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PRINT.IT
9
www.binfo.co.uk
Integrating mobiles in the
workplace
Canon Partner Channel director
Matthew Searle is confident
that in the future more tablet/
smartphone users will elect to
print from their devices.
“An IDC study published
in February showed that the
percentage of users who printed
from their mobile devices
increased dramatically in 2012,
and the percentage of those
who either don’t or don’t want
to print will decline from almost
50% in 2012 to just 25% in
2015,” he said.
He points out that these
findings support the interim
Mobile printing: Easy does it
results of Canon’s own pan-
European survey of end
users and decision-makers,
which show the importance
of integrating tablets and
smartphones into the workplace
so that every employee can print
when they need to.
“The value placed on printed
documents nowadays is greater
than ever. Our study found that
83% of users still print every
single day while one in three
respondents would not be able to
work without printers, scanners
or copiers. A whopping 95% of
workers would actually be greatly
affected in their work practices if
they were taken away.
As sales of tablets outstrip computers, the debate
about their impact on page volumes rages on.
Will they reduce the need for printing by making it
easier for people to carry and access documents
in digital form? Or will mobile printing apps that
simplify printing from mobile devices cause mobile
workers to fall back in love with printing?
Mobile Printing
“As tablets infiltrate the
workplace and users move to
creating and editing documents
on tablets rather than laptop or
desktop computers, demand for
mobile printing will increase.”
Closing the gap
Gary Downey, group marketing
director of Balreed, argues that
there is still a long way to go
before mobile printing becomes
seamless, especially for
businesses that don’t have a well
thought out print strategy.
“The print landscape is going
through a rapid evolution at the
moment as far as mobile printing
is concerned. Manufacturers
are adding mobile printing
support onto new printers and
MFDs but there are still many
older machines out there that
do not support it. Equally there
are a multitude of apps that
deliver some printing capability
to mobile devices, but the onus
is on the user to discover what
works for them on different
platforms and overcome the
frequent issues they encounter.
“In the long term mobile
printing will become a norm, just
as wireless has, but there’s still
quite a way to go before we have
that seamless environment, and
for as long as it takes for the void
to close we have the contradiction
of convenient devices that find
printing inconvenient.
“In the office environment in
particular our clients are having
to face up to the Bring Your Own
Device (BYOD) boom. The new
iPad mini, its big brother iPad,
the iPhone and other brands of
tablet device are being adopted
so rapidly and many of these are
making their way into the office.
Whether staff are now bringing
their own mobile devices into the
workplace, or businesses are
providing these devices to their
more mobile staff, there’s one
challenge they bring with them:
printing. It should be simple, but
with different operating systems
and security it just isn’t.
“For organisations with a more
mature print strategy this is less
of a challenge to resolve. As an
independent provider, Balreed
can tailor a print management
system that satisfies the needs
of mobile users alongside their
wired colleagues and deliver
the same consistent control and
reporting.
“However the vast majority
of organisations just want an
easy, safe way for mobile staff
and visitors to send a job to a
printer or MFD on the network.
To solve this problem we’ve
introduced Zapp. With Zapp, staff
and visitors who use Apple iPads,
iPhones or Android devices can
Phil Jones, managing director
of Brother UK, comments
on the importance of mobile
printing for productivity
“Ten years ago, homeworking
was a hot topic. The near-
universal roll out of broadband
to our homes meant that
employees could connect to
their workplace from their
back bedroom, dining room
or kitchen. The question was
whether employers would trust
their staff to be productive
when out of sight.
“The answer was yes and
no. Enlightened employers have
seen the productivity benefits
of allowing their people to
avoid the daily commute and
efficiency savings from reduced
central office space and
costs. However, there are still
thousands of companies that
base their operations around
formal centralised office spaces.
“But there is one big
trend that’s almost made the
homeworking debate redundant
and that’s roam working.
“Whether we like it or not,
we’re all working pretty much all
the time during waking hours,
not just 9 to 5. We’re working
in the office, on the road and
at home. Business is portable.
It’s done from smartphones,
tablets and laptops wherever
we happen to be, during our
commute, lunch break and as
soon as our alarm goes off in
the morning.
“This has its benefits for
employers. By equipping
employees with mobile devices,
they are permanently connected
and always available. But
although the functionality of
smartphones and tablets is
increasing all the time, with
the development of ever-more
sophisticated business software
and apps, there’s still a missing
link. These devices don’t give
people a complete office in their
pocket.
“This is where the next
opportunity exists for employers
that want to empower their
workers with portable offices
and the ability to handle most
normal office functions on
the move. That opportunity is
portable printing and scanning.
“Printing and scanning
on the go means that mobile
workers can share work with
those at the office as well as
clients they are meeting with
when on the road.
“Greater flexibility in IT is
reflecting the greater flexibility
in working habits. Work is taking
place everywhere and BYOD
policies enable employees
to pick the IT equipment
which best suits their working
habits. Mobile print and scan
supports this flexibility to enable
productive working on the go.”
From home working to roam working
Continued...
Canon’s new A4 black-and-white
MFDs, the imageRUNNER ADVANCE
400i and 500i, allow users to print
from any Google Cloud Print-enabled
web and mobile app, or scan to and
print from iPad, iPhone and Android
mobile devices.
RJ Series