Valsoft Buying Spree Creates a One-Stop-Shop for Dealer Software

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Many office equipment dealers (OEDs) may not have heard of Valsoft Corporation. Over the past few years, the company has steadily become a one-stop-shop for mission-critical software by acquiring numerous software applications and platforms that OEDs rely on to run their sales and managed print service (MPS) businesses. The latest to join the stable is Nexera, which Valsoft acquired last month. The purchase strengthens Valsoft position as a major player in the printing vertical, with a product roster that includes:

• Nexera: This tool for dealerships lets sales managers and dealer principals compare pricing for equipment, improve profitability, and see how their dealership compares to similar vendors via proprietary financial performance benchmarks.
• MPS Monitor: One of our favorite tools to underpin an MPS practice, MPS Monitor is a secure cloud-native platform for remotely monitoring and managing print and other “Internet of things” (IoT) devices that a dealer has in the field.
• EuroForm A/S: EuroForm is the company behind the JetAdvice family of solutions that help dealers, distributors, and OEMs remotely assess, manage, maintain, secure, and optimize their customer’s office, large format, and thermal printer fleet environments.
• ServiceCentral Technologies: Service is the most profitable area of an OED’s business. ServiceCentral provides web-based logistics, service, and repair management software solutions that enable dealers to keep post-sales service operations as profitable as possible.

Keypoint Intelligence Opinion

If the Valsoft playbook seems familiar, it is the same strategy industry powerhouse ECI Software Solutions has pursued in its quest to dominate the OED software market (among others). In addition to service-management platforms, ECI has acquired the most popular remote monitoring tools over the years (i.e., FM Audit, PrintFleet, and Print Audit) to corner the market—or nearly so. Upstarts such as EKM Global, MPS Monitor, EuroForm, and Netaphor have been able to carve out user bases among dealers that did not want to deal with the ECI behemoth. And, of course, most leading MFP/printer OEMs offer a platform dealers can use to run their MPS practices (although those tools typically have less visibility into fleets with a mix of different brands).

It will be interesting to watch Valsoft as it continues to move into the document imaging space. If the company allows its acquired developers to continue to invest in their platforms and innovate, the entire OED market will benefit

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