As office technology dealers face growing expectations for security, data insight, and operational efficiency, Nexera is making strategic moves to stay ahead. The long-standing provider of data-driven SaaS solutions for the imaging channel has announced a major infrastructure upgrade and staff expansion aimed at scaling its services and deepening its value proposition.
The upgrade centers on a transition to a high-performance Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform hosted by DataBank in Minneapolis, Minnesota. “We’ve been with DataBank since around 2018,” said Brett Sisell, head of research and development at Nexera. “But we were using a self-hosted tech stack. Now, we’ve moved to an IaaS (Internet as a Service) cloud-hosted solution within a different division of the same company.”
The shift enables Nexera to scale and modernize its analytics platforms, including its Sales Atlas tool, which offers sales territory mapping, market insights, and performance analytics. “This move gives us flexibility. On the old co-location style, where we owned and maintained physical servers, it was hard to make changes on the fly,” Sisell explained. “Now, we can modify the tech stack quickly. Most of it is automated by DataBank.”
What It Means for Dealers
Though much of the migration happened behind the scenes, the benefits for dealers will soon be visible. “Dealers should begin to notice enhancements to Sales Atlas and other capabilities,” Sisell said. “This infrastructure shift allows us to launch updates more efficiently without waiting for hardware installs or manual configuration.”
One major driver of the upgrade was security and compliance. “We’ve added more robust backups and taken important steps toward achieving SOC 2 compliance,” Sisell said. “While clients might not feel these changes day to day, they expect high standards of security and connectivity from the technology businesses they partner with. This is our response to that.”
“Everybody’s looking at ‘how do I make my infrastructure and software solutions more secure?’” added Sarah Henderson, Nexera’s regional director. “It’s very important in this day and age.”
Dealers may also notice smoother integration with systems like e-automate and expanded support for additional platforms. “The goal is a more connected, scalable ecosystem,” said Sisell.
Henderson emphasized that speed is another key benefit. “This means quicker processing time for daily data uploads,” she said. “We want our clients to see their service analytics and performance in real time, and this new infrastructure helps us do that faster and more efficiently.”
Boosting AI, Modeling, and Usability
Beyond infrastructure, the company is enhancing the core capabilities of its solutions. “The main thing is expanding Sales Atlas’s data modeling,” explained Sisell. “We currently use about 20,000 businesses to build those models, and we’re working to increase that to half a million. That’s now possible thanks to the infrastructure upgrade and some new proprietary AI data enrichment technologies.”
AI is increasingly central to Nexera’s product development. “We’re using AI to speed up software development and improve the modeling and data capabilities within Sales Atlas,” Sisell said. “It also helps us act on customer feedback more quickly, eliminating pain points and improving usability.”
While some upgrades, such as faster load times and syncing, may be transparent to the end user at first, these changes will ultimately improve navigation, performance, and responsiveness. “This is what we’ve always done, taking user feedback and translating it into better tools. Now we can do that faster,” Sisell added.
From Service to Sales—and Beyond
Historically, Nexera has been recognized for its backend operations, particularly in service analytics and technician performance management. “We’ve been excellent since the ‘90s at analyzing how imaging machines function—what works, what doesn’t, and how to optimize service,” Sisell said. “Now we’re applying that same philosophy to sales.”
That shift is embodied in Sales Atlas, Nexera’s newest platform that offers data-driven sales territory planning, market penetration analysis, and opportunity targeting. “Dealers used to try using our service-mapping tools to map sales territories,” Henderson said. “With Sales Atlas, we’ve created a separate dataset tailored to sales functions. You can evaluate realistic machine population, identify top verticals in specific zip codes, and plan marketing efforts accordingly.”
The company is already looking to bring similar insight to managed IT. “We’re in the early stages,” Sisell said. “But clients are asking us to apply the same tools we use for managing imaging technicians to their managed IT teams, things like KPIs, incentive plans, and field performance.”
Dealer Value: Customized and Continuous
Despite the complexity of its tools, Nexera focuses on ease of use. “We offer automated solutions to very specific dealer challenges—how to assign equipment, how to stock parts, how to assess and incentivize techs,” Sisell explained. “Dealers sign on with us because they have those challenges, and we give them easy ways to solve them.”
Customization is key. “Nexera is not a one-size-fits-all solution,” added Henderson. “We work with each dealer based on their size, product lines, and region. Our analyst team isn’t just technical; they’ve held leadership roles in dealerships. They know what it’s like.”
Growing the Team Behind the Tech
Technology alone isn’t enough to meet rising dealer expectations. To that end, Nexera has also expanded its team, bringing on a new senior analyst, a junior analyst, and a data operations engineer.
“We have a lot to do,” said Sisell. “Speeding up development is critical, and you need the people behind it to make it happen. Tech is the tool, but people make the company.”
Henderson added that the hires are not just filling gaps but strengthening the company’s overall capabilities. “We hired a new data operations engineer to help us grow the database structure,” she said. “We also brought on Olivia Dolley, an analyst with a fresh perspective from outside the channel.”
Additionally, Nexera hired Sam Schillabeer, a seasoned industry professional with experience managing technician teams. “Sam is a great addition to our Midwest-based analyst team,” said Sisell. “He’s walked in the shoes of our clients. He understands the challenges because he’s lived them.”
Nexera’s Vision for the Future
The infrastructure upgrade is part of a broader push to reaffirm Nexera’s role as a pillar in the imaging channel, following its acquisition by Valsoft. “There were questions at the time,” Henderson acknowledged. “But the reality is, we’re investing in growth. This infrastructure move is proof that we’re not going anywhere.”
She emphasized that Nexera maintains the world’s largest database of machine parts and technician performance. “And that’s just not here in the U.S. We have global clients in Europe and Australia that we’re maintaining this machine performance analytics on,” said Henderson. “We have all of this data, and then what do we do with that data? We work with dealers and OEMs to turn that into actionable information. The infrastructure needed to support that is not for the faint of heart.”
She added that what Nexera had before was excellent, now the focus is on making it better. That vision includes continued platform enhancement, strategic partnerships, and perhaps a larger sales team. “Right now, I’m wearing a lot of hats,” said Henderson. “We’re looking to bring in more sales talent to support expansion.”
Both Henderson and Sisell are excited about what’s coming beyond Nexera’s recent press announcement. “The main focus is teaming up with the tech companies in this space to solve the actual needs that these mutual clients have,” said Sisell. “At the same time, we have been investing heavily in the Sales Atlas capabilities and expect to launch an enhanced Sales Atlas in the coming months that will have a lot of new capabilities.”
Nexera’s mission remains rooted in its legacy. “We’re building on the foundation that Wes McCartor and the BEI Services team created,” Henderson said. “That means honoring the value of our world-class database while bringing new solutions to help dealers navigate the future, whether in service, sales, or managed IT. There’s going to be a lot to come in the next year.”
For Nexera and the office technology dealers they serve, the future is data-rich, AI-powered, and increasingly collaborative.
