Managing to Succeed
Executive White Paper - Lanier Worldwide
By Brad Nagel, Solutions Marketing Manager, Lanier Worldwide, Inc.
How the vision, concepts, and technology of device relationship management (DRM) are transforming fleet management, cost control, and customer service models for network-connected document input and output systems
Table of Contents
1.0 Executive Summary
2.0 Introduction
3.0 A Brief History of DRM
4.0 DRM and Document Management
5.0 Methods of DRM
6.0 Evaluating DRM Technology
7.0 Conclusion
Executive Summary
Device relationship management (DRM) is one of the most powerful and dynamic ideas in modern business. DRM technology enables organizations to receive messages directly from intelligent devices over the Web. Any device that is controlled by microprocessors can acquire “intelligence,” usually in the form of embedded software or firmware that creates access to the device’s operational and usage data.
Depending on the device and the environment, there are a number of different technologies used to accomplish DRM. All of them, however, have the same set of potential benefits for end-users: higher uptime, better productivity and efficiency, more precise cost analysis, and more informed decision-making. These benefits are all the direct result of capturing an accurate, real-time data stream directly from an actively deployed device. DRM also creates the potential for solution providers to create a proactive service model, in which end-users enjoy higher device uptime, faster repairs, more economical replenishment of consumables, and fewer interruptions to daily operations.
In document management environments, DRM manages network-connected printers, fax systems, scanners, and digital multifunction products (MFPs). Applications of DRM in document management are typically designed to improve fleet management, enhance cost control, and automate manual processes. There are three ways to achieve DRM for any organization’s document management network: with software alone (which is usually controlled by the user); with hardware (a network-connected data collection appliance); or with a combination of hardware and service (data analysis provided by a third party).
The most powerful DRM technologies are characterized by three elements: security (no exposure of the end-user’s network to outside threats); true process automation (which requires DRM technology to be integrated with a service provider’s back-end systems for meter collection and billing); and analytics (which includes the data analysis techniques necessary to extrapolate usable information from the DRM data stream).
Introduction
Device relationship management (DRM) is one of the most powerful and dynamic ideas in modern business. DRM has applications in every industry, from industrial manufacturing to healthcare to consumer electronics, in addition to document management. Most important, it has the potential to transform traditional service delivery mechanisms while enabling organizations to explore a new dimension of cost-reduction opportunities.
Although DRM may sound esoteric, the concept is simple. DRM refers to any technology that enables an organization to receive messages directly from intelligent devices over the Web. The “device” can be virtually anything, from a refrigerator in your home to an EKG machine in a hospital to a temperature sensor in an automotive plant. What makes the device “intelligent” is the ability to transmit information about its own operation and usage. For example, the refrigerator might relay a message that it needs more Freon, the EKG machine might send a warning that it needs to be recalibrated, and the sensor may send an alert if it detects a temperature that exceeds a threshold. The message is then delivered through a Web interface, which enables the information to be accessed remotely. Depending on the situation, the message may be delivered to the device’s manufacturer, service provider, or end-user.
Receiving a single message from a single device, however, is not the point of DRM. The concept of DRM is much more all-encompassing. DRM gains real traction when it enables an organization to receive a rich assortment of information from many different kinds of devices deployed across a large and complex enterprise.
The ability to monitor a real-time data stream from remotely deployed devices opens the door to exciting new opportunities: to analyze how devices are used, how much the usage costs, and how these costs can be reduced or controlled; as well as how efficiently devices are operating, and whether this efficiency can be optimized. Of course, monitoring these metrics also creates new risks and challenges related to privacy, network security, and transparency of data among competing device manufacturers.
The potential for significant, measurable benefits is especially high for DRM applications in the document management industry. In this white paper, we will look at the concepts and methodologies of DRM, examine how DRM can be applied to document management, discuss the benefits DRM has for document management customers, and provide basic guidelines for evaluating the quality and capabilities of different DRM technologies.
A Brief History of DRM
DRM is a direct descendant of telemetry (shorthand for “tele-metering”), which is the remote sensing and control of devices. Telemetry matured in the 1940s and was made industrially practical during the 1960s. In its modern form, different companies take credit for “inventing” DRM depending on the specific technology and the industry of application.
To understand the fundamental underpinnings of the DRM concept, we need only look at two widespread applications of information technology.
One very familiar example is online package tracking. Information about the package is embedded in a barcode, which is periodically scanned at various points during the package’s journey. This enables both senders and recipients to track a package’s progress through the carrier’s Web site. Keep in mind, the information is one-dimensional (a tracking number), it is not delivered continuously, and it is not available in real-time. However, even this most basic precursor of DRM is a valuable and often mission-critical component of customer service in the delivery industry. In addition, it creates an opportunity for the carrier to measure its performance. Both of these concepts are important to DRM today.
Another forerunner of DRM is remote systems management, which has been a staple in the information technology (IT) world for many years. Remote systems management is exactly what it sounds like: IT teams use special software to monitor, manage, and take control of PC workstations and servers remotely. Typically, this is done over a private network or intranet, not the Internet, often utilizing proprietary communication standards. What remote systems management does is greatly reduce the time and money associated with everyday network maintenance. For example, instead of employing teams of technicians to travel to every office in a company and perform a software upgrade manually — machine by machine — a single technician using remote systems management can access any number of client workstations from a single, centralized location, completing the upgrade in a fraction of the time required to perform the same task manually, at an even smaller fraction of the cost.
For the complete whitepaper please visit http://www.lanier.com/page.php/device%20relationship%20management
About the Author
Brad Nagel joined Lanier in 2001 as a solutions engineer based in Washington, D.C. In 2002, he moved to Atlanta and became a solutions marketing manager. Today, he oversees all Lanier DRM solutions, including the development and marketing of new industry applications for DRM technology. He has participated in more than 200 implementations of DRM for Lanier customers, including dozens of Fortune 500 organizations. Brad has been involved in IT since 1994, and he owned a computer integration firm from 1996 to 2001. He has numerous IT certifications and is a Microsoft Certified Solutions Engineer
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