Venture offers MarkVision Professional

Venture Computer, the sole Southern African distributor for Lexmark International today announced Mark Vision Professional, new software that proactively detects and notifies IT managers of network printing problems before they impact end user productivity, thereby helping enterprises gain control of their large and diverse printer fleets and save considerable costs.

"Today, most enterprise printer fleets are unmanaged," said Mark Hiller, Managing Director of Venture Computer. "Many enterprise IT departments have no idea how many printers they have, how much they`re printing or what the utilisation rates are for each device - and it`s costing them a fortune. With MarkVision Professional, IT departments can handle issues more quickly and cost effectively, inventory all their printing devices and make informed business decisions about their hardcopy infrastructure."

By efficiently collecting real-time information about printers and multifunction printers (MFPs), MarkVision Professional helps IT managers solve problems faster and reduces or eliminates many help desk calls entirely. It also enables IT managers to schedule printer management updates after-hours so that the typical impact of these actions on end users and the network is eliminated. The software can also help enterprises analyse their printer environments so they can make more informed decisions about their printer-related deployments and purchases.

"Lexmark estimates that the largest 500 companies in America spend approximately $126 billion in printing every year," said Hiller. "The bottom line is that hardcopy output is a significant expenditure."

Industry analysts believe this trend is only going to get worse. Lexmark`s research indicates that the hard dollar costs alone of distributed printing, copying and faxing, centralised printing and printing by outside vendors will cost about one to three percent of corporate revenue. At these rates, a $1 billion company is spending $10 to 30 million on a critical business function - printing - without even knowing it.

Lexmark estimates that it can reduce these hard dollar costs by up to 20 percent, meaning that a $1 billion enterprise can save $2 - $6 million in output related costs each year. These savings come from optimising output assets, printing less and more intelligently and streamlining business processes by transitioning paper back into the electronic realm. There are additional soft cost savings, such as worker productivity, that can be achieved as well.

MarkVision Messenger

MarkVision Professional includes MarkVision Messenger, a new tool that provides IT managers with real-time notification of printing conditions, such as "toner low`` and then carries out a particular task based on customer-defined parameters. For example, MarkVision Messenger can proactively order supplies and send a message to dispatch a technician to change the cartridges. The ability to forecast printing requirements can significantly improve IT effectiveness, reduce costs and improve end-user satisfaction.

"There`s nothing worse than running out of toner at 5 p.m. the night before you need 20 copies of your presentation for a morning meeting," said Richard Fearon. "With MarkVision Professional, IT managers arm themselves with a tool that can proactively monitor network printers and diagnose issues before they happen."

Network management capabilities

MarkVision Professional supports a wide range of printers and multifunction devices from many manufacturers, making it easier for IT departments to use one tool to centrally manage all their printers and MFPs. In addition to supporting Lexmark`s business printers and MFPs, MarkVision Professional also supports more than 50 printers and MFPs from other vendors. This extensive compatibility makes printer management in a mixed environment more streamlined.

Remote management capabilities

Remote management capabilities in MarkVision Professional enable IT managers to diagnose and fix many printer-related issues via a Web browser, without having to physically visit each printer. It also enables mass configuration of several devices at once. For example, an administrator can change the ``number of rings until answer`` on all company-wide OptraImage MFPs with a single command. This can significantly reduce the amount of time previously spent making trips to individual devices throughout the company simply to change printer settings.

Scheduled downloads

MarkVision Professional also allows the IT manager to schedule new printer discoveries and firmware updates during off-hours, which translates into significantly less network traffic. With the scheduling capabilities, MarkVision Professional can enable an IT manager, for example, to schedule updates to even thousands of printers all at once during evening hours when most users are not on the network.

New software enhancements

Lexmark has also made several software enhancements that are designed to make network printer use, installation and support easier.

• Lexmark`s NetPnP 5.0, a printer installation and deployment tool, now detects and makes printers from a variety of manufacturers available to network users in seconds (when connected to the network via a Lexmark external network adapter).

• A new Lexmark Software Uninstall utility allows administrators to easily remove old Lexmark printer drivers and software from a user`s PC with just a few mouse clicks.

• Lexmark`s PostScript drivers now allow users to print booklets and posters.

• With Personal Profiles users can save and recall their printing preferences, such as printing a presentation or lengthy report in duplex mode, which saves on paper consumption.

For further information, please contact Mark Hiller or the relevant product manager at tel. (011) 329 0999; fax (011) 792 7449; e-mail mhiller@venture.co.za