Sharp Sets The Stage For The Future Of The Integrated Office Space At Its 2012 National Dealer Meeting

DALLAS, July 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA), a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, today introduced at the company's 2012 National Dealer Meeting five new document systems models designed for high volume departmental and production environments. It also announced the company's first cloud platform and the company's collaboration with SHI International Corp.

SIICA president Doug Albregts kicked-off the meeting highlighting his strategy and bold vision for increasing growth and profitability through integrated offerings from Sharp.

"Sharp is upgrading its hardware, software and alliances to best serve our dealers and partner community, which is the foundation for this year's theme of Irresistible Force," said Doug Albregts, president, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "Leading up to this dealer meeting, we spent a significant amount of time speaking with our end users and dealer council, and we are excited to layout our strategic direction for growth."

Sharp rolls out new high-speed and production class document systems

Sharp today extended its industry leadership in innovation with the introduction of Polaris Office, two high-speed high-volume color document systems. The MX-6240N and MX-7040N redefine the high-speed high-volume color market segment with their groundbreaking versatility and focus on high quality color output. This lineup promises to help customers bring more print jobs inhouse while controlling costs and significantly reducing the need to outsource. Built for high-volume office environments, smaller CRDs, and copy rooms, Polaris Office delivers new levels of performance, color consistency and flexibility that enable dealers to tailor solutions to meet their customers' needs. Sharp's new advanced paper feed option uses triple air-feed technology, maximizing reliability while minimizing down time and enabling users to quickly and easily feed a wide range of paper types with confidence. These new models will be available in two engine speeds (62ppm and 70ppm) and a variety of configuration options.

This fall, Sharp will introduce Hercules II, a high volume, light-production monochrome series. Hercules II models MX-M904, MX-M1054 and MX-M1204 combine a flexible design with robust paper handling and productive output capabilities to streamline workflow in large, highvolume office environments. Designed on Sharp's award winning platform, these models offer the performance and reliability dealers have come to expect from Sharp. The new air-feed paper handling system combined with versatile finishing options make these workhorses suitable for all types of businesses. These new models will be available in three engine speeds (90ppm, 105ppm  and 120ppm).

"The launch of both Polaris Office and Hercules II further establishes Sharp as a leader in the document systems category," said Mike Marusic, senior vice president, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "We're proud to offer a full line of products that raise the bar on image quality and productivity. Our new MFPs combine the simplicity of Sharp's unique touchscreen menu navigation with unparalleled multi-tasking workflow features."

Announcement of a new Sharp B2B Cloud Portal

The new Sharp B2B Cloud Portal will be a unified, comprehensive purchase, management and access portal for a suite of cloud based Sharp and Partner Program member software. Delivered as a service, this system will leverage the best of cloud technology and provide a convenient way for the Sharp Authorized Dealer Network to enhance selling of the Sharp devices by increasing the value proposition for the end customer.

The cloud platform will include a License Management Console that will allow Sharp Authorized Dealers and Business Administrators to manage both Sharp and 3rd party Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) licenses available through Sharp's B2B cloud portal through a single, easy to use interface. Sharp previewed two Software-as-a-Service offerings. One is a comprehensive collaboration & content management service that provides on-the-go access, file sharing, an enhanced meeting experience as well document management capabilities, all from a wide variety of platforms including mobile devices, Sharp AQUOS BOARD™ and Sharp OSA® enabled MFPs. The second is a remote device management service (SRDM). Designed for dealers and IT administrators, SRDM as a service facilitates the centralized management of Sharp MFPs. On display were several new capabilities including mobile access from Apple® iPhone®, iPad® and Android™ devices.

Sharp teams up with SHI International Corp. of New Jersey

Creating expanded channel opportunities, Sharp and SHI are collaborating in a first-of-its kind alliance in the imaging industry, to bring SHI clients access to Sharp's full line of world-class imaging products. SHI is known for leveraging the broadest portfolio of IT products and solutions available, on a global scale. In this alliance, SHI will build on its reputation within the services industry, and significantly expand its product portfolio to all partners, including many Fortune 500 companies.

"Expanding channel opportunities, such as through our relationship with industry leader SHI, is a key component of our growth strategy," said Rich Boomsma, senior vice president, sales, Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America. "This collaboration will enable Sharp to provide broader access to large corporations for our dealers and channel partners."

SHI is a global provider of information technology hardware and software products as well as professional services supporting deployment planning, configuration; data center optimization; IT asset management and cloud computing.

For more information about the company, visit Sharp Electronics Corporation at www.sharpusa.com. Find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.

About Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America, a division of Sharp Electronics Corporation, markets the advanced, color MX Series multifunction printers (MFP) systems that help companies manage workflow efficiently and increase productivity. Sharp® MFPs feature the Sharp OSA® development platform, which seamlessly integrates network applications to create a personalized MFP that can meet virtually any business need, and Scan2 technology, which scans two-sided documents in a single pass to enhance scanning reliability and preserve document integrity. To keep documents safe from unauthorized users, Sharp is a leader in the MFP industry in security by offering the most secure suite of MFP applications.

About Sharp Electronics Corporation

Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan's Sharp Corporation. Celebrating its 100th year, Sharp is a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home entertainment products, appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, solar energy solutions, LED lighting and mobile communication and information tools. Leading brands include AQUOS® Quattron™ LCD televisions, AQUOS BOARD™ interactive display systems, SharpVision® projectors, Insight® Microwave Drawer® ovens, Notevision® multimedia projectors and Plasmacluster® air purifiers.

About SHI Corp.

Founded in 1989, SHI International Corp. is a $4 billion+ global provider of technology products and services. Driven by the industry's most experienced and stable sales force and backed by software volume licensing experts, hardware procurement specialists, and certified IT services professionals, SHI delivers custom IT solutions to Corporate, Enterprise, Public Sector, and Academic customers.

With over 1,900 employees worldwide, SHI is the largest Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) in the U.S. and is ranked 18th among Everything Channel's VAR 500 list of North American IT solution providers. For more information, visit http://www.shi.com

SHI Media Resources

SHI website: http://www.shi.com
SHI Cloud: http://www.shicloud.com
SHI blog: http://blog.shi.com
SHI on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/shicloud

©2012 Sharp Electronics Corporation
Sharp, AQUOS BOARD and related trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sharp Corporation and/or its affiliated companies. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Sharp Electronics Corporation

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