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Mark Asbridge, Head of Product Enablement interview with SourceForge — Transcript

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0:05Hello everyone and welcome to the Source
0:06Forge podcast. I'm your host Bo
0:08Hamilton. Now let's talk about printing.
0:11So most people don't think much about
0:13printing until maybe their printer stops
0:15working or the printing process stops
0:17working. There are the hardware issues
0:20of course like print nozzles drying up.
0:22You have paper jams. You have those
0:24faulty ink cartridges. Uh those are very
0:26annoying of course. And then there are
0:28the other issues uh with software and
0:30workplace dynamics. Maybe a a document
0:33gets stuck in the queue. Uh there's a
0:35internal confidential file that's left
0:37sitting in a a shared tray or it just
0:40ends up dealing with constant support
0:42issues from just a bunch of different
0:43printers spread across different
0:44locations. You know, printers have had a
0:47bad reputation for a long time. Um I
0:50think a lot of us think of the the
0:51memorable scenes in office space. I
0:54think that's a classic example. Um, and
0:56for a lot of people, you know, that that
0:57frustration just feels really relatable.
1:00Uh, but for organizations managing
1:02dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of
1:04devices across offices, remote sites,
1:07uh, hybrid teams, printing is is far
1:09from a minor issue. It can create
1:11really, you know, severe security
1:13headaches. It can increase costs and
1:16just become one of those ongoing
1:17frustrations that just eats away at an
1:19IT team. Uh today's guest is Mark
1:22Asbridge, head of product enablement at
1:24MyQ, a company focused on bringing more
1:27control to that environment by
1:28connecting print, scan, and document
1:30routing into smarter, more secure
1:33workflows. Um, so we've got a lot to get
1:35into into this in this space. We're
1:37going to dig into what it really takes
1:38to manage a distributed print
1:40environment, how my Q works with that
1:42infrastructure companies already have in
1:44place, and then why something as simple
1:46as a printer tray can turn into a real
1:48security concern. So again, we have a
1:51lot to get into. Um, so let's just get
1:53right into it. Mark, welcome to the
1:55podcast. Glad you could join us.
1:57>> Thanks for having me. And I think it's a
1:59great intro uh of all the pain points,
2:01all the problems uh that people face
2:03within within the printing world. And to
2:05be honest, I I always have a bit of a
2:06laugh and joke and explain that I've
2:08never met an IT person that likes print.
2:10Um, and it's always those pain points
2:12that people always come across as as
2:14you've opened up.
2:15>> Yeah. Yeah. There's there's definitely a
2:17lovehate relationship with printers out
2:19there. U there's there's a plenty of
2:20printer memes poking fun at how often
2:23they don't work and and then you know of
2:25course office space is just comes to
2:26mind. It's a legendary scene where they
2:28take out their frustration on their
2:30printer. Um so let's let's start there.
2:32You know what what was my Q originally
2:35set out to solve with their u management
2:38solution software? like was the
2:40company's mission from the beginning to
2:42address the kind of pain points that you
2:44know give give rise to all these printer
2:46lore memes in the first place?
2:49>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean that that was
2:50the thing that every software solution
2:52starts with a painoint. Every everybody
2:54develops something from a from a problem
2:56that they're seeing in the industry and
2:58that's what our founders had. they they
3:00worked for a reseller in in Czech in
3:02Czecha and they were seeing the problems
3:05that people were facing all the time
3:06with the print management solutions that
3:08were out at the time. Not only were they
3:11really expensive, they were overly
3:12complicated, they were time consuming to
3:15implement and that was the kind of the
3:18the ideas um both of the the families
3:21all worked within the print industry and
3:23they kind of started thinking there must
3:25be a better way of doing this and that's
3:27kind of what what started our founders
3:29of my working together to say right how
3:32can we make this better um and it was by
3:35their collaboration and their working
3:37within the print industry that they kind
3:39of started developing the very early
3:41phases of of my cube and I always like
3:44to explain that back in 2007 when when
3:47our first uh application was was
3:50developed devices and printers those
3:52days didn't have like the touchscreen
3:54terminals that we're used to seeing
3:56today it was a a touch pad with a couple
4:00of numbers and that was it. So we
4:02developed an external reader that went
4:04onto those devices. But it's really
4:06interesting that the philosophy what
4:08they developed the very first phase
4:10which was easy to implement, cost
4:12effective and secure that philosophy is
4:16in gone through the whole entire company
4:18to where we are today.
4:19>> Gotcha. Those are Yeah, those are some
4:21good uh important pillars to to focus on
4:24for sure. And um I know that you know
4:26obviously we have our uh consumers the
4:30uh you know the average end user has
4:32their their personal experience working
4:33with printers but for businesses and and
4:35IT teams I think the problems are and
4:38headaches are just magnifi magnified
4:40like tenfold um as you have to imagine
4:43trying to manage printing across you
4:44know the the modern hybrid distributed
4:47workplaces um among many other things.
4:49Uh I'm curious uh for someone who hasn't
4:52used a print management platform before,
4:55how do you usually explain what what my
4:57Q does in in in simple terms that they
4:59could understand?
