An Important Convergence at AIIM '08
AIIM is one of the best places to find out what's new and important in office imaging technology. Whether you are a buyer, or a seller (or both), the floor at AIIM is overflowing with current information and people who have answers. We from the Xerox Office group, for example, had integrated applications from our partner community (Equitrac, NSI, Nuance, Omtool, Streem, RSA and X-Solutions) all running on our EIP-enabled MFPs. As a result, we were able to draw from a wealth of technology to demonstrate real solutions to practical problems that customers brought to the booth.
And "customer" has taken on new meaning - especially in the context of the AIIM community. I spent as much (perhaps more) time speaking with prospective partners who were interested in how they could work with Xerox than I did with end-customers. At one point, I was speaking with a senior manager from the IT department of one of our largest customers - he was very interested in how the software developers on his staff could gain access to our SDKs just as any of our traditional ISV partners can. Standing by and listening to the discussion was a gentleman who represented an ISV that we don't currently work with - but was interested in getting started. The point is that all the points that were relevant to the "traditional" customer, were equally relevant to this soon-to-be developer partner; the extensibility of the MFP as a document platform in the infrastructure as well as the open-access program that we have established to enable all developers to have the SDKs.
So while this year at AIIM was the outstanding opportunity to network with old partners, meet customers on the floor with the latest array of technology and make inroads with new partners that it has always been, it was also witness to an important convergence. In a very real sense, partners are customers, and vice versa. These are truly exciting times in the office!
Roger Ellefson
Manager, Office Group Solutions Marketing
roger.ellefson@xerox.com