PRINT
IT
RESELLER.UK
19
COVER STORY
The game-
changing
inkjet
technology,
which
combines a
page-wide
printhead,
fast-drying
inks and a
flat paper
path, offers
a high
speed,
economical
alternative
to laser
MFPs
to offer higher levels of customisation,
industry-leading security and longer device
uptime via HP’s cloud-based Smart Device
Services (SDS) technology, which adds
advanced diagnostics, device-specific
troubleshooting and remote remediation
capabilities to the MPS tool sets used by
HP resellers.
When HP announced its new A3
devices it promised to shake up the
existing $55 billion copier market and
transform business printing by delivering
devices that were simpler, more reliable
and easier and cheaper to service than
competitor models.
Smyth is impressed with this aspect
of HP’s new toner devices but says it is
too early to determine exactly what effect
they will have on resellers’ cost base and,
therefore, prices for customers.
“HP is using a Samsung engine to
make a device with low running costs and
easy servicing, which is a key feature and
desirable for all resellers. HP has said that
they are more cost-effective than existing
A3 MFPs, but given the current market
competitiveness, it is difficult to gauge how
much more affordable an HP Laserjet MFP
might be for customers over the course
of an MPS contract, compared to a model
from another provider,” he said.
Smyth is more forthright about the cost
benefits of HP PageWide devices, which
Vision will also be taking on.
The game-changing inkjet technology,
which combines a page-wide printhead,
fast-drying inks and a flat paper path,
offers a high speed, economical alternative
to laser MFPs for organisations that value
low running costs more highly than print
quality.
“PageWide is a cost-efficient,
high performance technology. It is not
necessarily the highest quality output
device – it's not aimed at the high quality
print market, but at organisations that
need entry-level colour print quality at
high speed. It is very cost-effective and
that gives us the potential to reach new
customers,” he explained.
Smyth expects a great deal of
interest from Government and public
sector organisations, a market that
Vision knows well thanks to its position
on three purchasing frameworks – the
National Education Printer Agreement
(NEPA); Crown Commercial Service
(CCS), incorporating Yorkshire Purchasing
Organisation (YPO) and Eastern Shires
Purchasing Organisation (ESPO); and the
Crescent Purchasing Consortium (CPC).
“Because of their responsibilities, public
sector bodies are very cost-conscious.
Running costs for them are much more
significant than print quality, which makes
PageWide a very interesting proposition for
that market,” he said.
World class security
Another aspect of HP MFPs that Smyth
expects to resonate with Government
buyers is their world class security. With
GDPR regulations coming into force in less
than a year, this should also be a major
consideration for commercial organisations.
“MFPs need to be secured like any
other intelligent network device, not just to
protect print data and printed output, but
to prevent cyber-criminals from using print
devices as a way into an organisation’s
network and IT infrastructure,” he
explained. “HP uses a combination of
hardware and firmware to ensure that
this ‘back door’ remains firmly locked and
alarmed.”
Embedded security features on HP’s
devices include: HP Sure Start BIOS, which
validates the integrity of the BIOS at every
boot cycle and, if a compromised version
is discovered, restarts the device using a
safe ‘golden copy’ of the BIOS; whitelisting
to ensure that only authentic, good HP
code is loaded into memory; and run-time
intrusion detection, which helps protect
devices while they are operational and
connected to the network by checking for
anomalies during firmware and memory
operations and by rebooting in the event of
an intrusion.
Other security features include built-in
encryption to protect data stored on the
hard drive, secure erase to remove sensitive
information from the device and the ability
to disable ports and protocols to prevent
unauthorised access.
Future plans
Vision is currently three years into a five-
year plan to double in size by 2020. It
hopes to achieve this goal by continuing
to develop its core business of managed
print and document services, whilst also
focusing on production printing, IT services,
client retention and service excellence.
Production print is a fast growing part
of Vision’s business that offers considerable
scope for an even deeper relationship
with HP.
In a recent interview with
PrintIT
Reseller
, Neil Sawyer pointed out that
one of the benefits HP resellers enjoy is
HP's commitment to growing both its core
business – transactional and managed
print – and new areas of operations, such
as 3D print.
“Our future strategy with partners
is looking beyond what the market
demands today to what we know they’ll be
demanding in the future. A good example
would be the investment we've been
putting into 3D printing; we genuinely
believe that is a game-changer for the
future. Whether with our core or our future
strategy, HP has got a very sustainable
partnership with our resellers. We don’t
stand still and we always help them grow
in areas that perhaps they hadn’t explored
in the past,” he said.
With ambitious growth targets of its
own, Vision appears to have found the
perfect partner in HP. A shared vision for
growth and a shared appetite for success
make theirs a relationship with huge
potential.
Mark Smyth,
Chief Operating Officer,
and
Philip Bond,
Chief Executive,
Vision
