With nearly 1,000 attendees, a great venue and a fantastic message, the Own It National Dealer Meeting, held from October 1 – 4, 2019 in sunny Las Vegas by Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) was a recipe for success. This year, we focused on helping our dealers grow their business today, with Sharp’s award-winning lineup, but also by providing a roadmap for success in the emerging smart office environment.

In his opening comments during the first general session, John Sheehan, Senior Vice President Channel Sales for SIICA, explained the message of the meeting’s theme “Own It.” He said: “We want you to own the technology transformation, own the growth from that transformation and own your customer relationships. To sum up, we want you to own the entire customer experience.”

SIICA’s SVP Channel Sales John Sheehan asks dealers to own their transformation.

Later in that same session, SIICA announced its launch of Synappx™, a platform that addresses the workforce’s increased expectation of secure accessibility, ease of use and mobility – enhancing the ability of workers to connect to office technology and collaborative systems. Specifically, SIICA announced the following Synappx applications:

Synappx Meeting is designed to help ensure that meetings become productive more quickly. Synappx Go allows individuals to scale content to a large display or scan documents and release print jobs from a multifunction printer – all from a mobile device. Synappx WorkSpaces (coming soon) brings the power of IoT into the meeting room by allowing for tracking of workspace utilization and environmental factors to help create smarter, more comfortable workspaces. Finally, with Synappx-ready Systems from Sharp, including the Windows collaboration display from Sharp, AQUOS BOARD® interactive display and multifunction printer family of products, key mobility, collaboration and analytics features of the Synappx applications are amplified to drive overall employee engagement and productivity.

AVP Software Product Management Vince Jannelli and Software Product Marketing Manager Michelle Redmond present Synappx

According to SIICA AVP Software Product Management Vince Jannelli, Sharp sees Synappx as a complementary solution to its existing hardware line: “With Synappx, we remove frustration and add collaboration – all while working with the technology our customers already have in place. This amplifies the ROI on their office technology.”

John noted that these new smart office solutions will allow Sharp dealers to bring customers to a new level of productivity, changing their businesses and changing the way they share information.

Synappx wasn’t the only new offering showcased during the event. One of the announcements that garnered the most interest and discussion was the introduction of SIICA’s new smart bundles and “S-rate” project for flat rate billing.

By way of introducing the new process, SIICA President and CEO Mike Marusic asked dealers during the general session: “What if you could go to a customer, say with 20 employees, and sell them the office? I mean provide them their technology needs, all bundled, all working together, inclusive of the copier?”

Sharp answered this question with a set of pre-configured bundles comprised of Sharp’s various B2B offerings, such as A3 and A4 MFPs, Dynabook laptops, professional displays and Synappx applications. The bundles – to be released soon – are all pre-configured and priced out so that dealers can sell each as a single offering on a subscription basis. The pricing for each bundle is established upfront and the program is supported through Sharp’s leasing partners.

Another very popular offering at the event, was the Windows collaboration display from Sharp. This system, to be launched in November, includes a next generation 4K 70” Class interactive display, a built-in microphone, a 4K camera and an IoT sensor hub that works seamlessly with Microsoft 365 collaboration tools. Using the system, workers can simply walk into a meeting room, plug into the display and automatically connect to and launch the necessary components for running a successful meeting, including the conference phone and various software applications. Meanwhile the IoT sensors on the device can connect directly to the Microsoft Azure Digital Twins IoT platform and other commercially available cloud services, including Sharp’s own Synappx Workspaces. Businesses can then analyze usage data to address issues such as meeting space utilization, room temperature, air quality and ambient light.

Associate Director, Strategic Partner Alliances Mehryn Corrigan explains the Windows collaboration display to Marketing VP Bob Madaio (left) and Product Management VP Shane Coffey (right)

While the focus was on the newer alternative technologies, SIICA made sure to emphasize that it is still grounded in the MFP and printer market. The product fair showed Sharp’s full A3 and A4 MFP lineup, including recent introductions that took place earlier this year. SIICA also provided an impressive showcase of its professional displays, including its 8K professional displays and 8K prosumer and camcorder video cameras.

Finally, what is a Sharp event without a little bit of fun? Juggling entertainers The Passing Zone got on stage to perform some pretty intense stunts with Mike Marusic and John Sheehan, showing our dealers that true business transformation means getting out of their comfort zone and taking some risks. Not to be outdone, the band Blues Traveler, known for the rock and roll classic song “Runaround” performed at the final night’s reception, literally capping off the meeting on a high note.

Yup. Those are scythes that are being thrown over Mike Marusic’s head by The Passing Zone entertainers.

If you missed the meeting, summaries of the event by press and analysts are available in the Sharp USA Newsroom, here >>>