Dimension Data, a leading global technology integrator and managed services provider, today announces the expansion of its next-generation Managed Services to help clients streamline operational efficiencies and drive business outcomes across the Middle East.

As the economy rebounds from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dimension Data has expanded its Managed Services capability across Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to support businesses as they recover and reinforce their digital transformation efforts. Dimension Data’s global Managed Services platform offers data-driven insights and real-time reporting, managing over 9,000 IP networks and supporting over 13 million users across the globe. The Managed Services centres in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates complement Dimension Data’s global Managed Services platform and operate in accordance with local in-country data sovereignty laws.

Mohammed Hejazi, Managing Director for Dimension Data Middle East, said, “the way in which we work has shifted and remote working has brought a new set of challenges. With rapidly changing situations, organisations expect partners to quickly provide new services to enable them to manage, or accelerate, additional requirements.”

“The boost in productivity will increase data traffic as well as the possibility of attacks on customer networks. Reducing security risks is one of the top reasons for considering a managed services provider. The intent in the Middle East is to proactively monitor client networks and support remedial activities through the Security Operations Centre (SOC) and the Network Operating Centre (NOC),” he added.

Dimension Data’s goal is to allow organisations to focus on their main core business while leaving their day to day IT and Security operational tasks to the subject matter experts. Dimension Data has the expertise in understanding clients pain points, thus pushing the organisation to provide tailored solutions through the rich portfolio which includes different flavours of managed services, like 24/7 proactive support, reactive support, on-site interventions, managed client platforms or used Dimension Data platforms in addition to application managed services.

Dimension Data’s approach to managed services builds on its proven track record of managing and integrating multi-vendor solutions by bringing together its cross-technology portfolio of managed services, delivered through a single scalable and secure platform.

“The next-generation Managed Services offering gives you the data you need to enable IT and operations teams to focus on more strategic, value-add tasks and drive business performance,” said Hejazi.

Kodak Alaris is expanding its remote service offerings with three new monitoring as a service tools that deliver cloud-based device management and optimize scanner performance. The new MPS Capture Agent, Scanner Manager and Scanner Finder Tool from Kodak Alaris enable channel partners to deliver added customer value by allowing scanners from Kodak Alaris to be seamlessly integrated into device monitoring solutions for smarter reporting and management. By leveraging these new capabilities, Kodak Alaris partners will be able to optimize customers’ document capture infrastructures as easily as printer fleets, achieve visibility over all imaging costs, reduce the cost to provide service, and expand their business opportunities.

With the MPS Capture Agent, developers can seamlessly add scanners from Kodak Alaris to a fleet of devices a business is monitoring without needing to deploy an additional device management tool. The MPS Capture Agent integrates easily with MPS and PC management solutions, is compliant with industry-standard security requirements and provides MPS providers and end-user customers with visibility of key scanner operational data and status via existing dashboards. MPS dealers can benefit by selling dedicated scanners in addition to MFPs to give customers higher quality scans and faster throughput. Plus, they can charge per scan since scanner usage data will now be easily accessible. Customers also benefit from faster throughput, higher quality scans, greater reliability and access to the Kodak Alaris service team.

The Scanner Manager from Kodak Alaris is a smart device management dashboard designed to optimize scanner operations and manage the lifecycle of devices. This cloud-based solution improves productivity and profitability; a Kodak Alaris partner or an end user’s IT department can directly monitor and collect scanners’ operational data, deliver usage reports (including ‘power on’ hours, scan counts, consumables and firmware or driver versions), and manage multi-variate alerts for customers’ devices. Customers that have mission critical equipment at multiple scanning locations or customers that have 20 or more scanners in a central facility can benefit from the ability to remotely access telemetry data rather than physically going to each location.

“Cloud-based service offerings like the Scanner Manager and MPS Capture Agent are essential for organizations that want to manage and track devices as part of their fleet management strategy,” said Anne Valaitis, Senior Consultant for InfoTrends’ Image Scanning Trends and Professional & Managed Print Services. “It’s important for the IT channel to understand and embrace these tools. Being able to measure and optimize utilization makes you a better partner. There’s only upside and benefit to it.”

Kodak Alaris is offering three Scanner Manager plans in a flexible, subscription-based pricing model.

Customer Access: Administrators use the Scanner Manager tool to access a Health Check Dashboard. The dashboard monitors a fleet of scanners from Kodak Alaris and displays telemetry data. Customers can access and download cloud-based dashboard data anytime, from anywhere, to view real-time status and run reports for monitored scanners. Scanners can be added or removed as required.

Usage Reporting: Kodak Alaris provides one or more recipients with a standard monthly report via email. The report contains the list of monitored scanners and provides insights derived from scanner-specific rules. When triggered, these rules generate alerts that combine information with insight to maximize scanner and system performance.

Alert Management:  Real-time alerts for proactive management of fleets such as multi-feed/jam reports, consumables reporting and more. Data-driven insight identifies potential productivity issues and generates proactive responses to prevent unscheduled downtime and help prevent future issues.

Kodak Alaris has also expanded its Professional Services with the launch of the Scanner Finder Tool. This standalone application can be used as part of the discovery phase of a ‘Capture System Assessment’ engagement with existing and new customers. The Scanner Finder Tool enables automatic discovery of Kodak Alaris and multi-vendor scanners on customer networks and delivers an initial inventory of a customer’s USB scanner base in minutes. It can be delivered as a chargeable Professional Service or as a complimentary service to customers purchasing the Scanner Manager tool.

“Kodak Alaris understands the needs of our partners and customers,” said Gary Chamberlain, Vice President Global Services, Alaris division of Kodak Alaris. “We now have unique tools in the marketplace that maximize efficiency and productivity, leading to a more outcome-based model and helping customers realize the full benefits of ‘as a service’ options. MPS vendors are leaving money on the table by leaving scanners out of their offers. With the MPS Capture Agent, vendors can now include scanners in their offerings and connect them to their MPS solutions.”

For more information, please visit the Kodak Alaris website.