5:00>> No, absolutely. And and there's a couple
5:02of sort of pillars to look at it when
5:04you start talking about print management
5:06because the first thing that people tend
5:08to talk about is the the whole secure
5:10printing part. That's that's really the
5:12foundations of where everything has
5:14started from. Um, and it's very simply
5:16that when you're printing, you're not
5:19just printing directly to a to a single
5:21device. You're printing to a poll of
5:23devices. And when you log into that
5:25machine and click print, that's when
5:27that print job is then released to that
5:29machine. But that's the real basic kind
5:32of functionalities and and and a lot of
5:34people obviously the primary reasons for
5:36security for for them having this secure
5:39print environment. They can walk up to
5:41any device and they can get their print
5:42jobs perfect. But to be honest, today's
5:46sort of modern world when everybody's
5:47starting to digitize, everybody wants to
5:49scan to different cloud areas. People
5:51want to connect and natively print from
5:55cloud. That's kind of where the the
5:58applications that MQ develops takes it
5:59to another level. It's not just about
6:02printing and just a secure print. It's
6:05about how you're actually interacting
6:07with today's in modern scanning
6:09processes. So not only can we do this
6:12secure print, this preview, we can also
6:14then start digitizing scanning documents
6:17into a cloud environment. So for me, I
6:19always sort of describe it as what's
6:21print management. Well, print management
6:23is is managing your entire print fleet
6:26from your security printing to your
6:28scanning to your day-to-day maintenance
6:30of those devices and then kind of
6:32everything connected to it.
6:34>> Gotcha. Okay, that's a good that's a
6:35good explanation and it um you know it
6:37helps um you know it it basically it
6:40makes me think of the software you're
6:42you're trying to uh tackle all the helps
6:45solve all the problems that you know are
6:48um one could imagine and one could also
6:51not imagine like all the different use
6:53cases there's so many different use
6:54cases um and dynamics that you have to
6:57navigate and so having a solution that
6:59can is is built in and kind of has a
7:01proactive approach I guess to to handle
7:04them so that you avoid uh the lot of the
7:06problems in the future. Um I think is is
7:08a smart choice. Um you know, I feel like
7:10a lot of companies don't really think
7:12about print management until uh maybe
7:14the problems start piling up in the
7:16first place. They might be just getting
7:17by with their current sort of uh
7:20patchwork approach that that you know
7:22might Yeah, it might work well enough
7:24for a while, but you know, as things
7:25start to get more complex, you know,
7:27they they they just it breaks down.
7:30>> Yeah, that's the thing. You're
7:31absolutely right. when when you've only
7:32got one device, it's it's nice and
7:33simple. Um, and you've only got a
7:35handful of users, but it's when you
7:36start multiplying those problems and
7:38that that's really where the issues sort
7:40of start coming from. And and equally,
7:42IT people these days, they they don't
7:44have the time. They're trying to manage
7:46so many services um within within
7:48business. It is such a critical part of
7:50every business and we we're we're making
7:54their life so much simpler. So every
7:56development, every kind of new feature
7:57or functionalities, we've always got
7:59those IT people in mind to say, how can
8:02we save them time? How can we make it
8:04easier for them? As well as we're also
8:06thinking of our users because obviously
8:07the users are the ones dayto-day they're
8:09using applications. They're going up to
8:11the device and really we want it to be
8:13as streamlined for them as possible, but
8:15equally sometimes when you talk about
8:17streamlining services and processes, it
8:20creates an administrative nightmare
8:22because it then have to manage it. But
8:24we try and always balance both of those
8:25processes out by having the
8:27integrations, having the processes that
8:29people want, but then equally making
8:31sure that it is well supported in in the
8:34modern technology that they're expecting
8:35to see.
8:36>> Yeah. Maybe you could talk about some of
8:38those those problems that you've you've
8:40you know hear about and experience um
8:42from you know not using a centralized uh
8:46print management platform like what what
8:47typically do you hear um are some of the
8:49pain points? Yeah, I mean my my my
8:52favorite one to start off with and
8:53everybody sees it in in every office
8:54that you go to that doesn't have a
8:56pre-management solution. You just see
8:57paper everywhere. It's just an
8:59unbelievable amount of paper everywhere.
9:01And I mean my previous years I've been
9:04hardware engineer and I I remember going
9:05out to customer sites before they put
9:07print management systems in and you
9:09could pick up some really confidential
9:11data. Um, and and you see that all the
9:14time in every places and and I've had
9:15people print people's paychecks on the
9:17wrong printer in the wrong office. And
9:20you have to start looking at that and
9:22understanding that we just can't do that
9:23in today's today's world. So we start
9:26seeing the real pain points as just
9:28security of printing. Step one. Step two
9:31is then when you start talking about
9:33scanning, scan to email, scan to folder,
9:36scan to one drive, sharepoint, whatever
9:38the scanning requirements are, you
9:40always end up with like a new starter
9:42and the new starter comes along and
9:43says, "Oh, how do I use the
9:44photocopier?" And then it's a ticket to
9:46it and then they have to put the address
9:47book for that particular person in or
9:49they have to set up that printer on that
9:51person's PC. This this whole manual
9:55processes just expand massively. Um and
9:59then you then start talking about one
10:01drive, sharepoint and things like that
10:03and and copies weren't originally
10:05designed to integrate into that that
10:07cloud environment and and have that
10:08processes. So people are sat there
10:10looking at the copers going all I can do
10:12is scan to email. I I want to do more. I
10:15want to scan this to a destination where
10:17it's going to end. So we want to make
10:19sure that the that they're supported in
10:22all of these processes from making sure
10:24they don't have print jobs laying around
10:26that the security the reporting the
10:28making sure that it's cost effective
10:31because again we need to make sure that
10:32we're not just printing documents by
10:35mistake they don't just sit on the
10:37copier and they get shredded and go in
10:39the bin at the end of the day. So for me
10:42it's is all that part that we need to
10:44look at start with. Let's start off with
10:46the basics which is secure printing
10:48making sure that the print jobs aren't
10:50just wasted on the device and then it's
10:52then all the extra value ads that then
10:54can start introducing and adding to the
10:56system.
