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Are you looking for ways to improve and streamline your business processes? A great place to start is to evaluate your current business practices. A business process is a structured series of steps that produces a repeated outcome. Accounts receivable—what happens from the time you generate an invoice until you get paid—is the most common business process. These paper and digital documents are the vehicles by which information flows through your business regardless of what industry you are in. Technology will improve your business and streamline the flow of information to:

• Increase Profits
• Enhance Competitive Advantage
• Improve Customer Service
• Ensure Regulatory Compliance

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HP today announced the immediate integration of the highly anticipated Six-Core AMD Opteron™ 2400 Series processor into the award-winning family of HP Workstations. Ideal for high-end workstation applications in fields such as engineering, 3-D digital content creation, oil and gas, and science, the HP xw9400 Workstation taps the power of the new AMD Opteron processors to deliver higher productivity, especially for multi-threaded applications, multi-tasking and mega-tasking environments. With the built-in engineering advantages of HP’s highly tuned workstations, the HP xw9400 Workstation can accommodate up to two Six-Core AMD Opteron processors – for a total of 12 cores – each of which offers up to 34 percent more performance per watt(1) over the previous-generation quad-core processors. “HP understands the immense pressure its customers are under to deliver more return on investment in a shorter period of time,” said Jeff Wood, director, Worldwide Marketing, Workstations, HP. “By providing the most extreme combination of technologies – up to 12 cores in one workstation – HP continues its commitment to bringing customers leading-edge technologies.” AMD HyperTransport™ 3.0 technology (HT3) increases interconnect rates from 2 gigatransfers per second (GT/s) up to a maximum 4.8 GT/s, allowing the entire system to provide superior performance. Additionally, the HP xw9400 can be configured with the ATI FirePro V7750 3-D workstation graphics accelerator.

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HP today launched a contest that challenges small businesses to exchange their current printer for an HP Officejet Pro and save up to 50 percent on color printing costs and energy use.(1) The HP Officejet Pro Challenge will allow five randomly selected small businesses to test drive the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One for four weeks. During this period, the businesses will share their printing experiences through blog posts on the HP Small and Medium Business Community. The grand prize winner, chosen through readers’ votes, will receive a one-year supply of HP Officejet inkjet cartridges and HP Bright White Paper.(1) With the HP Officejet Pro 8500 Wireless All-in-One, small businesses can save up to $500 in one year compared to competitive laser printers.(1) In addition, the winner will receive a Logoworks by HP “Gold Package” for professional graphic design services. All participants will be able to keep their Officejet Pro system.

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For over thirty years we’ve been moving towards the lofty goal of the paperless office. But as the volume of computer data grows, so too does our paper usage. Fortunately there seems to be a valid movement toward cutting back on our paper usage with Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS). This system allows you to scan all your paper documents to create a searchable and secure filing system. There are several trends are driving the rapid adoption of this technology: · Low Costs of Electronic Storage. It is now possible to store 10 filing cabinets full of paper in one gigabyte of electronic storage. · Familiarity with Computer Applications. Today, everyone is trained to be familiar with common computer applications. This means adoption time and training for new applications is minimal. · High Speed Scanners and Multifunction Copiers. Documents can be scanned quickly and conveniently with sheet-fed scanners, available on most new digital office copiers.

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SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2009 Related Links»Spanish version HP today unveiled the world’s first web-connected home printer: The HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web. HP is bringing the power of the web directly to the printer and combining it with HP’s TouchSmart technology to give people quick, easy, touchscreen access to popular digital content.(1) Designed for the digital generation and connected households, the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web features an entirely new web-based printing platform with HP applications (apps). Similar to other Internet-connected devices, these apps, which are viewable on an extra-large, intuitive-to-use TouchSmart panel, allow people to connect instantly with fun, informative and personal content. (1) In addition to receiving apps preloaded on the printer, people can download new ones as they become available at the HP Apps Studio to suit their interests and needs. With the sweep of a finger, users will be able to browse and view popular web destinations and simply touch the app of their choice to launch a web page where they can customize and print content on demand in an easy-to-read format.(1) As pioneers of this new content-on-demand delivery platform, the world’s first HP app partners will be USA TODAY, Google, Fandango, Coupons.com, DreamWorks Animation, Nickelodeon, Web Sudoku and Weathernews Inc. Through these apps, people will have free access to customized daily news, maps, coupons, coloring pages, movie tickets, recipes, personal calendars and more – all at the touch of a finger.(1)

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Document costs increase every year thanks to the growing volume of information. These costs include everything from printing and copying to the infrastructure needed to store and retrieve critical information. Recent research by InfoTrends found that overall expenditures on documents were 6% of annual revenues. Fortunately there are several practical strategies for medium and small businesses you can employ to reduce your document costs: Multifunction Systems New workgroup multifunction systems can provide full color printing, copying, faxing, and scanning services in one device. Multifunction systems are less expensive to operate than laser printers especially when it comes to color output. These systems operate on low cost-per-page agreements that include supplies, preventative maintenance, and on-site service. The net result is lower output costs. Printer Management In many offices, 80% of document output is attributed to printing. A recent study by Hewlett-Packard showed that a properly-managed printing environment can cut printing costs by 8-42. The first step is to understand your actual printing expense.

