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01732 759725
Established in 1990, the company
initially had a firm foothold within
the education sector, providing
hardware and software solutions
to schools, including printers,
projectors and complementary
solutions designed to integrate
with the widely used SIMS school
management system.
With a heritage in developing bespoke
business solutions, BITS soon shifted
its focus towards printing and printer
management, developing a range of
products that organisations across the
world now use to audit, monitor and
manage their print devices.
BITS sells these solutions through
the distribution and reseller channels. As
Director Bryan Stone points out, it also
works closely with the major OEMs.
“We have a relationship with all the
major manufacturers, developing bespoke
embedded solutions for them to bring
to market. Our extensive experience
of embedded platforms and print
technologies means that we can ensure
our solutions are optimised to get the
maximum from each vendor’s device,” he
said.
Bespoke application
As an example, Stone cites a recent
bespoke application for DSales, the
distributor of Develop MFPs, which was
launched at the firm’s open day in June.
“About 12 months ago we developed
a new product called Document
Management Server Assistant (DMSA)
for SIMS, and launched this to work with
both Sharp and Brother devices. DSales
approached us about developing it for the
Develop platform, which we did, and it
was officially launched to DSales channel
partners at the recent open day,” he said.
DMSA for SIMS software enables
documents to be batch scanned in a few
simple steps and was originally designed
to help administrative staff quickly and
easily scan piles of paperwork and file the
resulting electronic documents within the
SIMS school management system.
“Although SIMS provides the ability to
upload scanned documents to a student
profile, each document has to be added
individually, which can be time-consuming
and tedious. With DMS Assistant,
we’ve streamlined the process; multiple
documents, including student records and
staff information, can be scanned and
stored directly against a record in SIMS
without having to waste time scanning
individual documents,” explained Stone.
“This solution has been hugely
successful for us. And it is particularly
relevant with the advent of GDPR. It is
helping schools meet the security, auditing
and portability requirements of the new
legislation.”
MPS solutions
In addition to custom solutions, BITS has a
comprehensive suite of standard products,
including its flagship MPS solution, the
OneStop MPS Portal.
Launched ten years ago, this tool
automatically collects meter readings
from any networked printer or MFP and
orders consumables for pro-active supplies
replenishment. It can also be set up to
monitor status and consumable levels for
all network devices to aid a pro-active
response to any problems that might occur.
OneStop MPS Portal uses standard
network protocols, such as SNMP for
device readings and HTTPS for the secure
Although less well known than some other software houses, independent
software vendor Business I.T. Systems (BITS) has a strong portfolio of print
management and MPS solutions
Custom-built MPS solutions
uploading of results, and can export all
data in CSV or XML formats for importing
seamlessly into most back-office systems.
“We developed this solution as
we recognised that one of the biggest
challenges for dealers delivering MPS was
to collect and record all of the information
available from the devices, such as meter
readings, how much toner is left, faults
or problems, in order to keep customers’
fleets up and running,” explained Stone.
While OEMs have their own proprietary
MPS solutions, Stone points out that these
are often designed to work only with their
own machines. “Different manufacturers
all have very different tools to perform
this task, each requiring their own
configurations and producing reports in
different formats. OneStop MPSPortal has
been designed to work across a wide range
of devices, covering all manufacturers,
providing everything an MPS provider
needs in one easy to use tool,” he said.
Ease of use extends to the licensing
agreement, which is based on the number
of machines monitored. This, says Stone,
makes the solution accessible to everyone
from SMEs to large enterprises. “It can
also be adapted easily to suit changing
requirements, so dealers can be confident
that it will always be suitable regardless of
customer size or location,” he explained.
Other standard solutions offered by
BITS include the OneStop MPSKey, a
USB device that provides a snapshot of
all devices on a network; PrintRelease,
an embedded secure print solution; and
Metis, a software tool for Sharp machines
designed to report meter click information
collected automatically from the email
server or entered manually.
For Stone, it is not just the company’s
product range that sets BITS apart from
the competition, but also its ability to meet
customers’ individual and evolving needs.
“For us, customer satisfaction is the
key driver,” he said. “As a relatively small
UK company, we are able to flex, to listen
to customer needs and to respond by
creating and adapting solutions to suit
where required. We are forward-looking
and geared to continually evolve our offer
to meet changing market and customer
requirements.”
COMPANY PROFILE
One of the
biggest
challenges
for dealers
delivering
MPS is to
collect and
record all
the
information
available
from devices