10:58>> That makes sense. Yeah. I think of when
10:59um you know I run into my own issues
11:01connecting to my home printer and it's
11:03it's one device that I'm trying to to
11:05connect to with maybe like my laptop, my
11:07phone, my my Mac, you know it's it's And
11:11like if I accidentally print something
11:12that's sensitive or my my roommate let's
11:16say sees or I have a guest over and they
11:17see like that's one thing right that's I
11:20I I don't really have to worry too much
11:21about that because I know this person
11:23but uh for a business the the scale is
11:26much different and the ramifications are
11:28much different of course. Um what kind
11:30of print related challenges do you see
11:33arise as companies grow and and add more
11:36devices? maybe they add more locations,
11:38they you know they scale up, right? So
11:40they're adding more users. All these
11:42things complicate the the process of of
11:44printing. Um what are the challenges
11:46associated with that?
11:48>> So really the biggest challenge that I
11:50see on that is is ownership on it. Um
11:52because you start off with one machine
11:54with 10 users. Okay, that that for an IT
11:57person is is 10 users to manage. That's
11:59okay. That's fine. But when you start
12:01multiplying that by hundreds of devices,
12:04multiple locations, that's where it
12:07becomes really a complete administrative
12:09nightmare for it because not only do
12:11they have to set it up once at one
12:13location, then people travel to do to
12:16different office locations. Obviously,
12:17in today's world, we're so used to
12:19traveling to to different offices,
12:21different parts of the world, and we
12:23just expect it to work. Like we we walk
12:25into an office and I just want to print.
12:27Why should I have to be raising IT
12:30tickets and making phone calls to teams
12:32or or trying to find a a super user in
12:35their office location just to set up a
12:37printer? Um, and this is where I see a
12:40lot of companies where they're not
12:43investing in the software solutions to
12:45make their lives simple. And and yes, we
12:47we can talk about sort of ROI on savings
12:50of print costs. I actually much rather
12:52talking about how much time and simple
12:54we're going to make it for IT because
12:56they don't have 20 or 30 IT tickets
12:58coming in to say how do I set up a
13:00printer? How do I set up some scanning
13:03the whole idea of it is that when they
13:05when it starts multiplying the system
13:07manages itself like you get a new user
13:10the system automatically synchronizes
13:11against that system. The the user logs
13:13into their laptop the print cues are
13:15automatically deployed to their device.
13:17They log into the photocopier, their
13:19email address is populated, their one
13:20drive is connected, it just works. So
13:23yeah, fine, without the systems, you you
13:25can do some of these processes, but as
13:28soon as you start multiplying it, it
13:30becomes a nightmare. Yeah, I I do want
13:32to turn our attention uh back to my Q
13:35and the the IT team um side of things
13:38because uh like yeah, like you were
13:40saying like that's that's really where
13:41the focus is cuz at the in a perfect
13:44world like most people using uh printing
13:47like they don't have it just works like
13:48they shouldn't have to think about you
13:50know uh running run into issues and then
13:52also just I was thinking to the the
13:54snowball effect of just like freeing up
13:56your time like not having to deal with
13:58printing issues can free your time up
13:59with to tackle so many more more
14:01important issues um and and actual you
14:04know work uh that needs to be done. If
14:07you look at it from the users point as
14:09well, I mean that's the thing is is the
14:10user frustration. I mean the the times
14:13I've spoken to to to to users when they
14:16just I just want to print. Why why is it
14:18so complicated? And and then you
14:19implement a software solution like my
14:21and they're like well why didn't we have
14:22this before? And you go yes absolutely
14:25because it's it's it's frustrating. Um
14:28people just want to work and do their
14:30job. They've got more important things
14:31to do than worrying about getting a
14:32print job or a scan.
14:34>> And you don't know what you don't know.
14:36I mean, you don't know if there's a
14:37better solution out there until you're
14:38presented with one and told about one.
14:40And um I think that's a good uh segue, I
14:43guess, to to kind of focus back on my Q
14:45in a sense of um you know, I know that
14:47one of the you know, statements I I hear
14:50um from um my Q is that like you know,
14:54the platform helps bring these workflows
14:56and and bring printers under control,
14:59right? Um talk about that some more.
15:01What does that mean? What does it
15:02actually look like in practice for say
15:04an IT team?
