HP has revealed a new cloud-based operating system, HP PrintOS, to facilitate print production. Its aimed at all segments for use with HP Indigo, PageWide Web Press, Scitex and Latex digital printing technology.
It includes a number of applications, such as Box, for handling job submission, and Site Flow, which combines automated order submission, pre-press and shop floor management capabilities.
Naturally, it will allow customers to monitor print status remotely as well as track and improve production performance over time.
HP hasn’t announced pricing details yet, other than to say that it will be handled by HP’s Financial Services company.
To be honest, the press release was light on actual details other than a lot of rot about using the power of the enormous HP portfolio to reinvent printing so I could feel myself getting older as I waded through it.
Then again, this is not the first time that HP has experimented with web-based systems. It bought the German MIS developer Hiflex in 2011, which offered both a cloud-based MIS and Web-to-print system. But HP shut this down in 2013 when it stopped taking on new customers, though it had committed to support existing customers up until this summer for the W2P service, and next December for the MIS customers.
So this announcement should prove timely as HP will presumably try to shift those remaining customers to the new PrintOS. However, although it will be officially launched at this Drupa show, availability will differ from one country to another. Initially, it will be offered to Indigo and PageWide Web Press customers from 31st May this year, but wide format users will have to wait until 2017.
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