COVER STORY
PRINT.IT
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range. In addition to market-leading
printing technology, Vision MPS
customers now have access to a
diverse range of A3 products with a
total of 54 SKUs, offering customers
higher levels of customisation and
security with optimised device
uptime.
High availability
When HP announced its new A3
devices it promised to shake up
the existing $55 billion market
and transform business printing by
delivering technology that’s simpler,
more reliable and easier and
cheaper to service than competitor
models.
HP is delivering on this through
a combination of innovative
product design and improved
device monitoring. For example,
its cloud-based Smart Device
Services (SDS) technology provides
advanced diagnostics, device-
specific troubleshooting and remote
remediation capabilities to ensure
that devices are always available
when customers want to print, copy
or scan.
Smyth is impressed with this
aspect of HP’s new technology,
aimed at potentially reducing running
costs. Economical operation is a
particular benefit of HP PageWide
devices, which Vision will also be
going to market with.
This game-changing inkjet
technology combines a page-wide
printhead, fast-drying inks and a flat
paper path and 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 for
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 said.
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 far more significant, 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 be a major
consideration for all 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 devices include: HP Sure
Start BIOS, which validates the
integrity of the BIOS at every boot
cycle and restarts the device using
a safe ‘golden copy’ of the BIOS
if it discovers a compromised
version; whitelisting to ensure 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 solutions, 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 other areas of operations,
including production print and 3D
print.
“Our future strategy 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,” he said.
In choosing a managed print
services provider, public and
private sector organisations must
think about their current print and
document needs and how
those requirements might
change in the future,
whether as a result
of business growth,
digitisation or the changing
needs of their customers.
The partnership between
HP and Vision, in which
both parties are committed
to improving the efficiency
of printing and document
processes, ensures that
customers will always
have access to the best
technology, knowledge and
expertise, whatever the
future brings.
Mark Smyth,
Chief Operating Officer,
and
Philip Bond,
Chief Executive,
Vision