15:06Yeah, absolutely. So, the first thing
15:08that we need to look at is is how the
15:10devices are without a solution. And that
15:12that's really the pain point to start
15:13off with where they're unmanaged
15:15unlocked and every manufacturer has
15:17their own interface where whether or not
15:19it's unlocked or locked. It has their
15:21own user interface which does become a
15:24problem when you've got multiple brands,
15:25multiple manufacturers, multiple
15:27interfaces. A lot of education processes
15:29to be done there. Whereas myQ then
15:31standardizes it. You install our
15:33application on the device and then from
15:35there you'll be able to have all the
15:38controls through my so whether or not
15:40that's the the authentication whether or
15:42not you're logging into the pins you're
15:44using the QR codes ID badge one way or
15:47another you're you're authenticating
15:48with that device because you're then
15:50authenticating and saying it's me. The
15:52system then knows what your approved
15:54destinations are, what you're allowed to
15:56do, what's your your policies, what's
15:58you can do on that machine, are you
16:00allowed to photocopy, are you allowed to
16:02print, can you scan here, are you
16:04allowed to scan there? Basically, when
16:06you start implementing a software
16:08solution like ours, it gives the IT
16:10complete control to define who can do
16:14what. Now it it can sound like this this
16:16whole controlling
16:19uh process through the system although
16:21yes it is controlling but what it means
16:23is it gives the users what they actually
16:26need because what's the point having
16:28half a dozen different scanning actions
16:30and areas that they can do that they're
16:32never going to use and I always use a
16:34great example of like for example
16:36scanning in invoices or scanning in
16:38delivery notes they're generally only
16:41required by certain departments or or
16:43certain team members
16:44So why give everybody in the company
16:47access to it is making sure that they
16:49have the right actions at the right
16:51locations to do that scanning and to do
16:53those processes for them. They don't
16:55need to overly complicate things. Um so
16:57again we talk about time saving and
16:59exercises not only for it but that's the
17:02benefits for those users. Also when we
17:04then start talking about printing it
17:06means users don't have to think about
17:08what printer they want to print to. they
17:10go file print and then wherever they
17:12walk on any machine that's connected to
17:14their system they will then just log in
17:17authenticate themselves and they will
17:19then get their print jobs for them.
17:21Yeah, I think if you're it's it's
17:23absolutely worth like seeding a little
17:24bit of uh control if it means that the
17:26printing process is just going to work
17:27more consistently, right? Right. And
17:29then once you start kind of like uh
17:31educating I guess the the end user if
17:33they're curious about you know the
17:34authorization and whatnot of just having
17:36to manage all the different drivers all
17:38the different sort of fragmented
17:39printers and um you know machines out
17:42there and work with different devices
17:44like it's a complicated process. You
17:45obviously need to have a little bit of
17:48um you know control over uh that process
17:51and managing everything um from like a
17:53centralized location. It sounds like
17:55brings up the question of like so like
17:56what's let's let's say a company u wants
17:58to implement um myQ but they already
18:02have a a bunch of existing
18:04infrastructure um what what does that
18:07process look like you know like many you
18:09know if you want to implement my Q do
18:11you have to go out and buy uh you know a
18:13bunch of new gear or um does it just fit
18:15into a lot of these environments without
18:17requiring uh companies to replace
18:20anything? I mean it's a mixture of
18:23answer on that one. Um obviously to
18:26implement a software solution we need to
18:28make sure that we got compatible
18:29hardware whether or not we're looking at
18:31an on-remise solution a cloud solution
18:34and what brands the devices are whether
18:36or not they're they're modern devices
18:38supporting modern authentication
18:40encryption and so there's quite a few
18:43variances of answers on that. Um however
18:46my does support multiple manufacturers.
18:49um we not we don't just support one
18:51brand. Um so for most most companies
18:54it's not an issue whatsoever because we
18:56can implement my Q on all these
18:58different devices and have this
19:00consistent feel and consistent look
19:01across all of them. Um but it's one of
19:04those discovery questions that we'll
19:05always need to to start off and talk to
19:07our partners, understand what devices
19:09they've got and and make sure that they
19:12are compatible with modern security
19:13because a lot's changed in the last sort
19:16of 5 years. um when we start talking
19:18about encryption levels and security
19:20levels, the devices need to be able to
19:23support that because Mikey, it's all
19:24about security first. So, we want to
19:26make sure that whatever processes we're
19:28implementing that we're making sure we
19:30got that that security behind it. So, in
19:32the ideal world, yes, you don't have to
19:34replace the hardware. But if you come
19:37with this with a bit of hardware that's
19:38like 10 years old, then of course that
19:40then can become quite an issue. If you
19:43look at it the same as like Microsoft
19:44with with their releases of like Windows
19:4611 or or the next version, they're
19:49always having to increase that security
19:50levels and they're adding these new
19:52requirements in. Um so again, you see a
19:55bit of discovery questions to to our MQ
19:56employees.
19:58>> Yeah. No, that's that's reassuring to
19:59know. And um uh the security standpoint
20:02makes sense. I feel like when you were
20:03talking about um you know just how my Q
20:06works and and kind of the um like uh
20:09authorization and control it has you
20:11know it makes it obviously kind of
20:12brings up that question of of security
20:14and privacy and and how much control it
20:16has over maybe like uh a user's device.
