Network News Volume 40 No.3
SIA & IAMERS to hold joint Conference in 2001
SIA & IAMERS to hold joint Conference
in 2001
by: Claudia J. Betzner
Over the last few months the Board of SIA has been working on partnerships and alignments with sister organizations such as IAMERS on the Medical Side, and AFSMI on the Computer Side. The Business Products Group will be partnering with ITEK, a first time conference in the Copier Service Industry sponsored by Image Source Magazine, at it's Spring, 2001 semi-annual Owner's meeting.
The Board and I think this partnership with IAMERS within our Medical Service Group will make our association and annual meeting stronger since we will be consolidating some of the Medical Groups Agenda, can attract better speakers, and sharing some of the Food and Beverage events will help both associations on costs - plus the Vendor's will have increased traffic.
The 2001 Conference will be held at the Mirage in Las Vegas from
March 25 - 28, 2001. We will begin on Sunday evening with a welcome
reception with our Exhibitors. On Monday SIA will conduct a General
Session until noon with the annual Golf Tournament on Monday afternoon
with IAMERS. The awards from the tournament will be presented at
a joint reception on Monday evening with Exhibitors from both groups.
Tuesday's agenda will include a General Session to begin the day
followed by each group breaking out for the usual Computer Service
Group, Medical Service Group in conjunction with IAMERS, and Business
Products Small Business Forum. Tuesday evening SIA will conduct
a recreation event for the SIA attendees and Wednesday A.M. will
be continued sessions. The event will conclude by noon on Wednesday
so the attendees can still get a flight out. We are working with
Mirage to get the room cost down and we currently have a $135 rate,
which will be the lowest rate for a hotel room at any SIA conference.
The Board will develop the agenda topics at the fall Board meeting
in New York. Please let us hear from you on topics you want included
on the 2001 conference agenda. What do you think are the key hot
spots in the industry?
Contents
Letter from the President
Summertime greetings from SIA!! The Board and I have all been enjoying
a little respite from all the activity and success of our Annual
Conference. You rated it the best ever and we will do our best to
do the same at this next year's Conference again to be held in Vegas
per your wishes. Our Membership numbers are up and financial condition
stabilized after several tenuous years. Thank you for investing
in the only organization that cares about your business and a level
playing field with OEM competitors!! What goes on within SIA when
we're not planning the Conference or resting on laurels a bit? Good
question, here's a peek:
- Discussions with other trade associations and organizations
continue re how to cooperate and align around similar interests.
These discussions are bearing initial fruit. On the Computer side,
AFSMI has invited 3 SIA leaders to individually speak at their
World Conference in Nashville this October. Subscriptions and
other fine educational content developed by AFSMI will be offered
to SIA members also. Randy Parks, SIA Board member and leader
of the Computer group will be exploring with his colleagues how
to develop this initial cooperation with AFSMI to even higher
levels as opportunity arises. On the Medical side, I am very pleased
to tell you that one of my personal initiatives has resulted in
exciting news that is detailed in this newsletter much further
re next year's JOINT conference planning with IAMERS. IAMERS is
a smaller but very impressive medical equipment trade assoc with
innovative and energetic leadership. Don Bogutski and Roz Kaska
attended our last conference and I was able to meet again with
them at their last IAMERS conference and we since have agreed
to pool our 2 org's clout re hotel and space planning and further
to work together to hold our 2 conferences simultaneously for
2001 in Vegas in same/adjacent spacing. Claudia Betzner, SIA Executive
Director, and Roz are working the details and Dave Johnson, SIA
Board member and leader of the medical group will be working with
his colleagues and IAMERS to present an outstanding medical agenda/program
at next year's combined Conference. I have found in my career
that it's always easier to work and grow around people you like
and want to say that folks like Don and Roz, and also Gary Elliott
from AFSMI, are SIA's kind of people! Also, thanks to Dave Johnson
and Al Lapides for being bridge builders between SIA/IAMERS and
to Malcolm Ridgway, Ron Katz, and yours truly who I'm sure will
represent SIA successfully as we build bridges with AFSMI at their
World Conference.
- Legal/legislative initiatives continue year-round as we watchdog
the OEMs on your behalf. I cannot stress enough how important
this work is even though this heavy lifting is often and necessarily
done quietly behind the scenes with specific SIA members. I'm
pleased to report that the Board has authorized first use of the
Legal Defense Fund in support of the appeal filed by Dick Watkin's
company, CSU. This makes possible a friend of the court filing
that our counsel Ron Katz is preparing. Those of you in Vegas
may recall this Legal Defense Fund was established on the floor
during our meeting after we had been awed by the remarks of Chuck
Wright, of State Farm who is now appealing a horrific verdict
re use of non-mfr parts. This Fund enables your Board and association
to selectively and assertively seek legal opportunities to set
aside bad legal decisions, which impede free market competition.
