01732 759725 ONE-TO-ONE 46 Robbie Trower, Sales Manager – Northern Europe, Kodak Alaris Industry insight Q: How do you stay ahead of the curve and ensure that your company remains at the forefront of innovation? A: We are continually developing our product portfolio to ensure it is fit for purpose and leverages the latest advances in technology. For example. we have just released an updated version of KODAK Info Input Solution our intelligent document processing (IDP) solution, which dramatically increases the feature-set and makes it even more versatile for various applications. Q: With artificial intelligence fast becoming mainstream, how do you see this impacting your go-to-market strategy, product roadmap, and indeed the wider channel? A: Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been an integral part of our capture software offering for some time. AI/ML help in two ways, by streamlining setup and improving results over time. We can implement solutions faster and the system continues to become more efficient and effective for the end customer. We believe that AI enhances the strategies we have in place and supports us in delivering best in class campaigns and services to our customers. As a case in point, KODAK Info Input Solution is built around Kodak Alaris’ unique Open Intelligence design, in which pre-built models that understand documents are immediately deployed within a workflow process. KODAK Info Input Solution also directly integrates with cloud AI engines from Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, and is always leveraging the latest advances in machine learning capabilities to continually optimise and future-proof operations. Q: What’s currently having the greatest impact on your business? A: Businesses that are truly learning to embrace digital transformation and are putting data processing and management high on their agendas. In addition, more and more of these organisations recognise that working with a dedicated data capture specialist means they benefit from superior products and expert advice which ultimately delivers better outcomes. On the flip side, we have seen a decline in the market for smaller scanner models, however, demand for high-volume scanners and complementary software from Kodak Alaris across the market is growing exponentially. Q: What do you see as the key challenges or pain points businesses are facing in today’s hybrid working model and how can you help your partners/customers to address these? A: Hybrid working is still a well debated topic at the moment – some organisations are more demanding on the number of required days in the office, whereby others are more open to making home working the norm. This poses benefits and challenges alike. When lockdown happened – we saw more organisations wanting to digitise their records centrally, so people had access from wherever they were. Solutions from Kodak Alaris support centralised, distributed and mobile capture, ensuring that information is accessible to all employees regardless of individual working practices. Q: Looking towards the future, what do you envision as the next big breakthrough or game-changer in the industry, and how is your company preparing for it? A: It’s a secret – watch this space! There is, without a doubt, a constant need to embrace innovation and continually improve, therefore I anticipate that all vendors within this space will look to do that over the coming years. This may result in entirely new product ranges, or heavily upgraded products, however ensuring that these are truly what the customer needs will be essential to succeeding in this competitive industry. Q: What advice would you give a young person starting a career in the industry? A: Find a mentor. Research, research and research some more. Understand your customers’ needs and always put these at the forefront of your mind – not your sales target. Understand truly exceptional account management and put these practices into place. In a predominantly channel-led industry, it is paramount that you are aligned with and supportive of your partners to achieve your joint goals. Robbie Trower www.alarisworld.com
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