20:20Um what you know does does the software
20:24control just everything pertaining to
20:26the printing process? Does it control
20:28the entire computer? like how does um
20:30the the privacy uh security standpoint
20:33work from from that angle?
20:35>> Yeah. So I mean we we what we like to
20:37call an end to-end encryption. So we're
20:40basically controlling that process from
20:42the user's laptop. Um so we have a thing
20:44called a desktop client. So desktop
20:46client tool uh is is optional um but
20:49it's highly recommended to user use it
20:50because it gives you so many more
20:52flexibility and options. But the idea is
20:54the desktop client tool gets installed
20:55on the user's computer. It will then
20:57automatically install the correct print
20:59queue for that person at that right
21:01location. So wherever they are within
21:03the business, whatever their job role
21:05is, they will then get the right print.
21:07Then when they click print, it's
21:09encrypted. This is encrypted from the
21:11point that it's printed all the way
21:13through its holding processes all the
21:15way until the user then logs into that
21:17device and it's then printed. So, we're
21:20not necessarily controlling the users's
21:22like Windows PC or Mac or whatever
21:25device that they're utilizing, but we're
21:27we're authenticating that user at that
21:29point of print to make sure that they
21:32are the only ones that accesses their
21:34print job. So, it's completely secure
21:36and it's encrypted during that whole
21:38entire process. So, a couple of
21:41different parts of that.
21:42>> Yeah, that's a good distinction. I mean
21:44it's it's it's it's just pertaining to
21:46you know the this sounds like the
21:48printing process as soon as you know a
21:50file print essentially u that's that's
21:53the most important part and um it makes
21:55sense I mean you don't want you want to
21:56you have to think about this from a
21:59business standpoint you can't you know
22:00be be leaving confidential internal you
22:03know documents unsecured and um maybe
22:06you know being left on the printer tray
22:07and and all that stuff you can't you got
22:09to you got to think about um making sure
22:11everything is is uh here and um
22:14otherwise you're just going to open the
22:16door to all sorts of other issues.
22:17Right.
22:18>> Absolutely. But it's also we also have
22:21to understand the fact that when we're
22:22printing into a a print management
22:24solution like like my Q, it's where that
22:26data sits. So where does that data go?
22:28And and that's the part that's the next
22:30part. Yes, great. I've implemented a
22:31print management solution, but is my
22:34data encrypted at rest? Is it
22:36transferred encrypted? Because you you
22:38kind of move one problem into another
22:40problem and and that's the part that we
22:41we then resolve. for not only be doing
22:43this this end to end encryption, we're
22:45making sure that only the right users
22:46have the right print jobs at the right
22:47location.
22:49>> Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Now, I I'd love to
22:51hear, you know, what the uh adoption
22:54process looks like in practice. You
22:55know, it's obviously neat to hear um
22:57about the features, hear about some of
22:58the the problems avoided. Um obviously
23:01the importance placed on on security and
23:02privacy and and um how encryption fits
23:05in and and making sure everything is is
23:07transferred uh securely um from one
23:10device to another from the cloud over to
23:12a um you know a local server or printer.
23:14Um, but I I want to hear about uh you
23:17know some of the maybe the tangible use
23:20cases and and success stories I I
23:22suppose of maybe like the the time uh
23:25saved from from a lack of you know
23:27printer headaches or the fewer support
23:29issues from an IT team or or maybe some
23:31cost savings u from business leaders.
23:33I'm just curious u not to push you too
23:35much on the spot but can you share an
23:37example of of how a company maybe used
23:39my Q to to streamline its its print
23:42environment?
23:43>> Yeah, absolutely. I mean we we kind of
23:45in in the industry we always sort of say
23:47that when you start implementing a print
23:48management solution just on your print
23:50volumes on average you'll save about
23:5230%. Because
23:55it starts showing the users what you're
23:57printing and it equally because it
23:59doesn't just print straight away the
24:00amount of people that can forget all of
24:02a sudden oh wait I forgot to change
24:04something after they hit the print
24:05button. Um, so to start off with, we
24:07always generally recommend about 30% of
24:09savings on your print volume is is step
24:13one. So there's an massive benefit to
24:16that basis straight away. When we then
24:18start talking to it about support ticket
24:20sites, they generally again see 30 40
24:24plus% reduction in in tickets just on a
24:28basic follow me print solution when we
24:30start implementing my but then you can
24:32take it even further. So if you have a
24:35again depends on your environment but if
24:36you have a lot of direct printer cues uh
24:39like a mixed environment where they're
24:41having to manage hundreds of print cues
24:43because of different office locations
24:45and things with our with some of our new
24:47updates that we've released that's going
24:49to save you about 80% of your IT tickets
24:51just on printing print Q deployment. So
24:55there's so many areas that you can build
24:58out on. Um it's huge amounts of time
25:01savings just for your for your IT and
25:03and your on boarding of new users. And
25:06then have you um successfully you know
25:08rolled out uh the platform to with an
25:12organization of or I guess my question
25:14is um what's maybe like what's one of
25:16the biggest rollouts you've you've um
25:20heard uh or had an organization
25:22incorporate with with my cube?