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Digital cameras have become a necessity for businesses. They’re inexpensive, easy to use and create a message that cannot be expressed with words. Of course getting the pictures onto a marketing statement or proposal is another step that needs to be addressed. Businesses are now using color multifunction systems to print color digital photos at blazing speeds at a fraction of the cost of slow photo printers. Personal Photo Printers vs. Color Multifunction Systems (MFPs) · Personal photo printers are slower than MFPs taking multiple minutes to print a photo compared to an MFP’s speeds of up to 45 photos per minute. · Most personal printers do not allow you to print on letter-sized paper, limiting you to a 4 X 6 size. MFPs conveniently let you print high-resolution photos on normal 8.5 X 11 size paper. · Photo printer paper is expensive and cost per photo can be from 25 to 80 cents per page. MFPs can reduce that cost.

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IRVINE, Calif., (June 11, 2009) – Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc. (TABS) today announced the expansion of its monochrome MFP product offering with the new Toshiba e-STUDIO™205L/255/305/355/455 and e-STUDIO555/655/755/855 Series. Each line comes with a host of compelling features for businesses of all sizes, including: print and scan standard; a full-color touch-screen LCD control panel; scan-to, and print-from-USB accessibility from the front of the machine; and impressive monthly copy volumes. Like all of Toshiba’s color models, these nine new monochrome machines feature Toshiba’s third generation e-BRIDGE controller with Open Platform architecture. This technology allows third-party software applications, such as Microsoft SharePoint and Exchange, to integrate directly with the e-STUDIO device. Additionally, the Toshiba e-STUDIO455 Series provides color scanning functionality right out of the box.

“These new lines complete our total monochrome product offering to provide the perfect product for any type of end-user,” said Joseph Contreras, director, Product and Solutions Marketing, TABS. “Additionally, color scanning on the e-STUDIO455 Series is a significant improvement from previous models and a valuable cost-saving feature for small to mid-size businesses that may need color scanning but do not require full-color output.”

Color Alternative e-STUDIO455 Series

Designed for small- to medium-sized workgroups, the clean-sheet Toshiba e-STUDIO205L/255/305/355/455 Series features copying and printing speeds of 20, 25, 30, 35, 45 ppm, and high copy volumes of 80K, 100K, 120K, 125K and 150K respectively. Customers looking for color scanning functions will find the e-STUDIO455 Series a low-cost alternative to purchasing a full-color MFP device. Documents can now be captured, managed, and stored as color images and then reproduced clearly in black and white for consistent and more professional-looking results.

Reliable and Efficient e-STUDIO855 Series

The e-STUDIO555/655/755/855 Series was developed for medium-sized businesses, large workgroups and departmental users within major organizations and offers copy and print speeds of 55, 65, 75 and 85 ppm respectively. The high monthly copy volumes of 460K, 515K, 540K and 600K respectively, and periodic maintenance intervals, make these machines highly reliable for increased office productivity. The exceptional toner yield (62.4K), ability to change the toner while the system is running, and the Toshiba-exclusive re-buildable service modules (which allow periodic maintenance to be carried out in minutes rather than hours) are valuable and differentiating design features.

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Lower your business’ costs and begin printing your marketing materials in house. Customize your marketing materials and take advantage of on-demand printing. This will eliminate the need for expensive bulk orders of generic brochures and the unnecessary waste of replacing obsolete brochures. Consider creating a Marketing library that will enable your sales and marketing employees to access marketing documents from a network folder. They will be able to open, revise and print the materials according the specific client you are working with. Review these suggestions and make your in-house marketing materials more effective. · Be sure to use a cost-effective color printer or multifunctional copier. Some systems can allow 20-page documents to be printed in less than one minute.

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My last couple blogs have been about the unseen costs of printing and the benefits of color. So how can you responsibly incorporate color printing into your business plan without running up costs? 1. Reduce Use of Ink Jet Printers Inexpensive to purchase, inkjet printers are actually the most expensive color output devices to operate. This goes hand-in-hand with office supply stores advertisements focusing on their high profit ink jet cartridges. While convenient for small home office print jobs, ink jet printers become inefficient, slow and costly when running lengthy full color documents. 2. Cut back on Unnecessary Background Color Documents with solid color backgrounds use significantly more toner and increase the cost of printing. Instead, use bright colors on a white background. Your handouts will be easier to read and look more professional.

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