SHARP’S NEW FRIENDLY MFP’S

[Anonymous]

Sharp launches
its first batch of channel-friendly MFPs MARCH,
2005

Sharp
Document Solutions Company of America recently released six new
multi-function peripherals (MFPs) through Tech Data,marking the first time the
company has worked with the distributor.

It’s also the first time Sharp has worked with Tech Data, this is also the
first time Sharp has sold its MFP products through value-added resellers. All
six of the new products offer features like advanced network printing, Scan2
two- sided scanning, fax (both walk-up and network), document and network
security, and consumer-replaceable supplies.

“We’re introducing products that have consumer-replaceable supplies,” said
Mike Marusic, vice president of marketing for Sharp Document Solutions Company
of America, so with the new Sharp MFPs, when customers run out of supplies, they
don’t need to make a service call and get a service technician to go to their
location and do the replacement.

He added, “It makes it a little more appealing in the IT space where there
usually is not an on-site support person coming in to make sure the toner and
everything is taken care of.”

According to Marusic, the Sharp products are true multi-tasking products,
whereas many competing products are not capable of performing more than one task
at a time. For instance, with the Sharp MFPs, a document could be printing, and
someone could walk up to the machine and use it to scan something to e-mail or
send a fax. Many MFPs have sequential, rather than multi-task, functions, he
said.

Since MFPs have hard drives in them to store data, and that data gets stored
in latent memory as well, the Sharp products were designed to give more peace of
mind in terms of security. Included in the MFPs is Sharp’s Data Security Kit,
which protects documents on the MFP, as well as the network access to the
documents. The Data Security Kit comes pre-assembled with each MFP.

“They’re a little more network-savvy than what’s traditionally found in the
IT channel,” Marusic said.

The six MFPs fall under two main product products — the DM-3551 and the
DM-4551. There are three configurations for each model, which include basic
print and copy (DM-3551N and DM-4551N), network scanning added (DM -3551S and
DM-4551S) and network scanning and network faxing added (DM-3551F and DM-4551F).

“Where we think this particular DM series play well is in many IT managers
are looking for an alternative to HP, and the opportunity to put someone else in
that truly understands network MFPs and security would help them feel a little
more secure about what they put out on their network,” Marusic said.

[Author]

March 5, 2005 at 10:40 AM