DISQUS

ChangeForge: ChangeForge | Ken Stewart | Where business and technology collide » Managed Print Services: the Theory, the Tools, and the Targets (Part 2 of 3)

  • GregWalters · 1 year ago
    very good...I too shall have some more detailed input on the subject...
  • GregWalters · 1 year ago
    oK,

    I just read your post for the third time.

    And again, I find the information very well presented and spot on.

    Keep it up.
  • James Duckenfield · 6 months ago
    Following on from the hammer analogy, there are more sophisticated MPS acceleration toolsets on the market than just fleet management, TCO databases and USB based SNMP tools. Most of the major manufacturers use Asset DB (the Swiss Army knife of MPS), a revolutionary toolset for accelerating MPS sales cycles through speeding both the data collection and analysis (x4 faster) (alongside whatever SNMP data collection you want to use) and then uniquely automating the solution design (x10 faster) and creating an implementation plan. Canon, Dell, HP, Konica-Minolta, Océ, Lexmark, Ricoh (Ikon) and Xerox all use it or it as a service in various worldwide geographies.
    For more info on it and various interesting whitepapers around MPS look at www.newfieldit.com
  • ChangeForge | Ken Stewart · 6 months ago
    James, although this seems a thinly veiled sales pitch, I do appreciate the information. I had not seen this package before.

    I do agree that more comprehensive tools are required. My greatest contention has been this is a whole lot more difficult than it ever should've been simply because manufacturers, as a general rule, don't fully support all IEEE standards and tend to "loosely interpret" the standards for their needs.

    I need to investigate this tool a little more b/c my contention with a "Swiss Army Knife" approach has always been that this tends to be good in the wilderness to survive, but it's when in the heart of the city, you need highly specialized tools with deep cross-platform integrations to handle the job. To extend the analogy, it might be like me trying to replace a light-bulb vs hiring a certified electrician to install a new light fixture. The electrician doesn't show up in his van with only 1 tool does he?

    Thanks for stopping by, James. I really appreciate the perspective.
  • Greg Walters · 6 months ago
    Interesting - Never heard of it.

    But I believe this comes out of the IT side of asset management - looks great.

    I know people at K/M, Ricoh, and HP - who uses this software? I am assuming independents.