25:24>> Oh, so we we do tens of thousands of
25:27devices on on systems. Um, it's always
25:30quite an interesting one because it's
25:32like people say to me, well, what's the
25:33sort of size customer do you do is is
25:37ideal for print management. And my
25:38immediate answer is always one just one
25:40well one machine and and and you need
25:42you need print management just because
25:44of the way that it integrates into
25:45systems. In in some offices these days,
25:47you might have a thousand users to one
25:49device. So, if they're like a modern
25:52digital first, they don't need much
25:54printing. They could have a thousand
25:56users to one printer. But then you get
25:58into the rounds of having tens of
26:01thousands of devices globally. So my is
26:04designed to be incredibly scalable from
26:07one device all the way up to tens of
26:09thousands of devices. So we we really do
26:12have that bread breadth of a software
26:14solution. But it's all about how the
26:16system scales. It's not here's a design,
26:19here's an architecture, that's what it
26:20does. The whole system was designed to
26:23be scalable. Now obviously there's more
26:25resources that are needed. We need to
26:26make sure that we do the scoping out
26:28correctly to make sure it's the right
26:30solution for the customer. But that's
26:32it. It's designed to scale.
26:35>> Yeah. No, that's that's an important uh
26:37pillar because yeah, you got to uh
26:39companies are always either growing or
26:40or or shrinking it seems like. And so
26:42you're always adding devices or taking
26:43devices away. Um but um I can't imagine
26:46hear like what the the patchwork
26:49solution was like for that for an
26:51organization that has 10,000 devices
26:53beforehand. Like I I can't imagine life
26:55without one of these printer management
26:57softwares.
26:59>> Absolutely. I mean I always sort of
27:00laugh with it. It's like this dark heart
27:02of scripting. Um and it's like if one
27:04person leaves like the whole system
27:06could just implode. And it's just like
27:08right let's let's remove those horrible
27:10dark heart processes. Um and let's put
27:13in a system that's that's centrally
27:15managed. It's going to do it all for
27:16you. That isn't just only one person
27:19understands how the system works. And
27:20for me that's really quite a key point
27:22because staff change, people change,
27:25processes change. You need something
27:26that can scale and manage manage those
27:28processes is for you. Um and that's
27:30exactly what what Mikey does.
27:33>> Well um oh thanks for thanks for
27:34painting the picture there with some of
27:35the the kind of real world examples and
27:37and how you're able to to scale. Um uh
27:40it does make me question where you know
27:43where things are going. Um obviously we
27:45have you know the the hybrid workflows
27:48um and the cloud has been you know well
27:51you know massive um it's been you know
27:54continues to get more and more adopted
27:56but um I'm curious like what emerging
27:58trend do you believe will have the
27:59biggest impact on your industry in the
28:01in the coming years. I mean it's hard to
28:03say like you know what things will look
28:04like in five years from now but um you
28:07know what are you what are you looking
28:08forward to?
28:09>> Yeah absolutely. I mean, it's always a
28:11difficult one because there there's so
28:12many trends and patterns and changes and
28:15obviously so many people have be sat
28:16here and talked about the buzzwords of
28:18AI and and and everybody's talking about
28:20AI and I I still think AI trends are are
28:23really important and I always say put AI
28:26where AI is required. Um I I've I've
28:29spoken many of times on having AI in
28:30print management solutions is I'm I'm
28:33I've always turned around and say just
28:34make the software solution good in the
28:35first place where you don't need to have
28:36some AI thing that does it for you. So I
28:40still think AI within scanning and
28:42digitization is is really key because it
28:45it saves so much time and
28:46classifications, naming files, rooting
28:49files, processing. I think that's a
28:51fantastic phase. But for me, I always
28:54sort of s say what's the continuation
28:56trends? What's going to be going on? And
28:57obviously more and more people are
28:59moving to the cloud. More people are
29:00digitizing. Um more people are talking
29:02about security and compliance and making
29:05sure documents are encrypted and
29:07processed. So all the times I'm seeing
29:10this these higher standards required all
29:13of the time. Um so for Mikey we're
29:15always having to keep keep on top of
29:17these processes on these new
29:19legislations that are coming out all of
29:21the time as well as all these new
29:22encryption methods to make sure that the
29:24products are making sure that they're
29:25developing for the for that future. And
29:28one thing I think in the next well
29:30really in the next 12 months to 24
29:32months the biggest change I'm going to
29:34be starting to see is something from
29:36from Microsoft called Windows protected
29:38print because that's completely changing
29:41the whole way that people are going to
29:43be printing because removing legacy
29:46drivers the digital won't be any drivers
29:49there any at all. It's going to be
29:51completely gone. So I think for me the
29:53biggest change I'm going to see in the
29:54next sort of 12 to 24 months is is
29:57basically the way that everybody prints
29:59today is going to be gone. Um so we're
30:02now starting to see people move into a
30:04things called printer support apps um
30:06and utilizing IPS. So that's a
30:09particular printing protocol that will
30:10be the modern supported method by
30:12Microsoft. Um and and Mikey, we we
30:15currently support that that method. Um
30:17we're in the process of really enhancing
30:19it to make sure that it supports even
30:21more features and more functionalities
30:23for the future because again things are
30:25changing the print world. As much as
30:27people don't think about print, so much
30:30changing with it all of the time.
