client: Sharp Electronics
More than 70 developers strong; introduction of Sharp OSA marketing program
LAS VEGAS, February 5, 2007 - At its 2007 National Dealer Meeting Sharp Document Solutions Company of America (SDSCA) highlights the recent success and progress of its Open Systems Architecture program (Sharp OSA), supported with the enrollment of more than 70 developer members in less than nine months. Sharp is also announcing the launch of the Sharp OSA Marketing Program, which provides OSA members with access to Sharp’s extensive distribution channel of dealers and direct customer base of government and corporate accounts.
“Since Sharp OSA entered into the marketplace, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and our dealers have embraced the architecture. As a result, they have gained a competitive edge in the market,” said Ed McLaughlin, President, SDSCA. “Sharp OSA is helping dealers win more accounts and provide better service to their customers with the ability to tailor MFP-based solutions that meet each customers’ particular business challenges.”
At Sharp’s National Dealer Meeting, Sharp OSA developers are showcasing the solutions they created through the Sharp OSA development platform, including specialized applications for the financial, legal, healthcare, insurance and manufacturing industries. The solutions range from a button on the MFP that reorders supplies, to integrated software that creates a dynamic, more secure workflow designed to capture, organize, and retrieve an organization’s business documents.
Registered attendees will even experience the versatility of Sharp OSA firsthand during on-site registration. To print their conference badges, all registered attendees simply enter their name and zip code on a Sharp MFP, which confirms the information with the attendee registration database, and then prints personalized, color documents, including their conference badge, schedule, gift coupon and welcome letter.
Among the list of companies participating at the National Dealer Meeting, are Yahoo!®, Microsoft®, and Google™. All three are featured during the General Session.
Google is demonstrating how Sharp OSA-enabled MFPs can be integrated with the Google Search Appliance™ to create valuable enterprise search solutions. The Google Search Appliance allows customers to locate and access information housed virtually anywhere on the network—including intranets, document and content management systems, file servers, corporate desktops, and business applications directly from the touch screen of the MFP.
Microsoft is showing how Sharp is extending core Microsoft™ technology that embraces the open standard of web services to help make Sharp OSA a versatile, easy to use development platform. By using Sharp OSA developer tools that leverage the Visual Studio® environment, standard and custom .NET libraries and Windows® Workflow Foundation design elements, Microsoft and Sharp are demonstrating how an MFP can help improve the productivity in the workplace through an accounts payable workflow that fully integrates the Sharp MFP with Microsoft SharePoint®. In addition Sharp and Microsoft will showcase the integration of the XPS standard on a Sharp MFP. XPS, the open XML Paper Specification, is the foundation for document and printing improvements in Windows Vista™ operating system.
Yahoo! is showcasing innovative MFP based promotion opportunities that can be created when web services APIs from the Yahoo! Developer Network, including Yahoo!® Local, Mail, Search, Weather, and Flickr®, and Sharp OSA are combined. Web Services APIs from Yahoo! make it easy for developers to build applications and “mashups” that take data and content from one application and merge them with that from another. For example, through an application created with Sharp OSA, the user can access and print Yahoo!-supplied local information such as restaurants or shops, complete with maps and ratings, directly from the MFP’s touch screen.
Sharp OSA Marketing Program
In order to help developers gain visibility for their Sharp OSA applications, Sharp is launching the Sharp OSA Marketing Program. The program is open to all Sharp OSA developers and includes both validation of the developer’s product integration and a wide array of marketing activities designed to promote their integration with Sharp MFPs. As members, developers will be able to market to Sharp’s distribution channel, as well as Sharp’s direct customer base of government and corporate accounts. The program is intended to help leverage development efforts and drive increased sales through the many co-marketing opportunities available from Sharp.
About Sharp Open Systems Architecture
Sharp Open Systems Architecture creates a truly customizable MFP designed to meet virtually any business need. This development platform turns an MFP into a gateway for document-based business communications by integrating the device with network-based applications. It allows businesses to connect their MFPs with a wide range of enterprise applications, including document management applications, reporting functions and programs developed internally. For example, businesses can use Sharp OSA to create an application that allows users to scan an invoice on an MFP and transfer that invoice into an accounting software package instantly without user intervention at the desktop. For faster deployments and easier development, Sharp OSA uses industry-standard protocols such as XML and SOAP.
Sharp OSA is available now on many Sharp MFP models, including monochrome models between 35 and 110 pages per minute and all color MX models. For more information about the complete line of Sharp document products and integrated applications, contact Sharp Document Solutions Company of America, Sharp Plaza, Mahwah, N.J. 07430, or call 800-BE-SHARP. For online product information, visit Sharp’s Web site at http://www.sharpusa.com or http://www.sharpusa.com/documents.
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Sharp Electronics Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Sharp Corporation, a worldwide developer of one-of-a-kind home entertainment products, appliances, networked multifunctional office solutions, solar energy solutions and mobile communication and information tools. Leading brands include AQUOS® Liquid Crystal Televisions, 1-Bit™ digital audio products, SharpVision® projection products, Insight™ Microwave Drawers, IMAGER™ digital multifunctional systems, and Notevision® multimedia projectors. For more information visit Sharp Electronics Corporation at http://www.sharpusa.com
Sharp is a registered trademark of the Sharp Corporation
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.
Google and Google Search Appliance are trademarks for Google Inc. in the United States and/or other countries
Microsoft, Windows Vista and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries
All other trademarks and registered marks are property of their respective holders