Please consider a donation, contact Claudia for more info and
assistance. Thanks to those of you already in support who truly
understand that a bad legal decision against one small company
in Medical or Copier or Computer negatively affects ALL SIA members!!!!
- SIA's office has been relocated from Atlanta to Solana Beach, CA in order for Claudia to be nearer her daughter and family. Cross country move had a few twists and curves, which I'm happy to report Claudia, handled in typical perfect stride. Welcome to your new home Claudia and SIA!! The address and number just in case you haven't written it down yet is listed in the Newsletter. Email is still the same cbetzner@aol.com
I look forward to my final few months as your President and seeing what additional growth we can plan and accomplish before seeing all of you again in Vegas. As always, if I may serve you or your company please don't hesitate to call me at 859-491-6279 or email mstreety@one.net
Respectfully,
Mark Streety, SIA Board President
PS- Please renew your membership in August when you receive your bill
and consider a donation of any size you feel appropriate to the Legal
Defense Fund. These dollars fuel everything we are able to do to better
serve you and your company. Thanks again for investing in your SIA!
Back to Table of Contents
Advise of Counsel: HP v. IUT
A Repeat of the Repeat-O-Type Syndrome?
By Ronald S. Katz
Competition is the single factor most important in making the U.S. economy the strongest in history. This thought has been expressed in this column many times, so why express it again now? The reason is simple - competition is always being threatened and that phenomenon is now occurring again. Super-heavyweight Hewlett Packard Company (HP) has unsheathed its patent litigation weapon against start-up International United Technology (IUT). I predict that the result will be the same as HP's baseless patent infringement suit against Repeat-O-Type. Repeat-O-Type won resoundingly, but the litigation itself inhibited legitimate competition for years. This should be an intolerable situation for our industry and our economy. HP should not be permitted to abuse the patent system to preserve its dominant position.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with a dominant position if one has earned it. As this article is being written, Tiger Woods is dominating the U.S. Open golf competition, but no one is complaining about that because he achieved his dominance through skill and hard work.
What, however, if Tiger Woods had been able to keep others from competing in the U.S. Open because of litigation over some technicality. Suppose further that Tiger Woods was clearly wrong about the technicality but that the very fact that he could tie up his potential competitors in litigation was enough to keep them from even getting to the competition. That, in my opinion, is the situation that we have with HP.
The Repeat-O-Type case is a perfect example of that. It was clear to any competent patent lawyer (and ultimately to thirteen judges) that HP had no claim against Repeat-O-Type, which was merely repairing perfectly good HP cartridges rather than remanufacturing them. Nonetheless, HP litigated this baseless claim to the nth degree without even a flicker of success. The trial judge threw HP out of court without even a trial. Three appellate court judges affirmed that decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court turned down HP's petition for review. Years after being sued for patent infringement, Repeat-O-Type had a clean bill of health regarding patents, but during those years competition had been impeded and intimidated.
HP's suits against IUT may present a similar situation. There has been quite a buzz about IUT's impending entry into the inkjet cartridge market in recent months. As I understand, IUT is a company out of Taiwan that has spent substantial sums of money to develop a non-infringing refill cartridge compatible with HP inkjet printers. These are not recycled HP cartridges but rather newly manufactured integrated printheads and cartridges. Obviously these new devices were a great opportunity for IUT and a great threat to HP.
I did not anticipate an early entry by IUT into the U.S. market because I was certain that HP would sue IUT, just as it had sued Repeat-O-Type before. Sure enough, in early June HP sent out a press release stating that it had sued IUT for patent infringement in the UK, France, and Germany.
No suit has yet been brought in the United States to my knowledge, but I do not believe that IUT distributes its products in the United States yet. In my opinion, there is no doubt that HP will sue IUT in the U.S. if and when entry into the U.S. market occurs. In my opinion, the lawsuits in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany may well have the purpose of intimidating IUT from exporting to the United States.
What is to be done by aftermarket competitors in the face of HP's actions? For one thing, it is clearly in the interest of aftermarket competitors to help IUT in any way they can. HP's monopoly position has not been helpful to the aftermarket, and the entry of another competitor will diminish this monopoly and provide more cartridges in the marketplace to refill. Aid to IUT may take the form of providing friend-of-the-court briefs at appropriate times, providing financial support for a litigation defense fund, and providing lobbying support for changes in the patent law to prevent abuse.
