Konica Minolta has chosen remote systems management software from SA`s Columbus Technologies to help it penetrate the vast small to medium enterprise (SME) market in Japan.
The Japanese giant has adopted technology from Columbus Technologies that permits remote management of any network-attached device. This allows Konica Minolta to manage large numbers of office devices in the field without dispatching costly field service engineers.
Columbus executive director Ricus Ellis says Konica Minolta has had an eye on the SME market since merging Konica and Minolta into the same company in 2003.
"...but this is costly using traditional field service skills and technicians, and impractical given the scattered nature of this market.
"To address this challenge, they turned to Columbus Technologies` remote management software, which [allows them to] resolve most issues far off-site and only send a technician out when absolutely necessary.
"They`ve been able to expand into the server and PC markets, where they can both sell and service large numbers of units in the field. Without Columbus`s tools, this would not have been possible," Ellis says.
"Konica Minolta stands to do very well out of this business model. Each device under management carries an annual systems management fee of $40. The barriers to entry are high, with a great deal of up-front investment.
"It`s an issue of volume: once the company passes the 1 000 device mark, it enters into profitability, and it has set a target of 2 500 customers in Japan over the next two years."
Columbus, in turn, benefits as Konica Minolta grows, as it earns a percentage of the overall, repeat annuity revenue. "Our success with Konica Minolta, along with the deep penetration we are enjoying in SA, underscores the talent available in the local ICT sector," says Ellis.
Columbus won the deal through its Swiss partner, Brainware. "We established a Japanese office knowing the market was under-represented with technologies such as ours," says Reynald Schallberger, Brainware`s CEO.
"At the same time, we were working with our SA partner, Columbus Technologies, to act as co-developers of the product code in our offerings. It is this software that Konica Minolta is using to penetrate new markets."
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