Get mobile printing up and running: What CIOs need to know

Enterprise workplace infrastructure is changing. Gartner found that total mobile sales into the enterprise globally are greater than 200,000 per year, while PCs are half that. The PC installed base has been on a steady decline since 2014, while the mobile installed base is on the rise - meaning mobile is set to surpass the PC installed base in 2017.

However, even as more employees work from their own devices instead of PCs, and work on the go, they still require a key office capability: the ability to print.

Trillions of pages are printed each year, because workflows still require it; paper remains the universal medium, and tasks like reviewing, proofing and collaboration are easier to do on a hard copy of a document than on a small screen. The 2015 IDC study “Mobile Device Users/Non-Users: Print, Scan, Document Management, Worldwide” predicts that mobile-printed pages are expected to grow approximately 24 percent by 2018, and that business mobile printing is a 2017 focus, with more than 90 percent of business mobile users valuing the ability to print from anywhere.

This means that a company’s mobile/BYOD strategy must include print, because personal devices need to integrate with the office workflow from a functionality perspective - and building in a print strategy lets CIOs ensure that security and assets are not being compromised.

The Fundamentals of Mobile Printing in the Enterprise

Mobile printing is still somewhat in its infancy, relative to desktop printing, and not all network infrastructure enables easy printing. Some solutions work just fine if the network topology is simple, but once it becomes more complex, a more in-depth application may be needed to manage print output.

As BYOD policies took hold in the workplace, many CIOs implemented an enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution to manage mobile devices. VMWare AirWatch, MobileIron, and BlackBerry/Good are all top providers of EMMs, each with their own specialties - for example, BlackBerry is focused on certain verticals, AirWatch has perhaps the largest breadth of installation, MobileIron is driving innovation around access and control, and so on.

Managing printing via individual device may require a similar solution: an enterprise print management solution (EPMS), which could be either based in the cloud or in the enterprise data center. These are commercial solutions that allow users to print in a queue and also provide tracking for cost and security purposes. Often, they provide some sort of release so documents aren’t just floating out to a printer, unmanaged.

These are similar to solutions already used with PCs/desktops as companies have migrated from direct printing from a PC to an intermediate solution that provides increased security and/or access control to documents.

If a company already has an EPMS, many solutions have a module that supports mobile printing; a CIO just needs to set it up, configure it and integrate it with the EMM or mobile device management (MDM) software. Once that’s done, push configurations can be enabled.

If an enterprise does not currently have an EPMS or MDM solution, but wants to implement one for the sake of general security as well as mobile print security, there are multiple solutions that allow mobile printing. Equitrack from Nuance is a more high-end, feature-rich solution, while PaperCut is a more economical solution with a broad set of features.

If one is looking for a solution with cloud and public printing integrated into the enterprise, EFI or PrinterOn may work – the right solution will depend on an individual company, and resellers can help provide direction on the best fit.

Mobile Printing: The Wave of the Future

According to IDC, in 2015, approximately 36 percent of business smartphone users were printing via mobile. IDC predicts that by 2018, that number will skyrocket to 55 percent.

The number of users printing via mobile device will continue to rise throughout the years, making it essential for IT to define policies around all printed material in a company, whether it comes from a company-issued PC or from an employee’s personal device. It is first and foremost a security issue, as well as to provide access and control/management.

Additionally, users will begin to demand this feature, if they aren’t already. Enterprise infrastructure may be changing, but the basic functionalities an employee expects in a workplace remain the same - so just because digital is in doesn’t mean paper is out.

The most important thing to remember is that getting ahead of a mobile print strategy allows you to let it happen on your own terms. Employees may already be printing via their mobile device, or trying to figure out how to, and providing a standard installation that people can use to print, and integrating print into a mobile strategy, will ensure that the capability doesn’t create chaos for CIOs.

Mobile phones can reveal information on radiation exposure

In accidents or terror attacks which are suspected to involve radioactive substances, it can be difficult to determine whether people nearby have been exposed to radiation. But by analyzing mobile phones and other objects which come in close contact with the body, it is possible to retrieve important information on radiation exposure. This has been shown by a new thesis from Lund University in Sweden.

The nuclear power plant disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima are two examples of accidents which have exposed the population to ionizing radiation. Many people fear that, for example, dirty bombs will be used in future terror attacks.

"Being able to quickly determine whether someone has been exposed to radiation is a major advantage. In case of a nuclear power plant disaster, many people are worried, even when only a small number of people have been exposed to harmful levels of radiation", explains Therése Geber-Bergstrand, medical physicist and doctoral student at Lund University.

Providing information several years after an accident

Together with her colleagues, Therése Geber-Bergstrand examined a number of objects or materials that come in close contact with the body and which have the potential of providing information on whether the carrier has been exposed to radiation. Among the objects examined were

• · mobile phones
• · teeth and dental fillings
• · drying agents (found in, for example, small pouches in new brief cases and purses) 

The study showed that several of the materials contained very promising properties, not least mobile phones. They contain resistors made from aluminium oxide, which can provide information about radiation as late as six years after the time of exposure. During analysis, the phone is dismantled and the resistor is subsequently examined using a light-sensitive measuring technique, known as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL).

"The results from the mobile phones were very promising. Even though further studies are required, the phones can be used right away. We have an agreement with the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority about analysing a number of mobile phones in our emergency preparedness lab when needed", says Therése Geber-Bergstrand.

Analyses of mobile phones and of other tested objects can also be performed on a large scale and relatively quickly. It may be possible to receive a test result within one or two hours, compared to the couple of days it can take to receive tests results from a medical exam. According to Therése Geber-Bergstrand, an initial check of the mobile phone can therefore be a valuable tool for determining who needs to undergo more time-consuming and resource-intensive tests.

Salt capsules could complement dosemeters

In her thesis, she also continued to develop the research group's previous findings with regard to the use of table salt as a cheap and effective indicator of ionising radiation. Her results confirm the benefits of the salt. In the event of a major accident involving radioactive substances, it could therefore be an option to supply some of the emergency staff with special salt capsules as an effective and cheap alternative to dosemeters.