in support of the earthquake relief efforts.

The earthquake is reported to have been the worst to hit Haiti in 200 years, and the United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of people may have been killed. The funds committed by the HP Company Foundation will, through the American Red Cross, go toward supporting short-term relief as well as helping the long-term reconstruction work needed to rebuild the country.

ARMA—the national association of Records Managers and the independent authority on Records Information Management (RIM) has made public their Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles (GARP). As ARMA says in their preamble, “As a key resource in the operation of any organization, records must be created, organized, secured, maintained, and used in a way that effectively supports the activity of that organization.”

Are you interested in going paperless? Do you want to see how document efficiency can help your office go green? If your business is interested in the concepts behind records management, or is looking to implement document management software, this website is a great way to start obtaining information.

Fax Servers and Multifunction Printers offer a lot of the same capabilities and are a great tool for any office.

A Fax Server is a set of software running on a server computer that is equipped with one or more fax-capable modems attached to a telephone line or a software modem emulator that can transmit the signal over an IP network. A fax  server’s function is to receive fax calls and accept documents from users, convert them into faxes, and transmit them, store them, or pass them onto a different user. Users can communicate with the server through a local network or the Internet.

One little known fact is that a Multifunction Printer can offer a lot of the features a fax server can. A Multifunction Printer is an office machine that can incorporate multiple devices in one so a business can have a centralized document management system. A MFP combines the abilities of a printer, scanner, photocopier, fax machine, and email and is great with handling many processes at once.

HP today introduced a touch-enabled point-of-sale (POS) system for retailers seeking to cost-effectively manage their businesses.

Easy to use, the HP ap5000 All-in-One POS System features a self-contained combination of products that removes the guesswork for retailers wanting to create a comprehensive POS hardware solution. The compact system maximizes work space and includes a central processing unit, touch-enabled display, magnetic stripe reader and either a two-line customer display or a 10.4-inch LCD customer display to enhance promotional activities.

The high-performance HP ap5000 is built to handle the rigorous demands of retail environments. Its space-saving design requires only one power outlet, reducing cable clutter and making it ideal for retailers requiring a sleek design for customer-facing areas, such as hospitality and specialty retail environments.

“Addressing customer preferences, HP has expanded its retail store portfolio with an all-in-one solution that provides increased flexibility and results for a variety of business market segments,” said Ray Carlin, vice president, Retail Store Solutions Global Business Unit, HP. “As the retail market recovers from economic hard times, HP has developed a broad retail product portfolio to best meet changing customer needs.”

HP TouchSmart hardware powers new kiosk solution

HP also announced its TouchSmart hardware is powering independent software vendor partner Escalate Retail’s new Interactive Store Kiosk. The kiosk at Escalate allows multiple points of touch contact simultaneously and allows shoppers to “grab” digital information with their hands and interact with on-screen content through touch and gesture. Kiosk customers can:

• access Escalate’s entire product catalog, known as the “endless aisle”;
• browse video content that is relevant to their shopping choices;
• view Escalate’s latest social networking stream; and
• read customer reviews.

HP today added powerful and affordable new workstations and displays to its professional lineup, including the company’s first 14-inch mobile workstation.

Building on HP’s award-winning Z series of workstations, the HP Z200 Workstation offers a new entry point to workstation-class performance at starting prices that rival those of traditional desktop computing systems, making it a great choice for government, education and small businesses. The HP Z200 is ideal for engineers and designers using Autodesk AutoCAD, photographers using Adobe Photoshop® and power office users.

HP also introduced the HP ZR22w and HP ZR24w Performance Displays, providing exceptional visual quality with a new brushed aluminum industrial design, making them a great pairing with HP Z Workstations both in looks and performance.

According to IDC, HP is currently the industry leader with 42.8 percent of the global mobile workstation market.⁽¹⁾ Adding to its award-winning EliteBook notebook lineup, HP introduced the 15-inch diagonal display HP EliteBook 8540w and the 14-inch diagonal display HP EliteBook 8440w. The HP EliteBook 8540w and 8440w feature workstation-caliber graphics that are tested, optimized and certified to run the most demanding professional applications for mobile power users.

“As professional applications move into 3-D, more and more people are upgrading to the power of multicore workstations to fuel their creativity,” said Jeff Wood, director, Worldwide Marketing, Workstations, HP. “Customers around the world choose HP workstations for the best in performance and for reliability that adds up to a surprisingly short return on investment.”

Tapping the power of Intel’s newest technologies, the HP Z200 offers dual-core processor options based on the next-generation Intel® processors as well as quad-core processor options based on the enterprise-class Intel Xeon® 3400 series.⁽²⁾ In addition, the HP Z200 is designed for ease of use and serviceability – with a convertible minitower, tool-less chassis, and convenient FireWire® and USB ports located on the front of the system.

LAS VEGAS, NV, January 6, 2010 -- Sharp continues to contribute to the achievement of an overall green society, and at CES 2010 this is evident in the company’s new product introductions, led by a revolutionary LCD technology that will not only change the way consumers see color, but will greatly increase energy savings.  It is equally evident in Sharp’s energy and solar innovations, as well as developments in room environments to help foster healthy, safe lifestyles.

“As we move into a new decade, Sharp is prepared to bring consumers the utmost in quality home entertainment products while helping to ensure the smallest footprint possible on the environment,” said Michael Troetti, president, Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America. “We’re ushering in a new phase of LCD technology, led by our new four primary color technology, and are excited to roll out our new energy-efficient AQUOS^® LED LCD TV lines.  Sharp’s booth also offers a look into the future of solar and LED lighting innovations to further improve the consumer lifestyle.”

Four Primary Color Technology
Sharp’s proprietary four primary color technology, which will be employed in several new AQUOS LED LCD TV models introduced at CES, adds (Y) yellow to the traditional (R) red, (G) green and (B) blue, enabling more than a trillion colors to be displayed.  In addition to this groundbreaking technology, Sharp is introducing a wide assortment of LED-backlit LCD TVs with increased performance, energy-efficient panels and contemporary new designs in the widest array of screen size offerings.  Sharp’s four primary color technology truly expands the color gamut, faithfully rendering nearly all colors that can be discerned with the unaided human eye.  Four primary color technology enables the display to reproduce colors that have been difficult to portray using conventional LCD displays, such as the golden yellow color of brass instruments.  When combined with Sharp’s 1080p X-Gen LCD panel, which incorporates UV²A Technology, the displays offer dramatic reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional fluorescent-backlight LCD TVs.

An office printer is one of the most expensive pieces of office equipment to buy. Given the size of the office, it is important to be careful that you are getting the most for your money.

It is unwise to buy the cheapest model of printers available, because to buy a replacement and with maintenance costs, it may ultimately cost you more in the long run. One of the first decisions to make when purchasing a printer is whether you need one that is just for black and white documents or for color documents. This decision can ultimately affect the price. Color printers are typically higher in cost, but definitely worth it if you will be printing images. If the majority of printing in your office comes in the form of text documents and memos, a monochrome printer may be your best choice.

Document and content management involves the transformation of paper files into a digital format. A document management system can cover areas such as security, disaster recovery, collaboration, and printer management.

If an organization develops and maintains its content and documents effectively, the information that is in your system can save your company time and money. If not handled properly, however, content and documents can decrease your company’s productivity.

The migration from paper to pixels has changed more than a few companies. The task can involve major changes to workflow and transform your company into the best it can be. Digging through old documents and records can be a long and exhausting process. With a document management system, all of these troubles can be taken care of and your business can become much more organized.