The humble printer could be a significant hub for data and compute power as part of an IoT ecosystem but it needs a change in attitude from vendors.
Analysts from Quocirca say that vendors have a drawbridge up attitude when it comes to data sharing even while multifunction printers already generate a lot of data and have compute power that could be taken advantage of if third parties could use it as a resource.
The analyst house has produced its Mastering the IoT: the big data opportunity for print manufacturers executive briefing and called for changes from both vendors and managed print services players.
Quocirca research director Louella Fernandes said that the vast quantity and diversity of big data sources available mean that vendors must widen their horizons and look beyond the immediate print industry to build cross-sector partnerships that draw intelligence from disparate sources.
“This will enable them to deliver the intelligent services that customers are looking for. Vendors need to be willing to share their own data – suitably anonymised – as part of the bargain. This will be a significant culture shift for many print organisations, who have closely guarded their IP and installed base insights, tending to look inwards, not outwards, for inspiration”, she said.
“Big data and the IoT offer great opportunities for the print industry, but vendors and MPS providers need to think outside the box of the print ecosystem to uncover the innovative ways that print network data can integrate with data sources from other partners to improve productivity and efficiency”, Fernandes said.
