Print.IT Reseller
01732 759725
28
HP Officejet
Enterprise X:
enterprise-class
functionality with
printing at up to
twice the speed
and half the cost
of lasers
Instant Ink:
changing the way
people buy print
interview
one big device that everyone shares.
Today, when you send a print job to a
50-user group departmental device, you
walk up to the device, most probably
authenticate yourself using a pull print
solution, collect your print-out and go.
It’s relatively fast. If you are scanning, the
amount of time you spend at the device is
a lot longer. If scanning is going to become
a bigger part of what people do, it raises
the question of whether a departmental
device can handle the volume, because
the last thing you want is a queue of
people all waiting to use the scanning
function. If this becomes a function more
people need, and we believe it will, then
it’s questionable whether a departmental
device can support a multitude of users all
wanting to scan. This is why we have been
innovating the scanner function, bringing
enterprise scanning into an MFP platform
that can operate at a workgroup level of
10-15 people rather than the typical 30-50
departmental level.”
Flow MFPs
A good example of this approach is HP’s
Flow MFPs, which are optimised for digital
workflows with higher speed, dual-
head scanners, featuring HP everypage
technology to eliminate misfeeds and large
touchscreen displays for easy data input
and scan routing.
Routing options include the HP Flow
CM Professional content management
system based on software from Autonomy.
Integration with HP Flow CM Professional,
which can be installed on-site or accessed
via the cloud (in the US only, so far),
enables users to capture, index, store,
search for, retrieve and print documents at
the MFP control panel, as well as through
any standard web browser.
“We see scanning as a big growth
opportunity and a pull-through business.
Our focus is on simplifying it: first by
industrialising the scanning piece so that
it is not an ‘oh, by the way, the device also
scans’ feature, but an essential part of the
product; and secondly by simplifying how
it integrates, making the user interface
very intuitive and standardising it across
the range both for laser and ink devices,”
Tierney explained.
As an illustration of how scan-enabled
MFPs can improve everyday business
processes even where employees don't
have access to PCs, such as in retail,
Tierney cites the example of holiday forms.
“You fill in a form, your manager
signs it and it goes off to HR and is filed
somewhere. It’s a very simple process. If
you design a printable holiday form with
a barcode on it, everyone can print one
off at the device, add their details, sign
it, hand it to the manager to get signed
and then put it back on the device and hit
scan. The barcode will direct it straight to
where it needs to go. You can make it all
happen very quickly, very simply. You can
design complex processes and deploy them
to every device from one central system.
The look and feel is exactly the same
whether you are at a device in Reading or
Edinburgh or Liverpool.”
Instant Ink
Another HP innovation that, like Flow CM
Professional, makes use of the cloud is
HP’s newly launched Instant Ink
subscription service, which automatically
provides consumables for web-connected
HP Envy and Officejet Pro printers.
Subscribers pay a small monthly charge
(from just £1.99 per month) for a fixed
number of pages (colour or mono) and are
sent as many replacement cartridges as
they need on a just-in-time basis as part of
their subscription.
“This addresses specific customer
feedback we have had for years now about
1) the cost of printing and 2) convenience.
How do people keep track of which ink
cartridge is right for their device? Typically,
the only time anyone finds out they need
a new cartridge, is when ink levels fall to
very low levels, often when they are in the
middle of an important print job. Instant
Ink addresses a lot of pain points and at
the same time it addresses the cost piece.
We are pretty excited about it,” Tierney
said.
“This is a whole new business model.
It goes back to cloud, mobility, big data
and security. They will change the face
of how IT in all its forms is consumed
and delivered. Instant Ink and the cloud
deliver a totally new business model. Will it
include laser in the future? It is too early to
say. Could it? Well, yes.”
The return of ink
HP claims Instant Ink customers can save
as much as 70% on ink costs. The actual
level of savings will depend on people
using their full page allowance and
maximising ink coverage, but the message
is clear: ink is not only convenient but also
economical – an argument that HP has
long used in connection with its Officejet
Pro printers/MFPs, which it promotes on
the basis that they provide colour at twice
the speed and half the cost of comparable
laser devices.
Originally targeted at consumers and
micro businesses, the Officejet Pro range
has recently been expanded to meet the
needs of workgroups, with the Pro X
series, and more recently enterprises and
...continued
Continued...
HP claims
Instant Ink
customers can
save as much
as 70% on ink
costs.
