Fast Forward: What Toshiba’s National Dealer Meeting Had in Store
I just returned from Toshiba’s 2011 National Dealer Meeting and End User Conference held at The Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Toshiba pulled out all the stops for this event. The venue was lavish, the 3-D introduction that included dancing performers was over the top, the keynote speaker was excellent and the receptions, which included a private performance by Cheap Trick, were undeniably impressive. While most of this extravagance didn’t have much to do with the content presented at the event, it did everything to reinforce that despite the economy, despite the changes occurring in the market, and despite the earthquake in Japan, this company was thriving. Over and over attendees commented, “this is a big deal for Toshiba, the industry hasn’t seen anything this big in a while.”
The grandiosity of the show gave the attendees just the visual they needed for the theme, “Fast Forward” understanding the future of printing and document management. The message: it’s no longer a dim and uncertain future. Done right, it can be bigger and more profitable than ever before.
As the CEO always gets the pleasure of doing, Masahiro “Matt” Yamada, CEO and Chairman, TABS delivered a list of successes seen this year. Profits have returned to pre-recession levels, Toshiba is direct in 23 countries and maintains the Num. 1 market share in China as they have for the past 11 years. In 2010 MPS grew 78 percent year-on-year and became 12 percent of total revenue. They just renewed a three-year extension with SunTrust and over the next four years will be replacing 90 percent of their fleet (7,000 machines). Toshiba also saw a 410 percent increase in recycled consumables last year. “We are stronger than ever and have the opportunity to be more profitable than ever” was the message.
Mark Mathews, president and COO of TABS explained how the current economic situation has brought the industry to a new place of helping organizations find innovative ways to save money and operate more efficiently. “That is the bread and butter of our managed print services (MPS). That’s what we do.” The changes are not temporary; they reflect broad, long-term trends. This is the ‘new normal’ Mathews continued.
He declared that Toshiba is now more committed than ever in leading innovation and not just keeping up. This statement hinged on the announcements that were made:
Twenty new color and monochrome MFPs
Available immediately, these are the most advanced and connected, color MFPs to-date by Toshiba. All of the models will be equipped with industry-leading image quality utilizing Toshiba’s enhanced laser image technology, paper handling, versatile scanning functions and the next generation Toshiba e-BRIDGE™ controller platform. They will also feature color scanning and open platform standard. The monochrome MFPs will be available in November.
Secure Send
This first-of-its-kind, digital rights management service provides the ability for a user to securely send a document through an MFP to a recipient and embed in the file certain rights that will control what the recipient can do with the document. This includes limiting the time the document will be made available, who can open, and what they can do with it (print, read-only, forward, screen shots).
Expanded Cloud & Mobility Applications
Expand the notion of multi-function beyond the function of copy, print, scan and fax. The mobility and cloud computing applications include scan integration into Google Docs. Using advanced OCR to scan, the document is able to be stored in a modifiable format like a Word or PowerPoint document rather than a PDF image only. The apps will also be integrating into Evernote and Dropbox. Using solutions like Drivve, Dynamic Print and HP’s ePrint, Toshiba is creating mobile opportunities. Also, by joining Cortado’s cloud printing alliance—mobile workers will be able to print to Toshiba MFPs anytime, anywhere.
Service Calls Directly from control panel
Users will be able to chat in real-time with service representatives and order supplies directly from the control panel.
Self-encrypting hard disk drives
The self-encrypting hard-disk drives (SEDs) feature 256-bit encryption. They are engineered to automatically invalidate information and render the drive unreadable if it is removed.
New Encompass
More than a proposal tool, the new Encompass was called a lifecycle management tool. It will be able to run on smart devices, gather customer data and generate on-site proposals. It is expected to launch in the fourth quarter.
New Marketing Campaign and New Web site
Toshiba has launched a new marketing campaign, “it’s under control.”
They also launched a new Web site, navigated through what looks like a control panel or, even better, a tablet device. The TABS site now focuses on Encompass, by showing demos, benefits, savings calculator and directing potential customers to find a dealer.
Expanded Partnerships
Toshiba is expanding the partnership with Lexmark to GSA, so they will now be able to offer the entire line of Lexmark products to the federal government and will receive top-line revenue recognition.
Toshiba expanded their relationship with Supplies Network. Originally, Supplies Network was the sole distributor of supplies to Toshiba and now their broad portfolio of MPS offerings, including MPS select, their CPI and portals directly to dealers. This will help dealers in complementing what they are doing with Encompass and augmenting their programs.
Take-aways:
Toshiba has partnered with two of the largest printer manufacturers, taking the best in class from other OEMs, they are providing a truly vendor-agnostic approach. “We listened to what our customers were saying,” Bill Melo, vice president of marketing, services and solutions for TABS. Other than the main session, I heard few TABS speakers—instead the discussions were lead by Lexmark, HP and Salesforce employees. The new equipment was neat, the solutions were great, but this vendor-neutral approach could just be Toshiba’s greatest weapon.
While MPS, security and solutions were touted as Toshiba’s three-core focuses for Toshiba now—I heard plenty about hardware. They recently ran a promotion that gave an iPad to every dealer who sold two color MFPs. They launched a brand-new Web site during the event, but it’s still titled “Toshiba Copiers.” This is a Japanese, manufacturing company; they will manufacture hardware—that is who they are. Services, solutions and security will always just be mechanisms to place that hardware.
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