Tag Archives: Printer Fleet Management
February 2nd, 2011 by Daniel under Print & Copy Best Practices. No Comments.
You wouldn’t try to run your office outdoors would you? Why not? Because of an uncontrolled environment. So, if a controlled environment is an obvious benefit in that respect, why wouldn’t you want to apply the principle to every aspect of your business.
You control your financial environment through fiscal policy; your work environment through human resources policy, and on and on and on. Now, what if I told you you were hemorrhaging money from an uncontrolled environment in your business.
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Tags:administrative costs, Cost Per Page, managing devices, Printer Fleet Management.
June 14th, 2010 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 2 Comments.
What happens to your MFP once you trade it in and it leaves your building?
Last article we discussed why your MFP is a security risk when you trade it in. Once it leaves your building it is trucked to a warehouse for processing.
Here are the details:
- Your device will arrive at one of about 25 equipment warehouses across the country
- Once received, the warehouse will check the device to make sure it is complete and it powers up.
- The device is then typically shrink-wrapped and is now ready for re-sale.
- The length of stay for any device in the warehouses is between 2 to 8 weeks depending on model and features.
- 70-80 percent of all devices are exported overseas and export demand is growing.
- Once they arrive at the overseas port, most times this is not their final destination and they can be re-distributed/exported to any country in the world.
Bottom line:
If you thought your trade in MFP would be sold to some innocuous business like a pizza shop in Hackensack, NJ, you were mistaken. It most likely will end up in a foreign country where your information will be welcome and where there are no penalties for misuse or resale of any sensitive data.
Previous Articles:
1. How significant is the security risk?
3. Separating fact from fiction
Upcoming Articles:
4. What are manufacturer’s doing to correct the problem?
5. What can you do to protect your organization?
Want immediate help? Contact DocuSense at 1-800-422-0080 or Digital Copier Security at 1-530.672.9300
Any comments or information about this article are welcome!
Tags:managing devices, Printer Fleet Management.
June 5th, 2010 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 6 Comments.
Summary:
Multifunction printers and copiers (MFP’s) are indispensable office tools that can print, copy, scan and email. However, most MFP’s hide a dirty little secret: they can also store thousands of documents containing your data and it may not be secure.
An MFP is essentially a computer complete with one or more hard drives that store thousands of images; scans, copies, prints or emails that the device handled. It’s already a security risk left standing alone in your copy room or hallway. However, when you finally upgrade and after your old device leaves your building, the hard drive can be taken out, scanned and the documents you copied, printed, and emailed can be recovered and stolen.
How significant is the security risk?
- Each month, between 50 and 100 thousand MFP’s come off-lease and they are typically shipped to warehouses across the country for resale.
- Almost all of the devices now coming off-lease were manufactured prior to 2008 when security features like data encryption were not typically added to protect the images stored in their hard drives.
- Up to 85 percent of devices manufactured after 2007 still may not have the available security encryption option installed or the option is not turned on.
- An individual machine can contain up to five hard drives.
- Depending on their capacity, the hard drives can store thousands of your copies, faxes, prints, scans and emails.
- If you remove the hard drives in an attempt to secure your data before return, the machine will not be functional and you may be liable for the remaining buyout value of the machines, in most cases, thousands of dollars.
- Other sensitive data can be found in the machine’s RAM. (random access memory)
- The RAM can contain your network structure and settings, administrative email addresses, fax numbers and local address books.
- A recent sampling of four devices bought from a lease return warehouse netted thousands of unsecured documents containing medical and legal records, copied checks as well as social security numbers, names and addresses.
Bottom line:
Trade-in or sell an MFP with no security at lease-end and you are placing sensitive information in harm’s way. For more information see the stunning CBS investigation (about 5 mins) that ran last month.
Upcoming Articles:
2. What happens to your MFP once it leaves your building?
3. Separating fact from fiction.
4. What are manufacturers doing to correct the problem?
5. What can you do to protect your organization?
Want immediate help? Contact DocuSense at 1-800-422-0080 or Digital Copier Security at 1-530.672.9300
Any comments or information about this article are welcome!
Tags:managing devices, office printing, Printer Fleet Management.
May 3rd, 2010 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 3 Comments.
