PrintIT issue48

PRINT.IT 3 www.printitmag.co.uk ISSN 2055-3099 (Print) ISSN 2055-3102 (Online) THE PRINT & DOCUMENT WORKFLOW MAGAZINE Read PrintIT online... www.printitmag.co.uk @printitmag www.facebook.com/BinfoMag ISSN 2055-3099 (Print) ISSN 2055-3102 (Online) 05 Bulletin IBM creates its first typeface 16 Cover Story How FollowMe’s data loss prevention (DLP) features can help maintain data security 19 Print 2017/2018 Leading lights from the printer industry pick their highlights from 2017 and predict what will be big in 2018 29 Production Print Canon’s record order with Synertec 30 What’s New New print products and initiatives 32 Computers How new Microsoft hardware helps to create more fluid document processes 34 Label Printers Northwick Park Hospital Pharmacy cuts two hours off discharge times with Toshiba TEC label printers ISSUE 48 www.printitmag.co.uk Comment Editor: James Goulding 07803 087228 • [email protected] Advertising Director: Ethan White 01732 759725 • [email protected] Publishing Director: Neil Trim 01732 759725 • [email protected] Group Sales Manager: Martin Jenner-Hall 07824 552116 • [email protected] Social Media and Web Editor: John Peters 07711 204011 • [email protected] Art Director: NIck Pledge 07767 615983 • [email protected] Editorial Assistant: Tayla Ansell 01962 843434 • [email protected] Advertising Executive: James Trim 01732 759725 • [email protected] PRINT.IT is published by Kingswood Media Ltd., Amherst House, 22 London Road, Sevenoaks TN13 2BT • Tel: 01732 759725 No part of PRINT.IT can be reproduced without prior written permission of the publisher. © 2017 Kingswood Media Ltd. Production Design: Sandtiger Media · www.sandtiger.co.uk The paper used in this magazine is obtained from manufacturers who operate within internationally recognized standards and which is sourced from sustainable, properly managed forestation. COMMENT HP’s acquisition of Samsung’s printer business was one of the big news stories of 2017, so it is fitting that the process was completed just before we go to press with our round-up of this year’s highlights and our preview of the big themes of 2018. Many of the trends that dominated the last 12 months will continue in 2018 – on-going consolidation in the printer industry, the rise of business inkjet, the digitisation of business processes, the need to secure MFPs. The last of these is unarguably the most important. MFP security has become a key differentiator for printer vendors. HP took a lead on this a couple of years ago by incorporating security features from its computer business into its MFPs and since then has built on its advantage with publicity campaigns like The Wolf starring Christian Slater. Other vendors have followed HP’s lead – as we report on page 5, Sharp is claiming to be the first vendor to comply with more stringent standards developed with input from the US and Japanese governments – and will continue to do so as end user customers reassess their data security processes in light of GDPR, coming into force in May. To date, most vendors and their customers have focused on the networking/computing aspects of MFPs to secure the corporate network and protect digital data that resides on, or is sent to and from, devices. As Ringdale explains in this month’s cover story on page 16, it is equally important to prevent printed documents from ending up in the hands of competitors or criminals. Secure printing plays an important part by significantly reducing the risk of unattended documents being taken from a printer output tray. Another aspect that receives less attention – in the printed sphere at least – is how to stop dishonest employees from printing commercially sensitive or private material in the first place. Data Loss Prevention (DLP) technology that detects, prevents and warns about the printing of confidential information is an under-used feature of FollowMe and some other secure print solutions. With the penalties for and cost of data breaches on the rise, it makes sense to take advantage of DLP if only to demonstrate a commitment to data security. When we asked vendors to highlight the big technology trends of 2018, almost all cited Artificial Intelligence (AI). None mentioned improvements to the MFP user interface that could be brought about by developments in speech recognition. If Microsoft’s Vice President for Surface, Panos Panay, is right and “innovation is when devices disappear and ideas come to the fore” (see page 32), isn’t it time vendors exploited speech recognition to enable more natural interactions with their devices? James Goulding , Editor [email protected] IBM Plex