Print.IT Reseller - issue 77

PRINTITRESELLER.UK 43 MPS powerful remote maintenance features. For a HP dealer, this means money saved and a much improved customer experience.” Automated reporting “The automated reporting on error calls is one big feature that we are looking to implement across the board,” Dartsch said. “It’s possible to install an app on the devices that allows the user to log a service call without having to go through their service desk – that’s clever. We haven’t implemented that on the customer side yet but we’ve tested it thoroughly in-house. That’s definitely on the project map, we’ve got quite a few customers that have asked for a feature like this, and HP technology enables us to develop our own apps and make this happen.” Dartsch also mentioned that MPS Monitor has got some strong security features in-built which he said is a huge value-add. MPS Monitor enables security policies to be defined on the fleet, the dealer can easily check for the latest firmware and whether network protocols are enabled or disabled etc. Once the policies are created, the dealer can on a daily basis run checks to check compliance and ensure enforcement by simply modifying the configuration of the device for those parameters, so that it becomes compliant to the policy. “It’s very similar to HP Jet Advantage Security Manager (JASM),” De Blasi said. “But there are two differences – it’s cloud not on-premise so it’s much less complex to manage, and secondly, unlike JASM it is free of charge, because it’s included in MPS Monitor.” Security mark Importantly, the MPS Monitor 2.0 platform is among the first to pass the Keypoint Intelligence-Buyers Lab (BLI) Printer & MFP Security Validation Testing for Policy Compliance. The neutral third-party security testing benchmark program standardises the requirements for output device and office IoT (Internet of Things) security. Buyers Lab analysts confirmed the claimed features and effectiveness of the MPS Monitor 2.0 platform in satisfying the test methodology criteria, when used to manage HP Inc. printers and MFPs fully supported by the HP SDS platform: n Discover and highlight at-risk firmware (that is, out-of-date firmware with known and/or likely vulnerabilities) that are still in use on devices; n Provide fleet-scalable, secure firmware update capability; n Ensure a customer’s devices are secured to a vendor’s and/or customer’s recommended settings (via templates, policies, or similar mechanism); n Provide a method to discover out-of- compliance devices; n Generate a report (or dashboard view) showing at-risk devices; n Provide a way to automatically apply the desired settings to bring devices back into compliance; n Provide ongoing checks to ensure the devices are still in compliance with the recommended settings; n Automatically detect newly connected but unconfigured device(s) attached to the network and automatically apply the policy designated by the administrator for new devices. “We’re delighted to have DTP Group on board. MPS Monitor SDS drastically reduces incoming customer calls, speeds up the response time and simplifies maintenance processes. Proactive device monitoring enables remote diagnosis, often before the customer even knows there is an issue to report, reducing machine downtime and repeated interventions for the same problem. In addition, if an intervention requires parts replacement, the SDS system will identify the parts required and, thanks to an integration with supplier systems, check availability and location in real-time, all of which delivers a real value-add to the dealer’s business.” De Blasi concluded. www.dtpgroup.co.uk www.mpsmonitor.com and secure remote access to the printer’s embedded web server, without any need to activate a VPN or other remote access to the customers’ network. “The ability to securely access devices through the cloud portal is going to be a huge game changer for the entire service desk, engineering and our company,” Dartsch added. Remote diagnosis “We have a large network of engineers, some of whom are permanently based on a customer’s site,” Dartsch explained. “Features such as diagnose before dispatch which enables most hardware problems in devices to be diagnosed remotely, will ensure we only send an engineer onsite when they are really needed. “Another great feature is the error message functionality, the platform provides very detailed information around fault messages including videos and photos and how to resolve these including which parts to replace. That gives us a very good head start in terms of diagnosing faults with devices, and getting parts ordered before we attend the customer’s site, thus improving our first-time fix rates. Our engineers really really like that feature,” he added. Nicola De Blasi, CEO MPS Monitor expanded on this: “The SDS integration includes a feature that allows the dealer to access the embedded web server of any HP printer from inside MPS Monitor. It’s really easy to do, simply click on a button and you can access any printer remotely, as if you were on the customers’ network, but what is most important is the feature is fully secure because this is HP technology. It’s a very compelling advantage for service desks and it removes the requirement to ask a customer to open a remote connection to the network which can cause inconvenience and takes time.” He continued: “Knowing that a printer is faulty, having insight into what exactly the problem is and how to fix it either remotely or by going onsite is a huge benefit. Another key advantage is that the dealer is aware of any issues and not relying on a customer to report them. For example, in a university there may be a number of students using a device and just getting frustrated with it not working. But how many of them would actually log it as a fault? “The SDS integration provides very Tobias Dartsch The ability to securely access devices through the cloud portal is going to be a huge game changer for the entire service desk, engineering and our company