Konica Minolta takes cloud printing to a new level with EveryonePrint Hybrid Cloud Platform (HCP)

In its ‘IDC FutureScape: Worldwide IT Industry 2021 Predictions’, IDC predicts: “by the end of 2021, [...] 80% of enterprises will put a mechanism in place to shift to cloud-centric infrastructure and applications twice as fast as before the pandemic”.
 
Similarly, Quocirca’s latest "MPS Vendor Landscape, 2021" report describes an increase in organisations transitioning print infrastructure to the cloud to help achieve cost efficiencies: 39 percent have implemented a cloud print management platform, whilst 37 percent intend to do so. However, the report also suggests most companies are currently managing print jobs on-premises, but that three quarters of organisations expect to see greater use of cloud print management by 2025.
 
Ironically, whilst organisations deploy cloud in order to benefit from its inherent advantages - such as low administration costs, low investment costs, flexibility and scalability, improved security, and workload relief for IT staff - print services can often fall outside a cloud-first strategy so these benefits aren’t realised across the entire IT estate.
 
EveryonePrint HCP gives organisations a choice: If they opt for a public cloud environment, EveryonePrint HCP hosts their print environment for them in a UK data centre. If they prefer to use a private cloud, the customer manages the print environment in their own data centre, but still benefits from the intrinsic advantages of a cloud-based print infrastructure.
 
IT staff no longer have to manage the print infrastructure

Thanks to EveryonePrint HCP, organisations are freed from the tedious burden of managing their print infrastructure. Their print servers, printer drivers and licenses are managed and supported for them, including setting up new printers and the print queues for each site. Konica Minolta IWS technology means there is no need for local infrastructure at the customer's premises. Customers only need Internet access — a VPN is not required.
 
If customers choose to manage the print environment using their private cloud, this also requires minimal effort. It takes less than ten minutes to create a customer-specific print environment on the EveryonePrint HCP multi-tenant platform to replace existing Windows and Mac-based print infrastructure. Only one web administration interface and one printer driver are required. This allows customers to easily configure and manage all printers, locations, user credentials, access control, usage consumption, reports and much more.
 
Increased cost efficiency

Customers who opt to use the public cloud and hosting by EveryonePrint HCP, no longer need their own print servers, eliminating the associated acquisition and maintenance costs.
 
For all customers, the costs associated with the acquisition, administration, service, maintenance and support of the EveryonePrint HCP application itself are also eliminated due to a monthly usage-based subscription model. Customers only pay for the licences they need and, if requirements increase or decrease, the solution can be easily scaled up or down. The monthly billing model also guarantees a better overview and predictability for print costs.
 
Improved mobility and convenience for end users

End users can access printing services from any device without having to install devices or drivers. Jobs are sent to a single global print queue, allowing the user to print their documents immediately, wherever they are. Users can authenticate themselves at the device via an iOS or Android application, IP card reader, QR code, or guest print. This means printouts are not left in printer trays and are protected from unauthorised access.
 
The best security standards for customer data

Customers who opt for a public cloud hosted solution can rest assured that their data is handled in line with the highest possible security standards. Data is hosted by EveryonePrint in an AWS data centre in the UK which is certified to ISO 27001, and is encrypted whist in transit and when at rest. For additional piece of mind, the EveryonePrint HCP solution has been penetration tested via NCSC approved CHECK providers to ensure data security.  All customer data is also reliably protected with continuous back-ups.
 
EveryonePrint HCP is suitable for a wide range of network infrastructures, including Web only/Zero Trust environments based on a stringent identity verification process. This ensures that only authenticated and authorised users and devices have access to applications and data. The solution offers full end-to-end encryption thanks to support for SSL/TLS and a built-in auditing function, ensuring GDPR compliance. As print jobs are encrypted and stored on the local workstation and never leave the company network, only metadata and authentication data are transmitted over the public network. All the required certificates are maintained within the application and customers have the option to either use the built-in certificates in EveryonePrint HCP or import their own.