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Businesses continue to invest in information technology (IT) equipment, albeit at a lower rate and despite concerns about U.S. macro-economic headwinds, GE Capital said today. That may be a positive development for the office imaging (OI) industry.
The OI industry is becoming increasingly sophisticated, redefining the concept of business services and integrating IT into its toolkit. As a result, the shifting outlook for the IT industry is particularly relevant today.
The OI industry continues to evolve, and GE Capital is pleased to provide dealers with services that go beyond financing, including its Leasingsource mobile application and business intelligence tools. Glen Clark, vice president and general manager of GE Capital’s OI business, noted that GE Capital is the winner of the Business Technology Association’s (BTA) 2013 Channel's Choice award in the new Third-Party Leasing category. The awards reflect dealers’ ratings of the performance and support of the industry's leading independent dealers and other participants.
“As OI dealers look for ways to capitalize on the growing interest in big data analytics and information security, we’re providing digital tools and sharing insights to help them succeed,” Clark said. “Business investment in IT assets remains positive, especially for middle market companies, a key segment for our industry. As expansion continues, businesses will be investing in their IT infrastructure providing opportunities for our dealers.”
Total enterprise IT spending in the U.S. is expected to grow 4.2 percent this year, down from a prior forecast of 6 percent, according to International Data Corp. (IDC), a market intelligence service.
However, middle market businesses a key driver of economic health in the U.S. expect to grow 5.1 percent over the next 12 months compared to the 1.2 percent growth projected for the S&P 500, according to the second quarter Middle Market Indicator (MMI). Moreover, 64 percent of mid-market companies said they’re planning to add jobs, invest in equipment, make acquisitions or train employees, up from 51 percent in the second quarter of 2012. The MMI is produced by the National Center for the Middle Market, a partnership between The Ohio State Fisher College of Business and GE Capital.
“We know there are a number of issues that are affecting discretionary IT spending like the government sequester and general economic sluggishness,” said Jeff McGaughey, who manages GE Capital’s Office Imaging programs. “But there are some areas big data analytics, information security, cloud services and mobile technologies that have the potential for above-average investment in the near-to-medium term. The challenge for OI dealers is to figure out how to play in those areas.”
GE Capital has published a white paper titled “Capitalizing on Big Data in the Office Imaging Industry.” It explains how OI dealers can harness the value of big data to offer better service to existing customers, prospect for new customers and, overall, improve the management of their own businesses. The term “big data” refers to data that can potentially be used for trend analysis but that is so massive such as the information generated by high-volume business transactions and machine-generated activity logs that it’s difficult to analyze using common database management tools. The white paper can be downloaded at gecapital.com/officeimaging.
About Business Technology Association Channel's Choice Award
The Channel’s Choice Award, in its 23rd year, recognizes outstanding providers in the imaging solutions industry. The awards are sponsored by the BTA, an international not-for-profit trade association serving independent dealers, value-added resellers, systems integrators, manufacturers and distributors in the office technology industry.
This is the first year that the leasing category has been included in the awards. The BTA surveyed (bta.org) independent dealers by asking 10 questions about various attributes of the dealers’ third-party leasing providers such as prompt payments, ability to lease variable assets and end-of-lease equipment disposition, among others. The winner was determined by averaging the scores for those 10 questions.
About GE Capital, Equipment Finance
With more than $36 billion in lease and loan transactions since 2007, GE Capital’s Equipment Finance business maintains relationships with approximately 200,000 business customers through its network of dealers and distributors across 10+ industries, and evaluates more than 1,000 financing applications daily.
GE Capital’s Office Imaging business is a leading provider of innovative financing solutions including leases and loans to manufacturers, dealers and end-user businesses to help drive cost efficiencies and top-line growth. Its customizable financing solutions and full-service support help dealers and customers take advantage of their new business opportunities and think beyond the copier.
GE Capital (gecapital.com) offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services.
GE (ge.com) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works.
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