30:32>> Yeah, I know. I I had no idea about uh
30:34Windows protected print, but that sounds
30:36fascinating. I mean, anything that um I
30:38I feel like uh a fundamental change uh
30:41maybe kind of it sounds like getting
30:44away from kind of the the drivers
30:45support of things or is that how it
30:47works?
30:48>> Correct. Yeah. Getting rid of all the
30:49drivers. So, there's no you can't deploy
30:52or install the driver. There's no
30:54drivers coming via Microsoft Windows
30:55updates. Drivers are gone. But from
30:59Microsoft and it's one of their areas
31:01that they see quite a lot of security
31:02vulnerabilities in in drivers because it
31:05allows you to install anything. So quite
31:07understandably from Microsoft because
31:08they're after enhancing their security
31:10on on their platform and they see
31:12printing or printing drivers as quite a
31:15big vulnerability. So I understand the
31:17process but it's going to shake up the
31:19print industry quite a lot at this
31:21moment in time and I think there's a lot
31:22of nervous people out there um frankly
31:24trying to work out how they're going to
31:26support it in the future. Um but for us
31:29not a problem at all.
31:30>> Well, it's good you're Yeah, you're good
31:31you're thinking about it. And then I
31:32wanted to ask too about the u the AI
31:34particular features. I mean obviously
31:37this something you you you know you want
31:38to um keep in mind you know it's it's
31:40it's already making a splash uh in the
31:42printing world but have you um guys
31:45started incorporating AI into your
31:47platform or how are you approaching you
31:49know the the u pipeline of um features
31:52in in regards to AI with with my Q?
31:55>> Yeah absolutely. So I always like to
31:57talk in in two different ways like AI in
32:00product and AI in our platforms. And
32:03what I mean by platforms and products
32:04platforms is is looking at how we do our
32:07documentation. How do our partners
32:10interact with with Mikey? And we've
32:12we've invested a lot of time into that.
32:15Um so we've we've got like AI chat bots
32:18built into our online documentation
32:20site. So users aren't having to scroll
32:22through manuals and find the
32:24documentation. They can then use our AI
32:26bots linked in directly to all of our
32:29documentations and start asking it
32:30questions. That's making it a really big
32:32time savings for them because they find
32:34the information immediately. They're not
32:36having to try and scroll through lots of
32:38documents. Um, we've also recently
32:40implemented an AI bot uh into our
32:43community portal. And our community
32:45portal is where people would raise any
32:47tickets. uh they would ask for any
32:50support whether that's pre-sales, post
32:52sales, uh if there's any particular
32:54technical articles that they're after
32:56seeing that's in the community portal.
32:58All of these kind of bits and pieces,
32:59we're leveraging our AI bots into that
33:02to make our partners' lives much easier
33:05and much more efficient to find the
33:06information that they require because
33:07there's nothing worse than sat on site
33:10trying to do an installation and and
33:11having a problem that you don't quite
33:12understand how to implement. With this,
33:14you can just quickly ask the chatbot a
33:16question and it then creates it gives
33:18you the answers, gives you the
33:19feedbacks. Or if if it's something a
33:21little bit more technical, it will then
33:22allow you to create a support ticket
33:24directly within that bot. So you can do
33:26it really really efficiently. You can
33:27upload some support files off it goes
33:29and it creates that for you. So that's
33:32kind of for what we do for our for our
33:34partners. Um and then when we start
33:37looking at the actual products at this
33:39moment in time we haven't integrated AI
33:41into the products and it is something
33:43that is on our road map to sort of this
33:45this classification for this sort of
33:48different set of options of how we're
33:50going to do with those documents and
33:51that's something that's going to come
33:52out sort of in the future. Um we sort of
33:54announced it uh last year in one of our
33:56our big events of what we're looking at
33:58doing. Um, but for me really my my core
34:02fundamentals, I said it before, it's
34:03just make a pretty management solution
34:05that's easy to use in the first place.
34:06You don't need to have AI. Um, our our
34:09systems are designed to be set up and
34:10running within 15 20 minutes. If I need
34:13to build out a server and set it all up,
34:15it it does not take time at all. It's
34:18all designed to be automated in an
34:20instant. Why do you need to leverage AI
34:22at that particular point? But again,
34:24there are services, digitization,
34:26capturing, classifications. Yeah, it
34:28really makes a lot of sense and that's
34:30something that will come in the future.
34:32>> Yeah. And it's exciting to to see that
34:34you guys are going to uh eventually you
34:35know incorporate this where it makes
34:37sense. I mean that's the thing is if if
34:39you don't you got to roll it out uh
34:41carefully. You don't want to kind of
34:43alienate users and you know if there's
34:45some real utility there then obviously
34:46you want to incorporate it. But if not,
34:48then you know maybe take more of a a
34:51kind of careful approach and and focus
34:54in on the the knowledge based AI
34:56applications like you're mentioning with
34:57the chatbot where it's like if I a lot
34:59of the the issues with printing is just
35:00like you don't know what's going on,
35:02what's wrong. So if you have uh maybe a
35:04chatbot AI based knowledge knowledge
35:06base to help answer some of those
35:08questions and troubleshoot. I mean
35:10that's that offers some real value uh
35:12there without necessarily being tied in
35:14directly to the product. So um I think
35:17uh I think that that approach makes
35:18sense to me and yeah I want to uh you
35:21know obviously talked about where the
35:22industry is headed is is really
35:24fascinating. Um it also makes you kind
35:26of think about you know what still needs
35:28to to change right in the here and now.
