Managed.IT - issue 52

30 MANAGED.IT 01732 759725 BUSINESS INKJET Brother UK has completed its portfolio of professional print solutions for small and medium- sized businesses with a new series of A3 business inkjets, offering high performance and low running costs, and an improved range of A4 colour laser printers for small offices. The X-Series of A3 business inkjet devices includes two single-function printers and three multifunction devices. All offer automatic double-sided printing in A3; print speeds of 22 pages per minute (mono) and 20ppm (colour); a paper capacity of up to 750 sheets; and a low cost per page. The combination of competitive purchase prices and the option of high yield ink cartridges with capacities of 6,000 pages for black and 5,000 pages for cyan, magenta and yellow makes the X-Series an economical alternative to laser- based devices. Market growth of 10% per annum indicates that business owners appreciate the benefits offered by business inkjet technology, which also include lower energy consumption and less waste than laser devices and the ability to print onto a wide range of media, from paper and card to prescriptions and point of sale materials. X-Series printers are available as part of a Brother managed print service, which helps SMBs work more efficiently by providing better visibility and control of print across a business and by reducing admin through the automatic ordering of replacement printer cartridges. Hassan Masaud, product and solutions manager at Brother UK, said: “The launch of the X-Series completes our professional print portfolio, which now features the full range of mono, colour, inkjet, A4 and A3 devices. This gives us and our partners a competitive edge in providing market-leading print solutions to businesses across a variety of sectors.” He added: “With a low total cost of ownership and impressive cost per page when printing large volumes, the X-Series is ideal for SMBs that are looking for opportunities to reduce costs without compromising on quality. The range offers reliable, high-speed A4 printing with the added option to print A3 at no extra cost.” Built for business The X-Series meets the network security needs of business customers, with built-in IPsec support and access control conforming to the IEEE 802.1x security standard and an intrusion detection capability that automatically recognises attacks and takes preventative measures to ensure systems are safe. Other security features include secure document sharing via SFTP, with encryption and password protection for data transfer and safe printing via SSL encryption; a Secure Function Lock 2.0 feature that makes it easy for IT managers to restrict machine functionality and capabilities to designated users; and an optional SecurePrint+ feature that delays printing until a job is released with an assigned, NFC-enabled card. In addition to NFC and wireless connectivity, X-Series devices are AirPrint and Google Cloud Print compatible and can be integrated with cloud services such as One Drive for Business, Google Drive and Dropbox. Cloud nine For the small or home office, Brother is bringing out the nine-strong L3000 range of A4 colour laser printers. As well as being faster and quieter than the 3000 and 9000 series they are replacing, the new devices are claimed to offer better print quality. Toner cartridges are available in a choice of capacities and prices to suit the different needs of occasional and regular printers. www.brother.co.uk Brother has expanded its printer offering with the X-Series of A3 business inkjet devices and an enhanced range of colour laser printers for the small office/home office X hits the spot Market growth of 10% per annum indicates that business owners appreciate the benefits offered by business inkjet technology DCP-L3550CDW MFC-J6947 In brief: EcoTank for business Epson is bringing its EcoTank brand to business customers, with the launch of 10 professional devices. Like the 30 million EcoTank consumer models Epson has sold globally, these new devices have extra-large, refillable ink tanks that generate less waste than conventional printers and cut ink costs by an average of 90%. Each refill bottle has a yield of 6,000 pages, the equivalent of 94 cartridges. So far, Epson has launched three out of 10 new models. http://www.epson.eu The benefits of MPS Small businesses across the UK are at risk of data breaches, high maintenance costs and lost productivity resulting from poorly managed print provision, warns Office Depot in a new whitepaper. Navigating your way through the office print maze highlights the benefits of replacing ad hoc consumables purchases with a managed print service (MPS) that also provides access control and secure print release to protect sensitive information. whyofficedepot.co.uk/ mpswhitepaper. HP firmware update HP has announced new printer firmware for its enterprise-class printers/MFPs. HP FutureSmart 4 Firmware features a more intuitive user interface and a number of new capabilities, including Serverless Job Accounting, which enables printers to record analytics without the need for a central server, and the ability to mirror select print settings to new printers via USB for quicker setup. HP has also strengthened its printer security offering through integration with both McAfee Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) – an industry first for print devices. Find out more about the need to secure printers by watching The Wolf: True Alpha starring Christian Slater at https://tinyurl.com/ybuqsbsr .