Know whether it provides the level of security and confidentiality you need.
How Can a Printer be a Security Risk?
Anyone with malicious intent can launch an attack against an MFP that is not secure. Why? Because your multifunction printer is essentially a computer with all the trimmings; including hard drive, memory and software. So while you’re busy updating your server and network security systems, make sure your MFP lives up to the same standards.
How Can I Find a Secure Printer?
When it comes to security, all multifunction printers are not created equal. Fortunately there is a way to compare them against a security criteria. EAL2 or Common Criteria Certification is a descendent of the US Department of Defense testing standard that evaluates security in seven major assurance classes. Devices are certified by CCRA which performs the testing.
How Can I Be Sure?
Most multifunction manufacturers comply to at least the most basic testing. However, if your organization requires higher levels of security, EAL2 compliance can be confusing. Manufacturers can get certified by limiting the scope of the testing that is performed on their device so that higher level security functions within each of the seven classes are not analyzed. In other words, they’re certified in each of the seven classes, but only under certain criteria. Make sense? So if you require the most secure device, you’ll need to go past the marketing claims and dig into the certification to see the scope of the compliance testing that was performed on the product. Ask your dealer or the manufacturer for the complete report which they will be able to provide. Or contact DocuSense.
Does anyone have a comment or story to share related to this? Please write back!
Previous articles:
1. Know your requirements
2. Know the Total Cost of Ownership
3. Know what third parties have to say
4. Know how easy it is to connect to an existing network
5. Know how easy it is to use
6. Know its multitasking abilities
7. Know its Bi-Directional Communication capabilities
8. Know the available device management, remote intelligence, and support
Upcoming article:
10. Know what software and solutions are available
Multifunction printers can help you streamline duplicated and cumbersome document processes and electronically organize, edit and archive your paper documents. With an MFP and a simple software application you can turn paper documents into electronic format and send to multiple destinations – email, document repositories, network folders, even remote printers – with a single scan.
Once you’re armed with the knowledge you’ve gathered by asking these questions, you’ll be prepared to make the right decision for your business.
Please contact us with any questions. DocuSense 1-800-422-0080
Tags:MFP, Printer Fleet Management.
December 24th, 2009 by admin under Multifunction Printer MFP. 8 Comments.
Know its Multitasking Abilities.
Can you finish two tasks at the same time without slowing to a crawl? Congratulations, you are way more efficient than most multifunction printers. Many of them can perform only one function at a time without significant speed reductions. Why? It’s because most multifunction devices employ a single processor which can only efficiently handle one task at a time. For example, try faxing while the device is printing. Or try printing while the device is scanning. You’ll want to have a comfortable chair handy before you try these experiments.
You’ll pay a small fortune for your 60 page per minute device because you figured you’ll be able to process documents faster. Here are 3 questions to ask before you buy or lease to make sure you get closer to the performance you expected.
1) For 60 pages per minute and up, does the device have independent processors for printing vs faxing and scanning? (This is the most important question)
2) What is the actual vs rated speed of the device? (You might be surprised at the difference)
3) What are the concurrent function capabilities?
Get the answers to these questions before you cough up the money your dealer is asking for that speedy device they’re offering. Once you know the true speed, you’ll at least get the performance you were expecting.
Does anyone have a story to share related to this? Please write back!
Previous articles:
1. Know your requirements
2. Know the Total Cost of Ownership
3. Know what third parties have to say
4. Know how easy it is to connect to an existing network
5. Know how easy it is to use
Upcoming articles:
7. Know its bi-directional communication capabilities
8. Know the available device management, remote intelligence, and support
9. Know whether it provides the level of security and confidentiality you need
10. Know what software and solutions are available
Multifunction printers can help you streamline duplicated and cumbersome document processes and electronically organize, edit and archive your paper documents. With an MFP and a simple software application you can turn paper documents into electronic format and send to multiple destinations – email, document repositories, network folders, even remote printers – with a single scan.
Once you’re armed with the knowledge you’ve gathered by asking these questions, you’ll be prepared to make the right decision for your business.
Please contact us with any questions. DocuSense 1-800-422-0080
Tags:Business Improvement, HP Printers, Printer Fleet Management, Xerox Printers.
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