EFI Enables Secured Mobile Printing For The Enterprise

Digital print vendor EFI unveiled Tuesday PrintMe Mobile 2.2, an updated version of its flagship software for secured mobile printing in the enterprise.

Apart from touting a number of updates for IT teams looking to more closely monitor, secure and store mobile print jobs crossing corporate networks, PrintMe Mobile 2.2 lays the print foundation for BYOD-enabled environments. Without it, explained Tom Offutt, director of business development at EFI, users wouldn’t have the option of printing at all from their Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone mobile devices.

"There are four major mobile operating systems: iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. Only one of those operating systems has a print function built into it, and that’s iOS," Offutt told CRN. "So if I have an Android phone or a BlackBerry phone or Windows phone, I don’t have any native print capability."

[Related: ePlus: BYOD, Mobility Changing IT ]

Apple’s iOS comes with a built-in wireless application called AirPrint, Offutt continued, but it’s a more consumer-focused tool, lacking the job tracking and access control capabilities crucial for IT teams grappling with employee-owned devices in the enterprise.

The new PrintMe Mobile software, version 2.2, allows admins to authenticate mobile users against an active directory and configure user access levels by either printer or user. Print jobs can also be tracked by user name and stored on an encrypted PrintMe Mobile server for IT teams to more effectively keep track of which users are responsible for which jobs.

Offutt explained that mobile print platforms like PrintMe Mobile are growing in demand as IT teams continue to grapple with the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend. Users may be gravitating toward thinner and lighter devices, he continued, but that shouldn’t mean they need to sacrifice print because of it.

"What gets lost in translation in many cases, even with all this conversion toward the cloud-based computing and storing my documents so I have access to them wherever I go… is printing," Offutt told CRN. "People should be able to work where they want to work, they should be able to print when they want to print. You are not going to alter the way business is done; there are just certain things that are done on paper."

NEXT: EFI Resellers Round Out Their Mobile Offerings

EFI's Offutt also noted that mobile print platforms present a new opportunity for resellers looking to round out their broader mobile offerings with print solutions. Jeff King, director of IT at Bloomington, Minn.-based solution provider and EFI partner Loffler Companies, offers PrintMe Mobile today and said he’s seen a growing interest in the solution. Beyond the actual software, he has noticed a rise in demand for Loffler’s consulting services, which can help clients flesh out a larger mobile print strategy.

"We are getting a significant number of opportunities from our clients and inquiries in regards to how to mobile print from devices in general -- not only iPads and Android devices and phones, but even just guest printing from laptops," King told CRN. "I’m having three or four conversations a week right now with clients and IT organizations as it relates to mobile print."

King noted that the BYOD trend, in general, is really just starting to pick up among his clients. But, as it does, and as Loffler continues to help its client base define broader mobility roadmaps, the PrintMe Mobile platform will serve as a "springboard" for secure wireless printing.

"Really we are kind of in that growth pattern right now and are in educational mode with our clients," King said. "They are still trying to figure out what this BYOD thing means to them and how they are going to approach it."

PrintMe Mobile 2.2 is available starting June 12. The pricing model is a one-time licensing agreement that ranges from $300 to $500 per network printer used on the platform.