32
PRINT.IT
01732 759725
ANALYSIS
can improve product design and
accelerate innovation. Developing
strategic partnerships with open
technology vendors can pave the way
for seamless integration of printers/
MFPs with mobile devices and drive
the development of a broader mobile
solutions and services ecosystem.
n
Expanding high value print
services.
Last year, online brands
such as Net-a-Porter and Airbnb
expanded their brands into print, and
print launches amongst independent
publishers are at a 10-year high.
Print’s tangibility and durability, its
credibility and the feelings of trust it
produces can set it apart from the
noisy, cluttered online landscape.
Research has shown that readers
are more likely to retain information
on printed material, leading to
higher engagement levels. Many
print vendors can leverage their own
or third party hardware (including
print, visual and display signage
technologies), services and tools
to develop cross media channel
communications. Partnerships with
technology vendors in this space will
enable print vendors to participate in
both the online and offline customer
communications space.
Conclusion
The print industry cannot afford
to rest on its laurels and must be
mindful of the speed and dramatic
transformation experienced in other
industries. Consider how Salesforce,
Amazon Web Services and even
Uber have rewritten the rules of
their markets. Is there potential
for a similar disruptive force in the
largely closed and proprietary print
industry? Disruption may not come
from traditional competitors, but
from those outside the industry.
To adapt and thrive, the industry
must become more open, expand
partnerships outside the industry
and continuously innovate. This
means creating new products and/
or channels and engaging customers
and partners in new ways. Ultimately
the question remains, is the print
industry ready to disrupt itself?
With over 20 years’ experience in the
print industry, Louella Fernandes is
a respected and globally recognised
analyst focusing on the evolution of
business printing. Louella is currently
Associate Director for Print Services
and Solutions at Quocirca.
...continued
On October 1, as part of a corporate
restructuring, Sharp brought together its
AV and printing divisions, Sharp Visual
Solutions and Sharp Document Business,
under the umbrella of Sharp Business
Solutions Group.
Sharp Business Solutions Group is one of
five new units that Sharp intends to run as
‘virtual’ businesses, each responsible for its
own revenue, profit and loss and investment
strategy. The other four cover consumer
electronics, energy solutions, display devices
(components) and electronic devices and
components
The new, flatter structure is designed
to encourage quicker decision-making and
will give individual units more power to
invest their profits in new business areas.
In the case of the profitable Sharp Business
Solutions Group, these include robotics and
medical/healthcare.
Bringing together printing and audio-
visual solutions under the same roof will
help Sharp integrate its MFPs with monitors,
whiteboards and digital signage; diversify its
offering; and build deeper relationships with
customers.
At Inspire Expo 2015 held in Malta in
October – the first Sharp Inspire Expo for
three years – Mr Jeff Ashida, President
of Sharp Information Systems Europe,
described this approach as ‘Beyond MFP’.
Its fruits can already be seen in the
integration of Sharp MFPs and Big Pad
displays with the document sharing and
collaboration solution Cloud Portal Office,
and with the launch of Sharp Optimised
Managed Services (OMS) featured on the
cover of the last issue.
OMS extends the scope of managed print
services to include print, cloud storage,
display screens and workflow software,
and links all the different elements under
the umbrella of a single service provider.
Customers benefit from solutions optimised
to work together and the ability to rationalise
their supplier base.
Inspire Expo was also the launchpad
for several Sharp products including new
generation MX colour A3 MFPs boasting
a streamlined user interface that requires
just two button presses to copy. The range
includes 13 products with print speeds from
30 to 60 pages per minute and includes two
lines – a basic version for organisations with
simple needs and an advanced version for
customers with more complex, solutions-
based requirements.
Useful features include duplex scanners
that scan both sides of a page in a single
pass at speeds of 100 pages/200 images
per minute; direct connections to cloud
services, such as Microsoft 365 and
Google Drive; a direct USB print capability
for Microsoft Office files; a built-in server
offering follow me secure print across up
to five devices; and a motion sensor that
detects when someone walks up to a device
and automatically lights up the display.
Other new products include pre-packaged
scan, print and document management
solutions created in partnership with leading
software suppliers like Ysoft and drivve;
light production devices that combine the
flexibility and user interface of Sharp’s
office range with the productivity benefits of
production devices such as air-fed feeding,
in-line finishing and support for a wide range
of paper stocks; an 80-inch interactive Big
Pad; and a new version of Sharp’s cloud-
based storage and collaboration solution,
Cloud Portal Office 2, which has been
enhanced with light document management
capabilities such as manual indexing and
syncing with mobile devices.
In the first quarter of 2016, Sharp plans
to bring out Cloud Portal Office 2.1, which
will include automatic indexing through OCR
and an API that enables partners to integrate
third party software and develop solutions
for specific vertical industries, such as legal,
finance, healthcare and education, as well as
business functions like HR.
Sharp expands its offering to meet
demand for integrated document
solutions
Beyond MFPs