35:31You know as someone with a a front row
35:33seat to this space. Um I want to ask you
35:36you know if you could change one thing
35:38about how your industry operates today
35:41uh what would that that one thing be and
35:42and and why? is is a hard one to kind of
35:45directly answer. So what what would I
35:47change now? Because it's it's the reason
35:50why it's a difficult one to answer is
35:51because actually when you start talking
35:52about print in different parts of the
35:54world, everybody's got this own ideas of
35:57of how of how it should work and and and
36:00it's it's really interesting when we
36:01start developing new features and
36:03functionalities because you get to a
36:05point we go I think we should do it like
36:07this and then we start talking to our
36:09partners globally and then you end up
36:10having this complete mixture of answers
36:13of of of everybody's opinion and how
36:15they think it should work and And we end
36:18up having this this massive challenge
36:19and and obviously this is what where our
36:21developers skills come into place
36:23because we always have this option of
36:24for every feature, every functionality
36:26that you enable, you should be able to
36:28disable it because everybody wants a
36:30complete change. So I think for me if I
36:33could change one thing that makes my
36:34life and our developers life easy, it's
36:37just everybody globally to agree on one
36:39process and it would just be such a
36:41time-saving exercise. But it's it's
36:44where it becomes a challenge for us and
36:45and that's where we leverage our our
36:48partners and and we communicate a lot
36:50with our partners to really understand
36:52what what's their pain points, what's
36:53the issues that they're facing and then
36:55we then talk globally to a lot of people
36:57to then understand that play that all
36:58together so that we could then actually
37:00then develop those those processes
37:02forward. Um so yeah it's it's it's a
37:04quite an interesting problem to be have.
37:07Yeah. I and the solutions like uh you
37:09know with so many industries and and the
37:11problems um that are there it's like you
37:13you got to have everyone on the same
37:15page or at least most of the the the
37:18main players on the same page. Um it's
37:20like you know when Apple rolls out a big
37:22change is they'll they'll send a send
37:24out a you know have a ripple effect with
37:27where things are going. I'm just
37:28thinking of like when they um had the
37:30USBC iPhone. It's like that was kind of
37:32a a little bit ahead of its time. It was
37:34kind of a bold choice. or when they got
37:35rid of um the SIM card ejection tool or
37:38SIM card tray, uh it was a little bit,
37:40you know, kind of shocked the industry,
37:42but you know, that's where things all
37:44move towards eventually. So,
37:46>> exactly. I mean, to be honest, the whole
37:48Windows protected printer we just talked
37:49about, that's Microsoft's equivalent of
37:51uh changing it from a a lightning port
37:53to a USBC port. It's just completely
37:55changing the way that people do things.
37:56Um and that whole whole process. So,
37:59yeah, a lot lot of change.
38:01Well, um, we'll have to have you back
38:03one of these days and talk about the
38:04Windows protected print and kind of
38:06where things are, um, going just since
38:08the last time we we spoke. And, um,
38:10things are obviously I I imagine things
38:12are moving pretty quickly. Um, it seems
38:14like anything software related right now
38:16is just moving very very quickly. So,
38:18it'll be exciting to to see how things
38:20are changed in the printing world. Um
38:23but I I want to give you a chance to um
38:26tell listeners where to where they can
38:27go to learn more about myQ and maybe get
38:29in touch with your team and and learn
38:31more.
38:32>> Yeah, absolutely. So if anybody goes on
38:34to uh website and they can go to
38:37myqansolution.com
38:39um on there you'll find a whole range of
38:41information uh that talks about our
38:43products, our services, what we can
38:45solve. Uh in there we've also got a lot
38:47of our case studies. We've got blogs and
38:49articles. So, if you really want to kind
38:51of start finding out more information,
38:52there's there's a whole load of
38:53information there. Uh, also on there,
38:55there's a contact us page, so you can
38:57fill in a form, uh, whether or not you'd
38:59like to join us as a as a partner. Um,
39:01there's lots of ways you can get into
39:03contact through our website. Um, and
39:05then one of our regional sales team will
39:07be able to kind of get in contact with
39:08you and really see how we can help you.
39:10>> Perfect. Myensolution.com.
39:14Mark, thank you so much for everything.
39:15I really appreciate all these the
39:17insights and this conversation and um
39:19genuinely would love to have you back
39:20one of these days to to talk updates.
39:22>> Great. Thanks for having me.
39:24>> Thank you all for listening to the
39:25Source Forge podcast. I am your host Bo
39:27Hamilton. Make sure to subscribe to stay
39:28up to date with all of our upcoming B2B
39:30software related podcasts. I will talk
39:32to you in the next one.

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