Downloading a cloud-based app to a smart phone has become so easy that most children can do it – sometimes to their parents' dismay.
That same behavior, so familiar on our phones, is coming to HP office printers and devices. HP has launched JetAdvantage on Demand, a multi-tenant and multi-vendor cloud platform for use by customers and channel partners. It is the printing industry's first SaaS solution management platform that is both a marketplace and a portal to offer and manage applications, users, and devices for printing.
Industry observer John McIntyre said, "Think of it as the iOS or Google Android App store for printing."
A "quantum leap"
In September, McIntyre wrote an in-depth review of Jet Advantage On Demand for The Imaging Channel, a community site for "the business and people of managed print."
"The concept of the JetAdvantage on Demand platform appears to be a quantum leap in how printing apps are developed, deployed, and distributed – just as downloading mobile apps to your phone represented a paradigm shift on the usability and functionality of smartphones. Using its leverage in the print industry, HP has invested in a platform which is likely to draw considerable interest by any ISV whose software offerings need to address print output, and by developers trying to customize an application for a specific user print need. It is a concept that is long overdue and kudos to HP for having the foresight and the courage to invest in the JetAdvantage on Demand platform during a period when internal cost cutting by printer OEms has become the order of the day."
HP's new Open eXtensibility Platform (OXP)
JetAdvantage On Demand is just part of HP's broad shift to an Open eXtensible Platform – OXP for those in the know. There are three flavors of OXP – three ways that the extensible platform will keep HP competitive in the office market:
- OXPd for Devices, including multi-function printers
- OXPm for Management of fleets of printers and scanners
- OXPw for Workflows
OXPw is the cloud-to-cloud SDK behind (or perhaps above) JetAdvantage On Demand. It is Software-as-a-Service, delivering:
- Radical simplicity. Easily discover, try, and deploy apps online—no need for on-site servers or software updates.
- Advanced control. Monitor and manage all apps and users' access from a single, web-based portal.
- Enhanced security. All apps are HP Security-Certified, and flexible authentication options prevent unauthorized access.
The inner workings of OXPw are difficult to understand if you don’t have a background in printing systems and cloud server architecture, but developers don’t need to know how it works to understand what it does. In a holiday nutshell, OXPw sets the stage – or should we say “platform” – for print apps for HP devices. OXPw lets independent software vendors deploy printing and scanning workflow solutions to the JetAdvantage On Demand portal.
Check it out on this portal's OXPw page, then read McIntyre's in-depth review:
HP Launches JetAdvantage App Portal for Print