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On my way home from Novatech Connect in Atlanta last week, I was stopped by a gate agent right before boarding the plane and told not to move forward. Upon her return I was then told that, starting with me and moving backward, everyone had to check their rolling suitcase. Long story short: I snapped pictures of open spots in the overhead bins, and the airline in question will remain nameless (it begins with a U).
If Novatech had been on the scene, no doubt I wouldn’t have had to detour to baggage claim in Newark.
That’s because the company communicates well. It knows how to collaborate. Its planning pays dividends. All this and more were on display at Novatech Connect. The one-day event on October 17 highlighted the mega dealer’s products and services, as well as those from many partners, to customers and prospects. No keynote, no breakout sessions, just pure expo and networking—to me, that increases learning more than speeches with slides. Considering this was the first time Novatech held Connect, it felt like a great start and gives the company something to grow from, while building off the positive energy at the Delta Sky360 Club in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and I’m sure this fact wasn’t lost on the company during the planning stage. That said, I could easily argue that Novatech Connect was, for all intents and purposes, a cyber showcase. Of the 20 third-party exhibitors, more than a handful were dedicated security firms and nearly all others spoke about it at their booths. Proofpoint, for instance, offers people-focused software to prevent phishing, ransomware, insider threats, and is used by 87 of the Fortune 100 businesses. What I enjoyed hearing most from these nice guys, though, was that they know it takes a village of solutions to create a sum-of-all-parts-is-greater-than-the-whole situation.
Novatech has been marketing its Managed Office strategy for several years. As you might guess, that word “managed” is critical here and, as you might also guess, conversations with potential clients start with cybersecurity. However, there is much more for Novatech to help make sense of for customers. Managed IT services (MITS) and cloud services are essential in providing all-encompassing support. The mega dealer supplements what it can do on its own (it’s a lot, I assure you) with organizations like ConnectWise, which attended Connect, to deliver MITS offerings. No one can do it alone as the IT landscape is evolving daily, that’s why Novatech’s tagline of “Bring Everything Up to Speed” is about as good as it gets—especially for a big fan of not only dealers with MITS/cloud but Formula 1, too.
Up until Novatech merged with the managed services provider (MSP) DynaSis in March 2019 (great timing, a year before the pandemic hit), the company had built a fruitful legacy in print. So, let’s not forget about print! Brother, Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, and Sharp all had either or both A3/A4 devices in tow. A steady stream of demos happened throughout the five hours. Konica Minolta got into the cyber spirit at its stand. Sharp brought along Dynabooks and production print samples. People were engaged.
Managed print services (MPS) is definitely part of the Managed Office. On this score, I had the fortune of speaking with Larry Walker of Cobb County Government. He’s in charge of the division that handles mailing/postal, print, and records (literally thousands of boxes of documents and billions of digitized files). The truth is that Larry and the largest county in Georgia are worth their own story, but the details he shared further prove Novatech’s versatility: management of 350-400 A3 MFPs; $12,000 saved in supplies by county fire departments alone; as well as consulting that’s led to changes in process, gains in efficiency, and updates to technology. Seems like this relationship might get a little longer.
Keypoint Intelligence Opinion
Novatech has undergone massive transformation in five years. This is an organization that, in addition to traditional print, had an intriguing 3D print business and shed it because it was a square peg in the round hole of the Managed Office. That’s called healthy decision-making, and that same action is a reason why Connect was a success. But it also tells you something about the future of Novatech, now that new funding has arrived thanks to Perpetual Capitol Partners acquiring the company seven weeks ago.
An obvious point given its mega dealer status: Novatech is diversified. Lunch featured fare from multiple food families (veggie spring rolls, mini corndogs, hot pretzels, etc.)—the diversification metaphor wasn’t lost on me as I went through the buffet line. The coolest encounter I had lasted 120 seconds with a rep from recteq who explained that Novatech has the Internet-of-Things (IoT) tech that could enable the control of grills/smokers from a mobile device. And I’ll tell you, by the end of Novatech Connect, it wasn’t difficult to see that the folks in Nashville, Atlanta, or other branches will do what it takes to find the solution.
Then Novatech is going to manage it. Your company will be happy. End of story.
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