Such a change in the law might provide higher hurdles for bringing
suit if a company has lost multiple patent cases. Companies like
HP have literally thousands of patents, and it is well known that
a patent infringement lawsuit imposes tremendous economic burdens
on one's competitors. Given those facts, should a patentholder that
has lost multiple patent cases be able to bring a case without more
intense than average judicial scrutiny? Before such a company would
be allowed to file a patent infringement lawsuit, perhaps the court
could appoint a neutral evaluator to determine whether such a suit
could be brought in good faith. I do not believe, for example, that
the Repeat-O-Type case could have borne such scrutiny.
Patentholders have every right to bring cases where legitimate questions
are raised. They should not, however, have the right to burden their
competitors with baseless litigation.
Back to Table of Contents
AFSMI/SIA Benefits
In an effort to continue to provide the SIA members added benefits
we are announcing the latest in a joint venture with AFSMI, who has
began a News Service and is offering SIA members a 30-day free trial
plus SIA members who want to continue the service after the 30-days
will receive a SIA Member discount of 10 to 20% off the regular price.
Please complete the ServiceScan form which is included with this Newsletter
for your free 30-day trial. Also, AFSM and SIA will provide members
with the Member discount for attending each others conference. Their
next conference is in October in Nashville. For registration information
please contact AFSM at 941 275 7887 or go to their website to register
at www.afsmi.org
Back to Table of Contents
TheProfile
The Greenspam Effect:>
By: Mac McBride
As we all know, spam can overwhelm computer e-mail systems, sometimes even disabling them. Recently the Fed has resorted to its own form of "spam," incremental interest rate increases, in an attempt to cool the hot economy. One of Mr. Greenspan's barometers for gauging the economy is the "jobless rate." The latest rate was reported at 3.9%, a 30 year low. While this is great for job seekers, it creates a huge problem for employers - finding qualified applicants to fill job vacancies.
So how is your company coping? Have you lowered your standards?
Are you ignoring normal screening methods? Has your company succumbed
to the "warm body" syndrome? In this tight labor market
you should be tightening your standards, not relaxing them. Most
importantly, you should review your screening methods and enforce
them.
One screening tool that everyone should be using is TheProfile!
It can help you make better hiring and management decisions. Identify
the particular characteristics needed for your specific job functions,
and hire to match those characteristics. Best of all you can improve
your bottom line, because now you have selected the right person
for the job saving the time, trouble and expense of searching for
a new candidate and training a new hire.
We ask you to give TheProfile a try. When our sales rep, Joe Leotta,
calls tell him that you want to know how TheProfile can help improve
your bottom line. And ask about the free trial, exclusively for
SIA members. Experience for yourself the information and accuracy
TheProfile provides. To take advantage of the free trial for TheProfile,
call Joe at (215) 862-0490, x105.
Back to Table of Contents
SIA's New Location
Effective May 1, 2000 SIA relocated to California. The new address:
|
|
Sponsors
| Masterplan Malcolm Ridgway, Sr.V. P. 818 734-8376 Bruce Cree, President |
| CSU Richard Watkins,Pres.& CEO 913 541 0960 |
| D. F. Blumberg
Associates, Inc. Don Blumberg, President 215 643-9060 |
| EAD Systems Corp. Dave DeGiorgi, Principal 781 767-5422 |
| Healthtech
Publications Jack Spears, Publisher 401 434-1050 |
| Maintech Frank D'Alessio, President Carole Greene, Sr.V.P. Marketing & Sales 973 614-1700 |
| Northrop Grumman Joe Mulderig, President Logicon Commercial Information Services, Inc. 516 563-6907 |
| Novare Services, Inc. Rory Scheving,Vice President 810 735 6335 |
| TFE Technology
Holdings LLC John Walker C.E.O. & President 801 298 8000 |
| IBE Digital Ron Varing, President 562 921 0202 |
FREE 30-DAY SUBSCRIPTION to SIA Members
What is ServiceScan?
If you're a busy executive, you need to gather as much information
as you can to help you make critical decisions. You can't, however,
read ALL the news and features published by the vast array of industry
magazines, journals, IT periodicals, and the wire services. But we
can do it for you! Professional IT analysts at ServiceScan, a subsidiary
of AFSM International, review a multitude of relevant publications
and search news wires constantly for key information on specific services
disciplines to produce summaries that are dispatched to your desk
weekly by e-mail or fax.
