You can take Nicola De Blasi at his word when he says MPS Monitor offers a singularly unique software solution that enables printers and managed print services (MPS) specialists to monitor customer print devices. After all, the company’s software solution stands guard over 900,000 devices producing 28 billion pages per year across 140,000 end-users globally.
But don’t just take the word of MPS Monitor’s CEO as gospel. In the past six months, Milan-based MPS Monitor has earned a Platinum Rating by Keypoint Intelligence/Buyers Lab—the industry’s standard-bearer for technology assessment—covering five individual metrics: features and productivity, usability, IT admin and security, support and training, and value. MPS Monitor also earned Printer & MFP Security and Validation Testing for Policy Compliance (the BLI Policy Compliance seal), along with a Pick Award for Outstanding Fleet Management solution. The company was also featured in Quocirca’s Print Security Landscape 2020 study.
“We are incredibly proud that our efforts in ensuring superior quality and performance are recognized by the world’s leading evaluators and analysts of the print industry,” De Blasi said. “Analysts fully recognized and valued how much innovation and new technology we have put into the latest version.”
Founded in 2010, and backed by decades of experience in the office print and copy space as well as extensive knowledge of the managed print services realm, MPS Monitor’s mission was to craft the finest cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) remote fleet monitoring platform to aid dealers and MPS providers worldwide while bolstering those providers’ service levels, optimizing their operations and reducing their costs.
The firm has garnered steam with tremendous growth, particularly in the past seven years. In 2020, MPS Monitor registered 40% growth over the previous year on the strength of 2,000 active dealer accounts across 50-plus countries. It has support structures in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), North and South America and Asia/Pacific.
MPS Monitor was the product of intensive collaboration with dealers and MPS specialists who provided insight into the needs and pain points of fleet monitoring that were not adequately addressed by other market providers. The result was a four-pronged solution that spoke to four vital areas:
Fleet Management: To provide dealer operations with a central hub for monitoring devices, managing consumables and billing contracts.
Systems Interface: The ability to be deeply integrated with the dealer/MFP provider’s existing systems (ERPs, CRMs, service management) and open to accommodate API/SDK possibilities.
Ease of Use: A simple user experience that is accessible even for users who are not technology-oriented.
Security Compliance: The software provides peace of mind for users by meeting the most stringent security standards for cloud platforms.
Version 2.0 of the software includes many innovative features that dealers and MPS providers find compelling and has led to strong migrations from competing platforms. Some of the enhancements include:
- Robust usability with straightforward and guided navigation, instruction and video tutorials for every function, along with an intuitive user interface.
- Advanced, robust multiplatform Data Collection Agent (DCA) technology, with versions for all main server and client platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry) and embedded OEM brands (HP, Lexmark, Samsung, Kyocera).
- Unique DCA clustering technology providing full redundancy and maximum reliability to the data collection process.
- Embedded analytics and predictive supplies intelligence that provides insight on data collected and enables dealers/MPS providers to forecast usage, plan operations and optimize resources.
- Integration with HP Smart Devices Services 2.0 allows HP partners to remotely diagnose and fix most hardware problems without any on-site intervention. This bolsters first-call effectiveness when an on-premise visit is necessary.
- A comprehensive security strategy, starting from ISO-27001 compliance, going through secure authentication and SSO, up to printer policy management.
Pivotal Integration
Late last year, the company announced the integration with Microsoft’s Universal Print inside the MPS Monitor 2.0 SaaS platform. This enables dealers and MPS providers to activate the full suite of Universal Print functionalities without the need for on-premises print servers or installing print drivers on devices. De Blasi notes that as many businesses were moving their core IT platforms, services and processes to the cloud, the print infrastructure’s migration was a natural progression. But given that most existing print management independent software vendors (ISVs) were typically tied to on-premises architectures and business models that are difficult to change, the move for the customer was not an easy one.
While moving print servers to the cloud to provide secure, anywhere printing is a compelling concept, millions of legacy printers and firmware versions will never interact with the cloud natively, necessitating the need for an on-premises proxy connector in customer networks.
“Even though MPS Monitor has been a cloud SaaS platform from the beginning, the service actually relies on an existing infrastructure of hundreds of thousands of DCAs installed and running into end customers’ networks,” De Blasi explained. “This provides dealers a unique opportunity to implement Universal Print seamlessly and transparently because the MPS Monitor DCA can also take care of the Universal Print work. It is as simple and easy as to activate a switch in the SaaS Portal.
