Annodata Introduces APPM -
Next Generation Print Management System
Cross-fleet solution overcomes the burden of multiple proprietary systems
London; July 2011. Annodata, a leading UK business communications solution provider, has launched its latest version of its universal print management system, Annodata Proactive Print Management (APPM).
For many large organisations the fleet of Printers, Copiers, Scanner and Fax machines and/or multi-functional devices (MFDs) will be drawn from multiple manufacturers. The burden for IT supporting a mixed fleet is the inconsistent quality of the data delivered by proprietary print management systems and the inability to federate a configuration management database. Key decisions about whether the fleet is fit for purpose, is viable and cost effective and satisfies the availability and capacity needs of the business, are difficult to make.
APPM from Annodata changes this. Regardless of the mix and type of machines, all will be discovered across an organisation’s network. This visibility enables IT to better provision its fleet, shaping the deployment of MFDs to the user population and/or print dependent line-of-business functions. From this baseline APPM collects performance counters to analyse failure rates and types, consumable costs, print queues, job lengths and characteristics. With a consolidated view of all devices, IT can move to an optimised cost of ownership model and balance out procurement and end-of-life policies.
Printing and document services are critical in any organisation and when they become unavailable issues arise. Annodata deploys APPM to support investment justification or to be ITIL process-aligned to drive service delivery improvements. With APPM integrated with the IT service desk system, received device alerts can be automatically logged (via e-mail) and pre-defined problem codes and escalation patterns will allocate any issue to the appropriate support group or 3rd party maintenance organisation to minimise downtime.
Joint Managing Director at Annodata, Andrew Harman, explains further, “APPM is the step change IT needs to bring an MFD fleet into the entire IT estate. By integrating with the IT service desk, print and document generation become critical business services in the same way as SQL supports core business applications. Consequently the same service delivery targets apply; SLAs with the business and support groups. Analysing failure rates ensure problem and change management processes are aligned to justify transition decisions, while the metrics that measure fix rates ensure contract value from 3rd party providers is achieved.”
The real benefit of APPM is its capability to present federated decision support about the entire fleet. APPM utilises Business Objects runtime components to produce consolidated reports, including machine performance and demand, overall business demand, service quality/response and detailed analysis on running costs. All will help to shape procurement and deployment decisions and assess service delivery improvements.
The advances made by Annodata do not stop there as Andrew Harman concludes, “APPM is not just about being proactive it’s about cross-fleet completeness. This provides meaningful consolidated management information so IT can provide high availability print services as well as overcoming capacity issues, as and when peak demands occur in the business. This control, visibility and analysis will see these critical business services becoming cost-optimised and aligned to known business requirements.”
