Author: Rob Farrell

TORONTO – SmartPrint was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Solution Providers during a
special virtual ceremony held April 30, 2020.

The annual ranking is produced by Channel Daily News (CDN) with verification provided by IT business intelligence and analysis leader IDC Canada. The rankings are based on 2019 revenue submitted by Canada’s leading channel players.

SmartPrint climbed 10 places to #59 in the Channel Daily News (CDN) Top 100 Solution Providers List. 2019 was another excellent year of growth for SmartPrint’s managed print services and software solutions business.

“2019 was another year of consistent growth. Our SmartPrint 360 managed print services offering continues to deliver value for our clients that are looking to simplify with a true office print as a service. Our bench strength around selling, implementing and supporting software solutions involving print infrastructure, security and intelligent workflow automation, complement and differentiate our end to end managed print practice.” said Rob Farrell, Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

“The impact of the COVID-19 shutdown has hit the channel hard, but with the cumulative 2019 revenue from the 100 highest-ranking players topping $10 billion for the first time, it shows there was strength in the sector going into the storm,” said ITWC President and ranking champion Fawn Annan.

The 2020 gala was the first-ever virtual event. Using the CDN-TV platform, attendees were able to not only watch live and prerecorded gala segments but also meet with peers and event sponsors in virtual meeting rooms.

This year’s Top 100 gala was sponsored by Ingram Micro, Dell Technologies, HP, Jabra, Samsung, and VMware.

About SmartPrint:

SmartPrint is the leading Managed Print Services (MPS) firm in Canada working with large corporate clients with 100+ employees to enable them to outsource the management of their office printing and imaging devices. The goal of our managed print services program is to drive down cost, maximize efficiency and secure the print infrastructure within our clients’ organizations. Our vertically focused expertise provides custom-tailored solutions to each of our client’s unique challenges.

To find out more about SmartPrint, please explore our website: www.smartprint.com

For Press or Analyst inquiries please contact:

Rob Farrell

rob.farrell[@]smartprint.com

905.475.6177 x234

We can’t ignore the elephant in the room. The coronavirus pandemic has already affected our  lives in more ways than any of us could have imagined—but we’re not leaving your side.

We’re open for business! SmartPrint remains as committed as ever to delivering an incredible, uninterrupted, and stress-free managed print service even while implementing multiple critical health and safety measures. 

Also, with so many people suddenly working from home, I wanted to make sure you knew about our additional services. With both printer and non-printer related support available, SmartPrint is here to help your newly-remote team get everything up, running, and working in no time.

Some of these specialized services include:

• Implementing solutions: Remote IT Support and Services
  We can help with rapid deployment of mailroom digitization and distribution software, secure cloud document management and workflow software, and deploying cloud fax software so users can access and transmit everything from home. We can deploy in 48 hrs or less.
• Emergency Toner for Your Printers (office, or home office)
  Though we don’t anticipate any supply chain issues, if you’d like to order backup printer supplies, we’ll happily help. 
• Home Office Printers, Installation, and Free Virtual Support
  Do your employees need printers for their home offices? We’ll work with you to find the perfect devices and help you through the entire installation process. Already have home office printers? We’ll support your users virtually if they have problems.

Think you might be interested in any of these services? Feel free to contact us anytime so we can talk more in-depth about your needs.

And remember—the SmartPrint team is always here for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Thanks for your continued loyalty and stay safe.

Despite what you’ve been told, Managed Print Services (MPS) aren’t about hardware, supplies, and service. Not anymore. Today, it’s all about digital transformation. If you missed our blog back in September, here’s the short: companies need to stop focusing on the cost of producing a document and start thinking about the cost of finding it.   

Market leaders are already ahead of this shift. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Paper workflows are now digital
2. Document management is automated
3. Solutions address specific needs and requirements
4. Security is top-of-mind

Too many companies are taking too long to get things done. Why? Because paper-based workflows rely heavily on administrative time. Processes that should take days, take weeks. They’re paying more in employee time, paper, and supplies for a less productive system. They don’t know any better, but now, you do.

HP Capture and Route is a great example of a digital management tool that can automate workflows. With the press of a button, documents are scanned, indexed, categorized, and automatically linked to existing records. They are easier to find, distribute, and track than paper filing systems. And, the paper to digital workflow can transition to fully digital using the same tools in the future. 

But are digital records secure?

That depends—not all software is created equal. At a minimum, you need encryption while your files are in transit and at rest. The above example can be taken one step further by integrating with a monitoring tool like HP Access Control. This app lets you see what users are scanning AND manage their permissions. 