What Topics are covered in ServiceScan?
E-Service: Covers industry trends and perspectives, e-service
marketing and Internet strategy, Web-based support, e-service tools,
and e-service partners and e-service links.
Telephone/Electronic Support: Designed for organizations that
provide telephone and electronic support for hardware, software, networks,
and peripherals.
Service Marketing: Focused on the needs of service marketing
practitioners, this edition provides announcements about programs,
packaging, pricing, and channels, as well as reports and columns about
service marketing strategies and techniques.
Software Support Operations and Marketing: A special "combo"
edition that combines Telephone/Electronic Support and Service Marketing,
with a focus on software support.
Training: Geared toward IT vendor training management, as well
as independent training companies. It covers news about classroom
training, certification programs, and the latest in self-study and
technology-based learning solutions.
Professional Services: Targeted to managers responsible for
the delivery and marketing of professional services. This edition
provides broad coverage of the full range of professional services,
including packaged business application implementation, database-related
services, network infrastructures, and the Internet.
Change Management: Designed for practitioners who help lead
the organizations through a process of managed change. Key topics
include organizational change methods, staff development, and retention,
communication programs, task and business analysis, knowledge management,
custom training development, and electric performance support systems.
Hardware Maintenance/Repair: Focused on field service management,
logistics, factory repair, and depot repair operations. Information
about companies, programs, pricing, and packaging is delivered.
Customer Interaction Systems and Services: Includes automation
for external technical support, internal help desks, field service,
customer self-service, call avoidance, and sales force automation.
Geared to vendors, integrators, and service organizations that evaluate
and implement new service technologies.
Sorry, but FREE SUBSCRIPTION FORM was available only through year
2000.
Attitude Is Everything?
By Sanford Kahn, A Business Trend Analyst (sanford16@yahoo.com)
First, why would someone who writes and speaks predominately of business and economic trends write an article like this? Isn't this somewhat out-of-character?
If you use the modern definition of economics, i.e., "the science
that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities",
then you would have a valid point. But, by using the classical definition
of economics ---- "the study of human behavior in its historical
setting" ---- the article fits this definition. In addition,
an understanding of the classic definition yields the interesting
result that psychology is a branch of economics.
As both economic and political mortals, we live and work in an environment
that is in constant motion or movement. This movement is, by its nature,
turbulent. There are a few consequences of this.
The first is that turbulent motion has no predictability. In other words you do not know where it is going or what the results will be. A good example of this would be the stock market. How many "experts" eventually wind up with "egg on their face"? Therefore, in the business of life do not make any detailed plans. Plan only in broad strokes and even then your plans will shift and change. The old saying that when man plans, God laughs is still true. The second consequence is more oriented towards this article.
If both our economic environment and we are in constant motion (turbulent), how could you always maintain a positive attitude, or as the popular literature states, a PMA (positive mental attitude)? You simply can't. Mortals are not designed that way. Your attitude, like our environment, is always in motion. Then, if attitude is not the most important criterion of success and advancement, what is?
The primary criterion that separates success from failure is action, namely positive action. Your attitude or state-of-mind can be in the gutter. So what! Nothing stays the same forever.
What do I mean by positive action? Or, to put it another way, what positive actions should you take.
In some of my business presentations I explore a few of the great business myths that dominate our thinking. One of the more interesting "myths" deals with the widely accepted belief that the purpose of any investment is to make money. NOT TRUE! The purpose of any investment is to increase your NET WORTH. There is a big difference between thinking in terms of making money and increasing your net worth. Thinking in terms of net worth forces you to think more rationally and gives you a long-term time horizon. The term "any investment" can include your business, your family, and even your community. By increasing the value of your investment, you increase its net worth.
Therefore, to restate the question, what positive actions should you take? You take the necessary actions today that will increase the net worth of your investment (business, etc.) tomorrow.
From a business perspective, though, there is an important point to consider. In this highly competitive and turbulent economy, building the value of your business can be achieved by focusing on increasing the free cash flow of your enterprise. Free cash flow is the real money after all expenses that can be returned to the owners of the business. The value of a business is a direct function of its free cash flow. By building the cash flow of the business, you now have the resources - the stuff-- to take advantage of opportunities that will present themselves.
Famous Amos, the chocolate chip cookie king, had two words to
express his business philosophy. These two words are "Do It".
