Inkjet & Digital Printing

Konica Minolta launches global Cloud Printing Service to relieve companies from the task of managing their printing environment

Thursday 23. July 2020 - Fewer and fewer companies wish to worry about managing their print environment - whether large companies that wish to use their IT resources for other tasks or small and medium-sized enterprises that do not even have sufficient IT resources. With its global Cloud Printing Service, Konica Minolta can manage the total print environment of its customers: printers, servers, drivers, applications and network. As an additional benefit, the end user does not need to call print applications separately, as the print feature is seamlessly integrated in the cloud platform bizhub Evolution.

The printing environment in most companies is invisible – in the sense that it completely blends in with their everyday working life. It only becomes visible when it does not perform as hoped, and then it eventually becomes an annoyance. For large organisations with comprehensive IT resources, managing the print environment is less of a challenge than it is for SMEs, whose IT resources are often limited. Nevertheless, the benefits of outsourcing to a service provider are obvious for both. By outsourcing, they simplify their operational processes, streamline their business and increase their efficiency. They save time that they can use for other tasks, such as focusing on other IT projects and innovation to drive their business forward.
Besides, the rapid increase in the technological evolution and complexity of applications and IT solutions means that it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to stay up to date with their IT systems. The management of the printing environment through Konica Minolta ensures that this is always up to date and meets the latest security standards. The data centres are located in Europe, which has the advantage of all data staying within European legislation and not being subject to foreign law, such as the American Patriot Act. Every customer who utilises Konica Minolta data centre storage can also be certain of being in full compliance with regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). No maintenance for servers and print software is needed. Follow-me authentication ensures that only the print orderer receives the printed material and that it does not fall into unauthorised hands.
In addition, companies save costs: no upfront investment in print infrastructure is needed and they pay only for services they actually use. Another advantage is that Konica Minolta can flexibly adapt the printing environment to the needs of the company and scale up or down – an important point against the background of increasingly dynamic markets where flexibility is required more than ever.
“Hidden champions” – served on a silver platter
The Cloud Printing Service is integrated into the cloud platform bizhub Evolution. This on-demand platform for cloud services offers an affordable way to access a variety of specific features without the need to install software onto devices or within the existing IT infrastructure. The end user does not need to call print applications separately and can print from any device, such as a desktop or mobile phone, and from a wide variety of applications. As with other services (e.g. cloud fax, document conversion, translation) in bizhub Evolution, the printing functionalities are “hidden” behind a common user interface and users selects the function instead of the application they needs. Customers only have to pay for the features they actually use. In addition, the Evolution Store allows organisations to expand their capabilities as their users’ needs change. Konica Minolta manages all services including keeping them always up to date.
Connected to new Universal Print from Microsoft
In addition, Konica Minolta will also offer solutions to utilise Universal Print service from Microsoft for example by connecting bizhub Evolution to it. Universal Print is a modern print solution that organisations can use to manage their print infrastructure through cloud services from Microsoft. It runs entirely on Microsoft Azure. When deployed with Universal Print-compatible printers, it requires no on-premises infrastructure. It can be deployed with non-compatible printers by using Universal Print connector software. Universal Print is a Microsoft 365 subscription-based service.
“With our Cloud Printing Service, Konica Minolta can help get much more out of the local printing environment. Workflows can be optimised and both capital and operational expenditures reduced. At the same time, the level of security and privacy protection for sensitive information can be increased by including dedicated solutions for secure document handling,” explains Philipp Schröder, Head of Portfolio Strategy & Management, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. “It also means one task less for already overburdened internal IT departments to deal with and they are able to focus their resources on their core business.”