Multi-function Systems

What is a Multifunction System?

According to the Multifunction Products Association, a multifunction system (MFP) is defined as “office equipment for paper management connected to a PC or network that handles two or more of the following functions: printing, scanning, copying or faxing.”

Everything You Need In One Device

The newest generation of MFPs provides important office functionality in one reliable device with the capabilities of printing, copying and scanning in full color.

Printing

An MFP works like any other laser printer, but also adds the type of finishing functionality you expect from a copier including stapling and two-sided printing.

Scanning

Revolutionize your office and scan documents into common digital formats like PDF, .jpeg or .tiff formats. These files can be sent to email addresses or to any folder on the network. continue reading...

By Tristam Wallace

I wanted to pass along a link to a great article on MFPs and security in Computer Technology Review, written by Sharp's Vince Jannelli.  It is a very succinct and well-written summary of security concerns around  MFPs and I agree with nearly everything in it.

However, I want to address the following statement that Vince made in relation to platform virus security:

"A proprietary platform is idea, since it won't be susceptible to viruses designed to attack more popular operating systems available on personal computers."

I don't dispute the statement. But, it is important to weigh the trade offs between a proprietary platform and an open platform. While the risk of viral attack is lower because it is unlikely hackers will develop malicious code aimed at proprietary MFP platforms, the costs of managing those proprietary platforms are significant -- particularly for those companies that have mixed fleets (brands) of MFPs. continue reading...

By Corey Smith

Every six months or so, comes a concern via the media that the MFP, or multifunction printer, is not secure and causes security holes on your network. When considering security on your network, there are some common sense approaches to ensuring you are protected from harm.

At eWeek, Rosen Sharma wrote a very simple article on securing your MFP. The article opens with the following:

Think you’ve plugged all of the vulnerabilities in your enterprise network? How about that multifunction printer over there in the sales department? As Dr. Rosen Sharma, president and CTO of Solidcore Systems explains, these devices frequently contain operating systems that are just as vulnerable to malware as your desktop computers. continue reading...

By Jon Reardon

Because of the proliferation of MFP devices in the office, the accessibility to scanning has increased. Awareness and use of the MFP scanner have risen because of the ease of integrated solutions and openness to share the device. At InfoTrends, we believe that the acceptance of scanning due to this proliferation of MFP devices has exponentially increased scanning activity (the overall pie has grown). More workers in the office are becoming accustomed to scanning Ad Hoc documents; therefore, this is no longer a specialized application in the office environment. As workflow solutions begin to play a greater role in the office environment, scanning and scanner technology are becoming vital elements for knowledge workers. The following interesting statistics are from a recently published study (conducted at the end of 2007 and published in early 2008) from our Image Scanning Trends practice area entitled US Document Image Scanning Report 2007: continue reading...

by Dan Costa

1. Think Before You Ink. The change has to start here. We all have to change how we look at paper. Before you print out anything, ask yourself if it is absolutely necessary. If you have a digital copy of that e-mail, why do you need a printed version? The green blog TreeHugger.com tried to build an eco-meme by asking people to add this line to their e-mail signatures: "Eco-Tip: Printing e-mails is usually a waste." Sure, it is a little preachy, but sometimes we need preachers to show us the way. I have complained in the past that people send too much e-mail, but printing them out is downright sinful. 

2. Preview Your Documents. The average employee prints six totally useless pages per day. All you have to do is walk over to the network printer in your office to see examples of them. I did just that and found a tray filled with blank pages, misplaced spreadsheet fields, and random HTML fields from printed Web pages. The average employee prints 1,410 of these wasted pages per year. And this problem is easy to fix: Just preview it first. The easiest way to do this is to use the print preview feature in whatever software you are using to print.

GreenPrint is a software package that automates the process. You can download a free version of GreenPrint from www.printgreener.com; an ad-free version is available for $35. GreenPrint Technologies claims that the average user of the package will save about $90 a year in paper and ink costs. This is a great feature that should become the default in both personal and office printers. Can you imagine the savings if this is rolled out across an enterprise or small business? That is money-saving Green IT. continue reading...

"That networked multifunction printer sitting innocently in the corner of your office just might be the most significant entry point for hackers to hijack sensitive data from your business," warns an eWeek article today. "All the information that's being printed, scanned and faxed is susceptible to theft. Once under an attacker's control, it is simple to covertly save copies of other people's data on the machine's hard drive. With built-in network, fax/modem and network capabilities, there are a variety of ways to smuggle the stolen information out of an organization once it's been captured.” Although this article was released today, the studies it mentions are from nearly two years ago. Multi-function systems have made significant advancements in that period of time. Not to mention, the skill of authorized technicians that support these products. Sure, there are still risks, but those risks aren't any more significant than a computer or server sitting on your network. With the proper firewalls and security measures in place, you can secure your multi-function systems just like you can secure your desktop computers. But, the fact is, most companies aren't overly concerned about the security of a printed document. Most documents that we print aren't sensitive. But, if you do print sensitive documents, make sure that you only work with a vendor that understands the challenges and knows how to mitigate the risks. – Corey Smith has fifteen years of document management industry experience and maintains the Master the Business blog. continue reading...