Of all of the toolsets, there are not two more obvious cousins than that of user- and device-centric software suites in MPS. This particular matrix, pictured as two triangles, represents only a facet of the managed services landscape, and is not inclusive of the holistic tools landscape. However, it does represent how “printing management” and “printer management” software tools should best complement one another. I use the term, “best” by virtue of the fact that many tools have sought to offer the “best practice” for measuring a particular facet of the document lifecycle, so in my experience no one toolset offers a “total package”.

‘User Management’ is represented as an inverted triangle. The relative strength of these offerings is represented by its proximity to the top, whereas the relative proximity to the center of the matrix (left to right) represents our understanding of each tool’s current level integration with an effective asset-management tool.

‘Asset Management’ is represented as a triangle. The relative strength of these offerings is represented by its proximity to the base, whereas the relative proximity to the center of the matrix (right to left) represents our understanding of each tool’s current level of integration with an effective user-management tool.