| The customer associated with this case study is a | | | | solution needed to support the proprietary "-o"* |
| leading specialized publisher and services provider | | | | commands that HP had built into OpenSpool. The |
| located in the state of Wisconsin in the United | | | | new solution also needed to be easy to install to |
| States. They offer a wide spectrum of | | | | reduce the risk during the conversion and finally, it |
| ready-made and custom safety and regulatory | | | | needed to be intuitive and easy for the end users |
| compliance products to customers throughout | | | | to utilize with little or no training. |
| North America in industries such as transportation, | | | | Technical Environment |
| manufacturing, utility, construction, food | | | | Four HP-UX 11i servers |
| processing, and food service. They help their | | | | SAP and several in house developed applications |
| customers comply with DOT, OSHA, EPA, FDA, | | | | Interoperating with Jetform-electronic forms from |
| and USDA requirements. The company's diverse | | | | Adobe |
| product line includes technical publications; | | | | 100 print queues, multiple printer manufacturers |
| computer software; video-based, online, and | | | | and models around the campus |
| CD-ROM training programs; specialized forms; and | | | | 120 + end users |
| supplies. Additionally, they provide safety | | | | See diagram |
| consulting, on-site training and a variety of | | | | Technical Solution |
| transportation services, including licensing, | | | | After the customer evaluated several leading |
| permitting, fuel tax reporting and driver log | | | | advanced print spooling solutions, they selected |
| auditing. | | | | Plus Technologies' print spooler solution, OM Plus. |
| Business Problem - The customer had | | | | At the conclusion of their evaluation, the |
| implemented a Print Spooler and print | | | | customer provided the following information about |
| management system based on OpenSpool from | | | | how they found OM Plus to be the best solution |
| HP. HP has discontinued OpenSpool and has | | | | for replacing OpenSpool vs. the other solutions |
| announced plans to discontinue support very soon. | | | | evaluated: |
| This situation created the problem of needing to | | | | It was easier to install and use |
| replace a discontinued Print Spooler product. | | | | It had better forms management |
| Additionally, the customer had a desire to move | | | | It had better text and PCL viewing capability |
| more functions related to print administration | | | | It had superior tech support |
| from the IT department to the end users to | | | | It was easier to set up a printer in OM Plus |
| reduce the workload on the IT staff. Doing so | | | | It had better security and user privilege |
| would streamline operations and administration | | | | management |
| within the organization with respect to their print | | | | It had OpenSpool "-o" command line compatibility |
| operations, improving efficiency and increasing | | | | It offered a robust print job Archive solution |
| productivity. HP presented Dazel as an alternative | | | | Plus Technologies provided the best value and |
| to OpenSpool for the customer to consider. Dazel | | | | was the most responsive vendor |
| was not a fit at this customer due to its high | | | | Implementation |
| price and the extensive effort to implement it | | | | Installing, configuring, testing and training were |
| within their environment. Their testing also | | | | completed in a matter of just two days. A Plus |
| indicated that Dazel would be difficult for their end | | | | Technologies engineer was on-site to assist the |
| users to use due to its complexity and therefore | | | | customer with installation of the OM Plus software |
| defeat main objective, moving print administration | | | | and to provide configuration assistance. Since OM |
| from the IT department out to the end users in | | | | Plus supports all of the unique HP OpenSpool "-o" |
| their company. | | | | command line parameters the customer could |
| Key Technical Challenge - The solution that the | | | | implement OM Plus seamlessly across their |
| customer would choose needed to provide the | | | | enterprise without having to make any changes |
| same Print Spooler functionality as their | | | | to the printing environment. |
| OpenSpool implementation and more. The new | | | | |