Sharp has been identified as a leader in the latest Quocirca Print Security Landscape 2024 report. Jason Cort, Director Product Planning and Marketing at Sharp Europe discusses the highlights of the report and what this means for the print industry going forward.
As Sharp in Europe continues its journey from a traditional print business to offering an increasingly more diverse range of support for businesses, it is great to see that all the hard work and investment Sharp has been putting in start to grow dividends.
The latest example of this is the new report from Quocirca, whose assessment of the print security market in 2024 emphases that we have ‘developed a strong print security proposition across [our] hardware and services portfolio, supported by a rigorous approach to compliance and ongoing partnership with Bitdefender.’ This is very true, as our proposition not only offers customers greater security, but also helps to differentiate our offering in the marketplace amongst Office Equipment and IT resellers.
Innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Sharp, but it is always warming to see such advances acknowledged. The report highlights how we have been building awareness among European SMEs for our consultative approach and layered offering regarding security, both of which align with the NIST Framework of improving cybersecurity through the five core functions of Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.
Equally, it is great to be acknowledged as the first OEM to build a native Microsoft Teams connector for our latest MFPs. This feature enables users to securely access, share, scan, and print data from Microsoft Teams, Google, and SharePoint channels – without any additional software.
However, this is not the only innovation we have brought to market, as Synappx Cloud Print, our recently launched cloud print management solution, is also secure by design with support for zero-trust environments.
Similarly, Quocirca was impressed by our newly launched Complete Print Security product, which it identified our security-as-a-service approach as being a unique proposition in the market. Rightly, it positions us as a leader in print security for SMBs. Such a focus on security regardless of location underlines how as a business we are changing to meet the needs of the increasingly hybrid and mobile workplace.
Print security may be the core of the landscape report, but it is great to be acknowledged for offering a diverse range of cybersecurity services, including user awareness training, incident response, and data recovery, designed to help protect customers’ systems and sensitive data. Other services include a security audit, end-point security, cyber essentials accreditation, back-up, and disaster recovery. Such a growing portfolio of cybersecurity solutions reinforces our commitment to SMEs, their operations and their data.
Sharp Europe security business strengths
Sharp has long been recognised as a leading player in the SME print market, with a mature technology platform and a diverse range of A4 and A3 products that meet the varying needs of the small-to-medium sized business community.
Therefore, it was great to be recognised in the report for our strong IT security credentials and robust hardware-security features, with ‘Sharp MFPs and printers having an extensive range of built-in security features, with optional integration with Bitdefender malware technology.’
Our print security solutions are not only for direct customers, as the channel has long been seen as a vital part of the Sharp route to market. By extending our security services offering to channel partners, Quocirca rightly identified that our approach is helping our partners develop new ways of selling with ‘differentiated security-led propositions.’
As the very nature of our business evolves to meet the needs of the growing SME market, it gives enormous satisfaction to know that our endeavours and ideas are not only being accepted by our customers but are also being recognised by the industry at large.
Read the Quocirca Print Security Landscape 2024 report to glean more insights, but having achieved such recognition to find out how Sharp is continuing to extend its security offering in terms of capabilities, partners and compliance, Get In Touch.