“This integration is built to provide a single platform to fulfill most of the requirements that customers may have regarding print management, especially with the new challenges posed by the new work-from-home scenario,” he added.
The pandemic, if anything, has elevated the need for (and value proposition of) MPS Monitor. The work-from-home environment has developed its own set of challenges for dealers in their MPS efforts, including:
- Operational efficiency on a more fragmented fleet of devices.
- Ongoing maintenance activities and remote monitoring of devices within MPS contracts, performed at home instead of from the dealer’s office.
- Ensuring device and network security in home environments.
- Providing a seamless printing experience to clients’ at-home employees by enabling them to print from any remote location.
This is where MPS Monitor can respond to the task with a comprehensive cloud strategy for monitoring and management, using a flexible DCA technology suited to the office or remote environment, backed by a security infrastructure with the ability to scale and support either base of operations.
We plan to sustain and increase our current growth rate by gaining significant market share in the geographies where we are still not a leader.
– Nicola De Blasi
“MPS Monitor’s strategy relies on the latest DCA technology, compliance to the highest security standards, and integration with platforms like Universal Print to provide a single, comprehensive and integrated solution to all these new requirements,” De Blasi noted.
Long focused on the European market, MPS Monitor has bolstered its marketing reach in the last two years to expand into the Americas and Asia/Pacific, backed by locally dedicated teams and a focused outreach program. Its goal is simple: to position MPS Monitor as a worldwide leader and a modern, innovative, high-value alternative to traditional remote monitoring platforms by offering a more integrated, user-friendly and secure DCA technology and cloud platform.
MPS Monitor’s integrated marketing strategy includes brand awareness, strategic partnerships, market recognition and a clear focus on the dealer’s primary requirements and pain points: integration with the top ERP systems, a holistic approach to security and confidentiality, data collection fidelity and best-in-class support. The software provider also plans to heighten its visibility within the dealer community; the company joined BTA in 2020 as a vendor member and is eyeing other organizations as the new year rolls forward.
Building Blocks
Where does MPS Monitor go from here? As the company continues huddling with dealers to determine the full extent of their requirements to offer the ultimate in MPS competency, De Blasi sees much of the company’s emphasis falling within four buckets of concentration: integrations, business intelligence, predictive analytics and security.
On the integrations front, MPS Monitor constantly seeks to expand its connectivity for the most popular standard platforms dealers rely on—ERPs, CRM, service management systems, logistic platforms for automated supplies management, remote maintenance proprietary services (e.g., HP SDS), and complementary technologies (Universal Print). And by offering the most comprehensive stack of API and SDK, dealers can easily create their own integrations and access their data in MPS Monitor.
Speaking of integration, MPS Monitor is augmenting identity management via an exclusive single sign-on integration that will enable users to access its SaaS services using their own Active Directory security structure.
De Blasi believes business intelligence is one subset of the overall value proposition in which MPS Monitor can deliver much value to users. The firm’s decision to use Microsoft PowerBI Embedded as its core BI technology eliminated the time-consuming process of building the tools and allowed MPS Monitor to focus on its true business value. PowerBI gives users a self-service BI environment within the MPS Monitor portal, sans the need for an additional license or external service account.
“Customers who know nothing about BI may learn the basics and become experts through our specific training programs,” De Blasi noted. “They can also access the endless knowledge base present on the internet for the PowerBI environment.”
Predictive analytics is a relatively new focus of investment for MPS Monitor. The software provider has developed a set of patent-pending algorithms that will leverage the massive mounds of data it collects daily from devices to provide predictive operational and financial analysis.
“The value that this will provide to dealers inside the PowerBI environment is another huge differentiator,” De Blasi noted.
As an ISO-27001-certified company, MPS Monitor will continue to ensure it remains sensitive to the security requirements of its client base. During 2021, it plans to add new standards to its compliance profile, including SOC 2.
Limitless Future
Looking ahead, De Blasi seeks to expand MPS Monitor’s base of dealerships in addition to growing the managed fleets of existing clients, all while providing the richest, most complete set of features available on the worldwide market. Not being limited from a geographical standpoint opens the door to unlimited potential for the software provider.
“We plan to sustain and increase our current growth rate by gaining significant market share in the geographies where we are still not a leader,” he said. “Long term, we plan to position MPS Monitor as the platform of choice for anyone providing managed print services to customers in any geography and with any printer brand.”
