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Spiceworks Software Automates 10.9 Million Printers
Spiceworks Automates $3 Billion in Printer Ink Purchasing for World’s Largest Social Network of IT Professionals ,Top ink and toner manufacturers and resellers sign on as preferred suppliers for new integrated social commerce feature
AUSTIN, Texas, Sep 2011 — Spiceworks(TM), Inc. today announced that IT professionals at small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) can now manage and automate printer ink and toner purchasing directly within the Spiceworks social network for IT. The new social commerce feature will make it easier for the 1.6 million IT pros in Spiceworks to keep their printers up and running, while giving ink and toner suppliers access to more than $3 billion in refills every year.Spiceworks users, who are responsible for managing and maintaining 10.9 million printers for over 1 million businesses worldwide, will now be able to track ink and toner usage levels on networked printers, receive automated alerts when levels run low, and then easily purchase refills — all within the Spiceworks network. The streamlined approach, which helps IT pros to more easily manage the technology purchasing process, is one of the first examples of automated buying within a social business network.
"Today, we’re taking a big step forward in helping businesses automate the last link in the IT management lifecycle — the buying process," said Scott Abel, co-founder and CEO of Spiceworks. "By facilitating connections between IT pros and technology vendors, we’re creating a passionate community where marketers and decision makers can interact and help each other do their jobs. Whether it’s ink, computer warranties or cloud services, our goal is to make Spiceworks the place for everything IT for technology buyers and sellers."
Details on the new ink and toner management and buying capabilities include:
— Ink and Toner Level Monitoring — Enables users to monitor printers and set thresholds that alert them when ink and toner are below acceptable levels. In addition, Spiceworks provides advanced analytics that help users track how often they replace cartridges and predict when ink or toner will run out. This takes guesswork out when cartridges need replacing, while ensuring refills are ordered in a timely manner.
— Automated Click-to-Buy — Allows users to find the proper ink and toner cartridge refills needed for any printer on their networks. They can then click to purchase the correct cartridge refill, which streamlines the buying process and eliminates the need for IT pros to go elsewhere for information on replacements.
— Community Product Ratings & Reviews — Gives IT pros access to product reviews on more than 1,000 printers from 100 different vendors. In addition, they can connect directly with peers and leading cartridge suppliers in the Spiceworks community to get answers to their most pressing questions about printers, ink and toner. Together, these capabilities help IT professionals make better ink and toner purchasing decisions.
"The technology purchasing workflow has typically been a cumbersome part of the IT support workload, especially for small and mid-sized companies, who have limited staffing and financial resources," said Jonah Kowall, Research Director, Gartner. "By integrating social buying, and the ability to gather multiple bids into a free, easy to use platform, businesses can streamline how technology assets are procured and managed."
The new printer ink and toner buying capabilities are currently available to Spiceworks users in the United States. In the coming months, Spiceworks will deploy the features in additional regions around the world.
The Spiceworks social business network enables ‘Social IT’ by combining free network management, network monitoring and help desk software with a rapidly growing and active Facebook-like community of IT professionals. More than 30 percent of the world’s SMB IT pros use Spiceworks to discover, buy and manage technology in a social way. Together, they support 53 million workers, 93 million computers and devices, and 5.9 billion software installations.
For more information on Spiceworks, visit http://www.spiceworks.com .
About Spiceworks
Founded in 2006, Spiceworks(TM) is the world’s largest and fastest growing social business network for IT. By combining free IT management software with a Facebook-like community, Spiceworks helps over 1.6 million IT professionals to discover, buy and manage $283 billion worth of technology products and services each year. Spiceworks is headquartered in Austin, Texas and backed by Adams Street Partners, Tenaya Capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Austin Ventures and Shasta Ventures. For more information visit http://www.spiceworks.com .
Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks . Connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks . Search for available career and networking opportunities on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/companies/spiceworks .
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