Sharp Launches Development Platform, Channel Programs
Sharp also is rolling out a new channel program to help solution providers attack the market with highly customized solutions for small businesses and enterprises.
In an announcement before channel partners at the AIIM/On Demand Expo in Philadelphia, Sharp executives drew quick kudos from solution providers who have been using Sharp's OSA to build custom search and management applications.
"This [adoption] is something that's going to happen very fast," said Luis Gonzalez, president of M.O.S. Imaging Systems, a Miami-based Sharp dealer and developer of custom document software solutions. "The other thing we're going to see is whoever is first is probably going to win."
Sharp has been developing the OSA platform for more than a year and is basing the technology on protocols such as XML and SOAP. Sharp President Ed McLaughlin said 26 solution providers already had been using OSA to develop custom apps before the platform’s official launch Tuesday. Going forward, any VAR or dealer could use the technology to provide custom management, workflow and interface functionality inside Sharp multifuction devices.
"We believe it's going to be the differentiator," McLaughlin said.
OSA will compete with technology from Sharp rivals like Canon, which offers its MEAP development platform for customization. However, McLaughlin claimed that Canon's technology has been deployed by no more than a handful of Canon channel partners, whereas Sharp's OSA already has a broader adoption.
To coincide with the OSA kickoff, Sharp said it was unveiling new partner programs. They include the Sharp Developer MFP Purchase Program, in which partners can buy discounted multifunction devices for testing custom apps based on OSA, and the Developer MFP Maintenance Program, designed to assist solution providers in the long-term operation of the multifunction systems. Also being introduced is the Sharp Marketing Program, earmarked for channel partners that have developed custom applications based on OSA.