Your digital records are as secure as the solutions you choose. 

Managed Print Services should be more than just hardware, supplies, and service in 2020. We can help. If your company is ready to bring efficiency to your business and work toward a digital workflow, contact us today.

It’s 2020 and your IT team can buy a printer for $49, $69, or $99. The expensive part comes when you understand the model: expensive toner with little capacity. Don’t be fooled by the brand. These resellers don’t challenge your product choice because they know you’ll be back to buy supplies, and soon. 

This is why you need to speak print IT. 

Speaking print IT will lead you to the right products. Not speaking print IT will lead you to the cheap ones that aren’t actually cheap. Here are 3 words you should know: 

1. Drivers
2. Uptime
3. Firmware

Drivers allow your printer and employees to communicate. All printers require software to function properly, so an outdated driver is a problem. The process of updating it will depend both on your device manufacturer and on your operating system. Up-to-date drivers resolve technical problems, add new features, and increase security. 

Uptime is one of our favourite words because it means everything is working as it should. The key to this is proactive management, especially in the form of software that encompasses continuous monitoring and remote diagnostics like HP’s Smart Device Services (SDS). Uptime can also refer to supply fulfillment. Software can help to automate your processes here too.  

Firmware is a big one because security is top-of-mind for many Canadian companies right now. Much like print drivers, firmware needs to stay up-to-date in order to not only function, but also, to be secure. It is important you know how to connect and then reconfigure your devices after updating firmware or completing a reset.

Of course you can do all of this yourself. Your IT team can buy what seems like low cost printers that save you a bundle, but ultimately end up costing you in:

• Employee time
• Expensive supplies
• Functional limitations
• Top-notch security

Our service MPS Consultants are fluent in print IT and happy to help you find a balance between cost and return—contact us today to learn more.

In light of the largest data breach in Canadian history, you’re probably wondering, could it happen to us? How did a company expose the names, addresses, emails, logins, passwords, date of births, health card numbers, gender, phone numbers, password security questions, and lab test results of 15 million people?

A small crack led to a big break. 

That’s all it takes for your company to be faced with over a $1 billion lawsuit. Find the cracks in your organization and seal them now. We can almost guarantee there is one. It’s your office printers and MFPs, especially if you have multiple vendors providing equipment and security software.

Here’s why.

Print security begins at the device level, and you’re only as strong as your weakest link. 

Depending on the manufacturer, different security features will be built-in to the printer. HP’s enterprise devices, for example, automatically trigger a reboot in the event of suspicious activity in the BIOS, firmware, printer settings, or ongoing activity. Other OEMs have their own version of built-in software, but not all are equally robust. Best practice is to have one manufacturer and one vendor so that weaker devices don’t cause cracks and risk management is unified.   

Security patches are inefficient and costly with multiple vendors.

When an issue arises, vendors can only access and patch the devices they manage. If you call them for help with a device they do not manage, it’s unlikely they have access or certifications to properly reset the device to the optimal configuration for security. This could easily be another crack. If the source of the issue is unknown, you will undoubtedly experience finger-pointing and require additional service calls from all of your vendors. This creates inefficiency and more invoices than necessary.  

With one independent MPS expert as your partner, you get strong, unified devices and software and an accountable partner… at a lower cost! Security patches and installs are quick and easy because they can be rolled out remotely from a single management tool. Implementing fleet-wide policies doesn’t have to mean contacting dozens of providers across office locations for a weaker result.

If you want to learn more, contact us today.

Last month we looked at how a multi-vendor approach impacts employees. Today, we’ll look at how it impacts cost control.

Bringing in office technology vendors on an ad hoc basis is a common practice… but it’s not a great one. Consider the complications when hardware is sourced from 2-3 different providers, supplies from another, and service varies, especially if you have more than one office location. Instead of paying one vendor to do all of the above, you pay each of them to do a piece.

Each invoice has a processing cost. What’s your internal cost? A good average is $80 per invoice, but that’s not the only incremental cost. It’s likely not even the biggest. Consider the following:

• Are you getting standardized pricing on your equipment? Software? Supplies? Service?
• How much time do your employees spend on vendor procurement? Management? Relationship building?
• What level of buying power do you have with your vendors? Does it fluctuate? What factors contribute?
• Is market knowledge being utilized to your advantage? Who has your back at the negotiation table?

Not all office vendors are created equal. When you work with a few, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. Choose one but choose right. The best choice is someone who can negotiate standardized pricing on standardized equipment, software and services, all on your behalf through industry experience.    

