To help IDHW to better manage its printing needs, the DWS group designed a new print architecture that consolidated multiple print systems into a single architecture. HP worked with Levi, Ray & Shoup (LRS), a provider of IBM host print-management solutions. "LRS provided a centralized point of control in what they needed for that environment," says Jaimie Houser, Service Generation Manager for HP’s DWS group. "There were literally applications that could print only on specific networks on specific printers. They had printers side-by-side that each had a specific part they were printing. And they couldn’t trade back and forth."

Now, using LRS’ VPS enterprise-management software, IDHW has a single point of control for printing across the network. The agency’s new printing architecture enables users across the state to print mainframe or network files to the closest department printer. In addition, the state agency now has a single point of control that allows it to determine costs and to maintain and support its environment more easily and with fewer resources.

Companies need to get printed materials to users quickly and conveniently, Houser says. "A lot of times they want to look at centralized printing, and then go to a distributed network," Houser explains. "We analyze the specific host environment. Then we also take a look at the processes within the distributed environment and the critical users, then determine the most efficient way to get information out into that environment. We also look at the new output environment and finding out if it is a cost-effective environment for that user. A lot of companies don’t understand what it’s costing them in that type of environment."

In mid-December, HP’s DWS group and LRS formed a strategic alliance. Company officials expect to leverage HP’s network printing knowledge with LRS’ output printing solution expertise. Together, the companies expect to help firms and agencies like IDHW that are trying to integrate their host and local area network printing environments. The two companies had worked together for several years, but there hadn’t been any formal arrangement.

"We made the decision to partner specifically with HP Digital Workplace Services because they’re the only service to offer a precise device-independent methodology that first assesses the customers’ printing needs and then finds a solution to match their specific requirements," says Daron Worth, LRS Business Development Manager. The combination with LRS puts Hewlett-Packard far ahead of other printing companies, most of which are still focusing on the hardware end, according to VanHook. Hewlett-Packard’s expertise has always been in hardware, but HP bought Dazel Software in May of 1999 to gain expertise in the personal computer market.

That acquisition still left a hole in service to companies that rely on mainframes for much of their computing needs – hence the strategic alliance combining HP’s network printing expertise with the host output printing software provided by LRS. Under this new alliance, HP’s DWS printing and imaging professional services will recommend and implement LRS’ VPS enterprise-management software as part of its host print-services offerings. IDHW is the only enterprise using the HP/LRS partnership to date, but several other deals are in the pipeline, according to LRS’ Worth.

"I’ve seen a trend in which organizations want to migrate internal production reports off central printers to LAN printers in an effort to deliver critical information closer to users," says John Curtis, Consulting Manager for HP’s Digital Workplace Services Division. "They are seeking outside expertise on how to do it simply and efficiently." LRS provides the architecture to print from any application, as long as an OS/390 system is installed somewhere within the architecture in which the LRS software operates.

"Applications are typically installed and implemented, then people think of printing last. The printing support is built into the application," Worth says. "What LRS does is separate the application from printing responsibilities, allowing the management and movement from any application to any printer on any network. Now this includes data mining, faxes and Web browsers. The movement to TCP/IP is fueling distributed printing," Worth adds.

Although traditional printing companies are still focusing on the hardware, HP does have competitors for this market, VanHook says. For example, Mobius Management Systems Inc.’s Electronic Document Warehouse products store and integrate documents and transactions of different formats on a variety of computing platforms and electronic storage devices, making them quickly available via corporate networks and the Internet. However, the Mobius system doesn’t have the same hookup with localized printers, according to VanHook.

Additionally, VanHook questions how large the market for the HP/LRS partnership might be. "This type of enterprisewide solution probably isn’t needed by 70 percent of companies," he says. "It’s primarily needed by global companies that have offices in multiple marketplaces, like manufacturing companies and large financial services firms."

But Worth counters that the business combination is ideal for customers who require centralized control over their entire enterprise print environment. "You always have companies with a third of [printing] technology that is outdated, a third that is present-day and a third that is coming in to be accepted," Houser adds. "Everybody thinks of printing last because they expect it to be built into the operating system. In today’s systems, there are eight to 10 operating systems and three to six networks that connect those applications."