Framingham, Mass.-based Company announces Staples Technology Solutions
Maybe someone at Staples believes the Easy Button is real technology. Not sure how else to explain the office supply chain’s announcement this morning that it is branching out to become a “one-stop” provider of data center and network services for corporate customers of all sizes.
(2010’s 25 Geekiest 25th Anniversaries)
From the company’s press release:
Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples, Inc., today announced the launch of Staples Technology Solutions to meet customers’ growing needs for technology products and services. Staples Technology Solutions offers business customers – from small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to Fortune 1000 corporations – access to a full range of offerings from data center solutions and printer fleet management services to network services and everyday desktop technology products.
I mean it’s almost as if a search engine company decided to become a broadband services provider.
To be fair, however, the company didn’t just wake up this morning and decide to woo IT and network professionals; this gambit apparently has been in the works for some time. From a story in this morning’s Boston Globe:
Over the past several months, Staples has trained its internal sales force to sell technology solutions, in addition to office products. The company has launched a radio and Web campaign to attract new clients with its technology offerings, such as onsite and remote server and desktop support for Apple, Microsoft, and Linux platforms.
About 100 employees work out of Lawrence as part of Staples Technology Solutions, delivering outsourced IT services to small and mid-size businesses around the country, with a concentration of clients in the Boston area. This group was formerly Thrive Networks, a company Staples acquired. Another 300 employees are based in Florida and deliver high-speed production printing, managed print services, and data center services; they also sell an assortment of technology products to large and mid-size businesses around the nation.
Here’s a Network World story from September, 2008 that explains what Staples had in mind for the Thrive Networks acquisition and it’s apparent that the company was interested in expanding its IT offerings. And, yes, Staples has long sold a wide variety of electronics – including computers and peripherals – both in its stores and online. But the company’s marketing department may have its work cut out, witness this comment on Globe story:
“You walk into a Staples and you got people who don’t know the answers to the most simple questions. Now you are (turning to) Staples type of peopleto do critical business tasks! WOW. Not in my enterprise.”
How about yours?
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