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MFPs:

from peripheral to integral

Xerox’s cloud-ready

ConnectKey controller

offers built-in security

and cost controls; tighter

integration with cloud

services and mobile

devices; the ability to

run apps natively on an

MFP rather than solely

on servers; a consistent

interface across all devices;

and improved ease of use.

“It’s cloud-ready, which we didn’t have before and

you can run apps locally on a device, which we didn’t

have before,” said Rick Dastin, President of Xerox Office

& Solutions Business Group.

For resellers, the platform offers new opportunities

to develop customised applications; simpler deployment

of solutions; improved device management; the ability

to make changes across an entire fleet at the touch of a

button; and remote control for training and/or support

purposes.

“This is fantastic for MPS contracts,” explained

Bertrand Cerisier, VP of technology, services and

printing, Xerox Europe. “If you are selling MPS to a

customer, you can say ‘I can connect to the device

remotely which reduces the time needed to resolve a

problem and I can train new users as well’. If you are a

reseller, you also reduce your cost of servicing a device

because there is a lot you can do remotely.”

A new approach

With ConnectKey, Xerox is attempting to shift the

customer conversation away from a narrow focus

on hardware to a discussion around workflow and

document processes.

Dastin said: “We are selling the platform story

with ConnectKey. We will sell the ConnectKey value

proposition and then fit the hardware into that

depending on your needs.”

One of its key benefits is that is

provides improved document access

and collaboration, alongside traditional

functions, such as print, copy, scan

and fax.

“We are going to change

multifunctional printers to

multifunctional document

systems, from peripheral to

integral,” Dastin said. “They

should be integrated with

workflows and have digital-

to-digital transactions as a fifth

Xerox is strengthening its leading position in managed print

services (MPS) with a new MFP platform optimised for MPS,

mobility and the cloud.

independent Samsung Printing Solutions

Business, said he would bring all his

experience of smart technology to bear on

the development of printers. “One of the

reasons I am in charge of the new print

solutions unit is that I was in charge of the

development of smartphones and Smart TVs.

I am going to adapt those state-of-the-art

technologies to give better and cheaper print

solutions for end users,” he explained.

Dr Kim’s assertion that “users find

printers difficult and confusing pieces

of equipment to use” is debatable, but

his ambition to apply technologies from

smartphones and Smart TVs in printers is

exciting. The influence of smart technology

is already being felt through printer vendors’

use of smartphone-like fingerswipe displays

and printing apps (see Xerox story opposite),

but Samsung clearly feels that there is more

scope to enhance printer usability.

Printing apps

One example shown at CeBIT is a new

mobile printing app for Samsung’s award-

winning colour printers, the CLP-415

printer and CLP-4195 series MFP. An NFC

tag provides a direct connection between

the printer and an NFC-enabled phone for

trouble-free printing. A printer app opens

automatically when you hold the phone to

the tag; then all you have to do is choose

your document and press print.

There are other ways to print from a

smartphone to a Samsung device, ranging

from Google Cloud to email-based solutions

from partners such as Equitrac, Safecom and

Ringdale, but none as simple as this.

NFC is already available as an

alternative to biometrics, cards and PINs

for authentication and once standards are

resolved and more NFC-enabled devices

come to market, businesses could start to

use NFC-enabled phones for everything from

access control and door entry systems to

cafeteria vending machines and print release.

Other applications of mobile technology

are likely to emerge from Samsung’s alliance

with Getronics, which has a large mobile app

team in Spain. Getronics already develops

consumer-friendly smartphone apps for a

number of companies including a solution for

motoring organisations that lets customers

track the location of a requested recovery

vehicle on Google Maps and another for an

airport authority that provides on-screen

maps and directions to terminal services,

such as the nearest Starbucks.

It remains to be seen what sort of apps

Samsung has in mind for printer users, but

possibilities range from locating public

printers and releasing print jobs securely to

certifying copies of authorised documents.

function of the MFP.”

This change will be driven through an open

Application Programming Interface (API) for integrating

third party solutions and the emergence of an eco-

system of simple software apps created using App

Studio templates for info and scan-to apps. Xerox

expects App Studio to be a channel platform when it

launches in Q3, but hopes that in time it will evolve

into a marketplace where customers can buy apps

developed by Xerox, resellers and third parties.

Xerox says App Studio will make it easier for

resellers to tailor an MPS to meet customers’ specific

requirements. For example, a reseller could use online

tools to design an app for scanning receipts into an

expenses reporting workflow.

This approach is supported by a customisable user

touchscreen with large easy-to-use buttons and direct

connections to SharePoint and cloud solutions such as

Google Drive, Evernote, SharePoint Online, DropBox,

PaperPort Anywhere and Salesforce.com.

Mobile printing

Also new are two mobile printing apps (one server-

and one cloud-based) that can be used with iOS and

Android devices and any type of printer or MFP; and

built-in security. As standard, Cisco TrustSec protects

data paths to and from the devices, while embedded

McAfee software detects malware based on the

whitelisting of allowed file types. Upgrades provide

Page 33 - Print.IT Reseller - Spring13