Consolidating vendors isn’t just about getting the best price. You also need to reduce costs in employee time. From admin and managers to accounts payable and IT, too much time is being spent on too many vendors.  

Wouldn’t it be nice to go from dozens of monthly invoices to 1/quarter?   

The cherry on top is that when you consolidate your office technology vendors, you increase your buying power. Equipment, software, supplies, and service can be bundled and discounted for all of your locations. 

For years, we’ve helped our clients streamline vendors anywhere from 5:1 to 30:1. To find out more, contact us today.

Too many cooks in the kitchen—that’s a problem. We know how that scenario ends, right? Or, think of it this way: would you have two IT Managed Services companies managing servers on the same network? Would you have one lawn maintenance company cut your front lawn and another cut your back? This type of scenario is a longstanding problem for many companies when it comes to office printing. Traditionally, larger devices like office copiers were sold and managed by the manufacturer, and smaller network and desktop devices, by a technology reseller.  

Today, we’ll focus on how this impacts employees. 

Scenario: You want to implement a secure printing authentication system like FollowMe. 

FollowMe printing is a great way to reduce waste and improve security. Employees simply walk up to the printer they are closest to, enter a pin or tap a security badge and their print jobs appear on the device screen. Voila! Select the jobs they want to release and go. 

But you have two vendors, and that complicates things. One set of devices supports FollowMe, the other doesn’t. Or, it supports it but now one vendor wants to push its version of the software. So, you either have TWO systems working here, or some devices can’t support simple and secure printing. 

Or worse, you have one secure printing solution running on both vendors’ print hardware, and when there is a problem, you experience finger pointing. The service technicians from the organization that didn’t provide the secure print solution will likely have no idea how to connect and reconfigure it after upgrading firmware or completing a repair where they need to reset their device. 

The same is true of any software you want to implement with multiple print vendors. It just doesn’t work.

There was a time when it made sense to have multiple vendors for office printing, but today, you print less. Smaller devices are much more robust and cost-effective. Comprehensive hardware vendors like HP or Canon have machines for almost every department size or application. Independent MPS and software solutions experts can manage the whole print environment more efficiently while reducing your overall costs. 

In our next installment, we’ll look at how multiple vendors impact cost control. Stay tuned.

Two years ago, a Canadian company, TIO Networks, owned by PayPal at the time, exposed the personal and financial information of over 1.6 million customers. This led to the suspension of its operations, and a permanent stain on PayPal’s reputation, even though the two were separate entities and PayPal customers were not at all affected. 

Cybercrime remains a real threat to Canadian businesses, and printers & MFPs that are more than five years old are most at risk. No matter how good your IT Department is, they can’t do it all—and they shouldn’t have to! Not in today’s world. 

If your office print equipment is managed and secured one device at a time, how long does it take to properly harden a fleet of devices when there are up to 250 potential settings to adjust on every single printer or MFP? You’re probably looking at several days of work depending on the size of your organization. That may be fine for the initial setup, but when security policies and firmware are updated, you’ll have to do it all over again… and again, as rules and employees change, or new vulnerabilities become exposed.

Your IT time is valuable and shouldn’t be used up on tasks like this. 

Without central control of your print fleet, security settings are extremely difficult to manage, and entry points for cybercrime are more easily overlooked. Your IT team is focused on configuration settings and authentication rather than working on other valuable IT projects or support. Encryption and authentication can be accomplished universally with an integrated automated security management tool. We’ve had great success with HP JetAdvantage Security Manager, but options from other OEMs also exist.  

With an automated security management tool, you can:

1. Use a single security policy for all of your devices—never secure one device at a time again!
2.  Easily add printers or MFPs to your fleet that instantly meet the requirements of your security policy with configuration settings applied automatically.
3. Meet compliance requirements with full reporting capabilities. 

Automated security management is not only a more effective way to secure your printers & MFPs, but it is also a significant timesaver that your IT Team will praise you for. It is especially powerful when combined with other print management tools in an all-inclusive agreement like SmartPrint 360. If you’re interested in learning about the best in class application of a fully integrated print infrastructure to protect your firm and save IT time, reach out, we would be happy to share! We stay up-to-date on print security so you don’t have to. 

There is sensitive information on the administrative documents printed at your office. The obvious are pages containing your employees’ salary, tax, and insurance details. Then there are medical and legal records, and benefits and severance packages to consider. The not-so-obvious are things like customer invoices including billing details, contacts and account numbers. 