Taking the necessary actions to build the value of your investment
will always be of paramount importance. Good fortune favors the bold.
Attitude follows action.
Back to Table of Contents
Computer Group Report
The Computer Group will start the planning process for the 2001 Conference in August with a conference call among board members. The initial call will be a brainstorming session to choose the primary topics and breakout sessions for the conference. Any members with suggestions are urged to contact Randy Parks at (561) 362-0049x250.
We are also investigating other Associations in our market segment to determine if we may benefit from some form of alliance. As an example, initial discussions are under way with the Association of Cabling Professionals to determine if there is a fit. The ACP represents companies and individuals involved in the installation and maintenance of network and communications cabling.
If you are a member of any other Service related associations that
might have crossover with SIA please let Randy Parks know about them.
Back to Table of Contents
Grace Wins Interoperability:
Defeats Geac Software's Lawsuit to Prohibit Lower Priced Third Party Software Maintenance
On June 2, 2000, Grace Consulting, Inc., of Parsippany, NJ, ("Grace") won a unanimous jury verdict against Geac Computer Systems Services, Inc ("Geac") that affirms the right of applications software licensees to discontinue vendor provided maintenance and use a third party to provide maintenance services. It was also a victory for the legitimacy of interoperable software programs from different vendors.
Grace, a national provider of software maintenance services for users of Geac mainframe COBOL applications software, won a unanimous jury verdict in Federal Court in New Jersey against Geac, the publicly-traded Canadian software conglomerate. Geac had purchased these systems from Dun & Bradstreet Software Services, Inc. in 1996. The verdict affirms Grace's right to perform maintenance and consulting services for Geac licensees.
Dun & Bradstreet Software, Geac's predecessor, initiated the action six years ago to thwart competition claiming Grace's actions were copyright infringement. The action culminated in a 9-week trial where a jury on June 2, 2000 decided that all Grace's activities, in providing maintenance services, consulting services and "add-on" software to Geac licenses, were lawful and did not infringe Geac's copyright rights.
The jury confirmed the rights of Geac licensees to use third party consultants to "self-maintain" regardless of the fact that software users have a variety of different licenses, some of which - Geac alleged - did not permit source code modification or use of third party consultants.
Grace offers its ongoing software maintenance services to Geac licensees for approximately one half of what Geac charges for its traditional vendor maintenance. Grace has provided these services to over 150 MSA and M&D customers nationally for the past 7 years.
Grace is Geac's only direct competitor in providing maintenance services and Geac was attempting to prevent Grace from providing such services by claiming that Grace's activities were copyright infringements.
Also affirmed was the right of Grace, as an independent software provider, to create "add-on" software systems that interoperate with Geac's software on a Geac licensee's computer through the use of COBOL "CALL" and "COPY" commands, regardless of whether such interaction is authorized by the other vendor. This involved a "plug-in" replacement W-2 program that Grace provided to its maintenance customers to use instead of the program provided by Geac as part of its base payroll application.
Grace's Victory Is Also A Victory for Customers and Consultants
The verdict confirms the recognized assistance in using and maintaining
their licensed software. This will allow further competition for software
maintenance and will likely result in lower prices and by providing
customers with alternative sources of maintenance.
Back to Table of Contents
State Farm Update
As you know, we have been Following the State Farm case very closely
which is now on appeal in Illinois.Over the course of this Summer,
representatives From SIA and State Farm will continue to discuss a
joint Public Relations plan where we promote the advantages of an
independent market for aftermarket parts and service. The focus of
State Farm at this time is totally of a Legal nature, as it should
be. However, they too can see how important it is to educate the general
public on this issue. Since this is an election year not much can
be done in the Legislative area but next year is a different story.
We must prepare now an action plan on both the legal and legislative
fields. If you are interested in joining us in this important industry
event please contact the Executive Director and pledge your Support
both financially and personally for future letter writing campaigns,
manpower needs on the committee, etc.
Back to Table of Contents
New Members
| Applied Biomedical Ed Bruno, President 1221 California Lane Arlington, TX 76015 817 469-7039 |
| S.O.M.A. Inc. Ed Blumenthal, Pres. 1819 Kentucky Blvd. Philadelphia, PA 19103 |
| S.A.T.S. Technology
Support Services Larry Gashi, President 941 360-0422 |
| ACES, Inc. Frank Rubino, C.O.O. 978 762-8777 |
| Service Trends Steven Debrock, CEO 770 514-1797 |
Board Schedule:
(Your participation is welcomed)
|
December 7 - 8 San
Diego |