Whitepapers

Recent IDC research suggests that “a large site with 1,000 plus employees is paying $200 plus per employee in direct hardcopy costs alone.”* So, not surprisingly Gartner research reveals a new trend in the way organizations think about managing their printing and imaging environments. “By YE05, 60 percent of all enterprises will have begun an enterprise wide effort to optimize document output fleet spending through changes to their purchasing and asset management policies.”** The same research suggests that there are significant savings to be had by those who turn their thinking into action, “Through YE08, enterprises that actively manage their document output fleets will be able to save between 10 percent and 30 percent of their recurrent spending.” continue reading...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Many companies searching for areas where they can show operational improvements while also cutting costs have turned their focus to their imaging and printing infrastructure. A new set of tools, technologies, and processes – combined with more networked environments – has given companies the means to optimize their imaging operations.
Remote management of imaging assets now enables companies to centralize key functions, improve their ability to respond to changing business priorities, and ultimately reduce the cost of support and maintenance. Improved reporting capabilities have helped companies optimize their mix of imaging assets and streamline their imaging investments. Companies also have shown that core business processes can be made more efficient by improving the way documents are integrated into traditional workflows. Overall, the companies implementing these measures achieved direct cost savings of between 8% and 41%, with the greatest savings a result of reduced spending on hardcopy devices, reduced IT support costs, and lowered consumables spending. continue reading...

Security without sacrifice: Konica Minolta security standards

Konica Minolta realized early on the importance of security issues in the digital age, where the risk of seriously damaging security breaches rises dramatically alongside rapidly growing worldwide communication possibilities.

In response to these threats, Konica Minolta has taken a leading role in developing and implementing security-based information technology in our multifunctional products. Ever since the introduction of the first Konica Minolta MFP, Konica Minolta has strived to develop and implement technology that safeguards the confidentiality of electronic
documents.

The most important IT based security standard in the world is ISO 15408, also known as Common Criteria certification. Konica Minolta has newly introduced multifunctional bizhub products validated to Common Criteria EAL3 security standards. Common Criteria (CC) is the only internationally recognized standard for IT security testing.

Printers, copiers and software with the ISO 15408 certification are security evaluated, and guarantee the security levels
that companies look for today. With the CC certification users can rest assured that on Konica Minolta’s multifunctional
devices their confidential data remain confidential.

The Konica Minolta security standards provide protection in more than one respect, securing the network and network
access, ensuring secure, authorized access to individual output devices, restricting functionalities where required, and
protecting all personal user data and information content processed on the bizhub output systems.  Konica Minolta takes the security concerns of its customers seriously. This is why almost all of Konica Minolta’s comprehensive security functionality is standard on the new-generation bizhub systems. After all, users should not have to pay for capabilities that are an essential requirement for protecting customers’ sensitive corporate information
in the digital age!

This document discusses various generally important security requirements, and explains how Konica Minolta MFPs
comply with the rules and regulations set forth in the ISO 15408 (Common Criteria). continue reading...

Total cost of ownership (TCO) attempts to quantify the costs associated with a specific product implementation over the lifecycle of the product. This type of analysis is essential to financial decision makers who must take a long-term view of IT spending above and beyond the initial acquisition costs. Office copiers and scanners must now be looked at in the same way.

• The goal is to answer questions such as:
  “How much will it cost us to use this technology over the next five years (or the term of the copier lease)?”
• “How much can our organization save by implementing
  Vendor A’s solution compared to Vendor B’s?”

On any IT project, initial acquisition costs typically represent only a small percentage of the total cost of ownership. Much more significant are the “hidden costs” associated with a particular solution. continue reading...