That’s not all. There is sensitive information on your business documents too. Think about competitive data, upcoming project details that are under wraps, and records of large company decisions like an acquisition or buyout. It’s not just your data either. Client work is usually bound by an NDA, and there could be serious repercussions for exposing information there.

But you protect your documents with software! We’re sorry to say that your software becomes irrelevant the second a job is sent to a printer. The remaining (and overlooked) threat is pages that are left uncollected at print stations, and these account for 30% of all office printing and represent a real information risk.

So how do you protect yourself? It’s simple—don’t allow your documents to be forgotten.

What would this require?

• Users to authenticate their output before printing occurs
• The ability to implement company-wide policies that restrict “free-for-all” printing
• Works with printers from any manufacturer
• Adaptable to an existing print environment  

What would also be nice?

• Centralized control to save management time
• Tracking and reporting to understand costs
• Reduced paper waste

A print queue can do all of the above, and alleviate the risk of sensitive information being exposed. Employees can send a job from any device, but printing doesn’t start until the user authenticates it at their chosen print station. Most of our customers choose proxima ID cards, but pin-codes and other authentication methods exist as well. There is no productivity loss because new printers are so fast (between 40 and 100 pages per minute) that you aren’t waiting on jobs to finish.

There are several options when it comes to protecting your information with a secure print queue. We’ve had great success with FollowMe by Ringdale. It works especially well with print environments that have a large installed base of HP devices. If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to reach out—we’d be happy to help.  

Arrêtez de vous concentrer sur le coût de production d’un document et commencez à réfléchir au coût de sa recherche.

Les entreprises se demandent souvent quel est le coût de création d’un document: combien de cent par page? Devez-vous imprimer en couleur ou en noir et blanc? En tant que spécialistes de l’impression gérée, nous en sommes également coupables. Certains pourraient même dire que nous sommes obsédés par cela. Bien que le coût par page soit important, il s’agit du début du cycle de vie du document, et existe quelque chose d’évident à laquelle vous n’avez pas pensé: le coût de la recherche de cette page imprimée une fois qu’elle a été sauvegardée.

Pour calculer ce coût pour votre organisation, tenez compte des éléments suivants:

• Vitesse de récupération
• Nombre d’employés impliqués
• Taux de réussite
• Exactitude de l’information

Regardons les deux premiers points. L’année dernière, les employés à temps plein ont été interrogés et 49% d’entre eux ont déclaré « avoir du mal à localiser les documents » (Nintex). C’est presque la moitié des employés! Combien de temps pensez-vous avoir dédié à la recherche de documents dans votre organisation? Si votre employé ne parvient pas à trouver ce qu’il cherche, la prochaine étape logique consiste à impliquer un collègue. Vous avez maintenant deux employés qui ne travaillent pas et qui recherchent le document. Vous doublez vos coûts.

Ce qui est pire? Ils ne réussissent pas toujours à récupérer le fichier. Vos employés peuvent trouver une ancienne version ou une autre incomplète. Le temps qu’il leur faille pour combler les manquements augmente encore vos coûts. Cha Ching!

La précision des informations trouvées devrait également être une source de préoccupation, car 33% des employés interrogés ont déclaré « avoir de la difficulté avec la gestion des versions de documents » (Nintex). Comment vos employés déterminent-ils actuellement si le document examiné est la dernière copie? Est-ce la V3? Ou existe-t-il une V4 dont ils ne sont pas au courant? Et à qui doivent-ils demander pour obtenir la réponse? Et ça continue, encore et toujours.

Vous en avez assez? Une transformation numérique devrait être votre prochain geste.

En quoi consiste exactement une transformation numérique? En bref, il s’agit d’un tout nouveau flux de travail numérique qui s’intègre à vos processus d’entreprise et qui permet à vos documents de circuler de manière transparente, sans interruption ni retard. Il n’est pas limité comme son équivalent papier: tous les problèmes ci-dessus peuvent être résolus avec le bon logiciel et le bon partenaire. Avec l’aide de fabricants tels que HP, vous pouvez établir des connexions de flux de travail automatisées et sécurisées grâce à une architecture ouverte.

De nombreuses organisations ont déjà entamé cette transformation numérique, mais cela ne se fait pas du jour au lendemain. Ne perdez pas votre avantage concurrentiel en résistant au changement. Adoptez une approche étape par étape et cela fera toute une différence dans votre productivité.

Contactez un spécialiste SmartPrint dès aujourd’hui pour en savoir plus sur les intégrations de la gestion de documents et sur les perspectives d’une transformation numérique pour votre entreprise.