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MFPs: from peripheral to integral
Xerox’s cloud-ready
ConnectKey controller offers
built-in security and cost
controls; tighter integration
with cloud services and mobile
devices; the ability to run apps
natively on an MFP rather than
solely on servers; a consistent
interface across all devices;
and improved ease of use.
“It’s cloud-ready, which we
didn’t have before and you can
run apps locally on a device,
which we didn’t have before,”
said Rick Dastin, President
of Xerox Office & Solutions
Business Group.
The platform has a number
of enhancements that should
enable resellers to provide a
better service to customers.
These include new opportunities
to develop customised
applications; simpler deployment
of solutions; improved device
management; the ability to make
changes across an entire fleet
at the touch of a button; and
remote control for training and/
or support purposes.
“This is fantastic for MPS
contracts,” explained Bertrand
Cerisier, VP of technology,
services and printing, Xerox
Europe. “If you are selling MPS
to a customer, you can say ‘I can
connect to the device remotely
which reduces the time needed
to resolve a problem and I can
train new users as well’. If you
are a reseller, you also reduce
your cost of servicing a device
because there is a lot you can do
remotely.”
A new approach
With ConnectKey, Xerox is
attempting to shift the customer
conversation away from a
narrow focus on hardware to a
discussion around workflow and
document processes.
Dastin said: “We are
selling the platform story with
ConnectKey. We will sell the
ConnectKey value proposition
and then fit the hardware into
that depending on your needs.”
One of its key benefits is that
is provides improved document
Xerox is strengthening its leading position in managed print services
(MPS) with a new MFP platform optimised for MPS, mobility and the cloud.
access and collaboration,
alongside traditional functions,
such as print, copy, scan and fax.
“We are going to change
multifunctional printers to
multifunctional document
systems, from peripheral to
integral,” Dastin said. “They
should be integrated with
workflows and have digital-to-
digital transactions as a fifth
function of the MFP.”
This change will be driven
through an open Application
Programming Interface (API) for
integrating third party solutions
and the emergence of an
eco-system of simple software
apps created using App Studio
templates for info and scan-to
apps. Xerox expects App Studio
to be a channel solution when
it launches in Q3, but hopes
that in time it will evolve into a
marketplace where customers
can buy apps developed by
Xerox, resellers and third parties.
Xerox says
App Studio will
make it easier
for resellers to tailor an MPS
to meet customers’ specific
requirements. For example, a
reseller could use online tools
to design an app for scanning
receipts into an expenses
reporting workflow.
This approach is supported by
a customisable user touchscreen
with large easy-to-use buttons
and direct connections to
SharePoint and cloud solutions
such as Google Drive, Evernote,
SharePoint Online, DropBox,
PaperPort Anywhere and
Salesforce.com.
Mobile printing
Also new are two mobile printing
apps (one server- and one cloud-
based) that can be used with
iOS and Android devices and
any type of printer or MFP; and
integrated security features. As
standard, Cisco TrustSec protects
data paths to and from the
devices, while embedded McAfee
software detects malware based
on the whitelisting of allowed file
types. Upgrades provide more
in-depth security.
Xerox intends to launch 16
laser and solid ink products
based on the ConnectKey
platform in the first two
quarters of the year. These
include the Xerox WorkCentre
5800 /7800/7220/7225
and the Xerox ColorQube
8700/8900/9300 Series.
Rick Dastin, President, Xerox Office
& Solutions Business Group.
influence of smart technology is
already being felt through printer
vendors’ use of smartphone-like
fingerswipe displays and printing
apps (see Xerox story opposite),
but Samsung clearly feels there
is potential to enhance printer
usability in other ways.
Printing apps
Examples include a new mobile
printing app developed with HP
for the latest Galaxy smartphones
(see page 12) and the integration
of NFC technology in Samsung’s
award-winning colour laser
printers, the CLP-415 printer and
CLP-4195 MFP. Direct wireless
communication between an
NFC-enabled smartphone and
the NFC tag on these printers
automatically opens a printer
app: all the user then has to do
is select a document and press
print.
There are other ways to
print from a smartphone to a
Samsung device, ranging from
Google Cloud to email-based
solutions from partners such as
Equitrac, Safecom and Ringdale,
but none as simple as this.
NFC is already available as an
alternative to biometrics, cards
and PINs for authentication and
once standards are resolved and
more NFC-enabled devices come
to market, businesses could start
to use NFC-enabled phones for
everything from access control
and door entry systems to
cafeteria vending machines and
print release.
Other applications of mobile
technology are likely to emerge
from Samsung’s alliance with
Getronics, which has a large
mobile app team in Spain.
Getronics already develops
consumer-friendly smartphone
apps for a number of companies
including a solution for motoring
organisations that lets customers
track the location of a requested
recovery vehicle on Google
Maps and another for an airport
authority that provides on-screen
maps and directions to terminal
services, such as the nearest
Starbucks.
It remains to be seen what
sort of apps Samsung has
in mind for printer users, but
possibilities range from locating
public printers and releasing
print jobs securely to certifying
copies of authorised documents.
www.samsung.com