Software Imaging :: Software 2000 Announces "ShipRight"

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Software 2000 Announces "ShipRight"

Simplifies Digital Copier Driver Roll-Out and Upgrade Across the Enterprise

OXFORD — October 24, 2003 — Software 2000 today announces ShipRight™ for the Component Driver Architecture (CDA) range of printer driver technologies. ShipRight simplifies the installation of high function devices such as digital copiers and provides users with the best possible user experience. It allows a 'no-configuration' setup experience for the end-user – after installation, the driver automatically supports the correct configuration of the printer hardware combinations (including resolutions, memory, input trays, output finishing options and other accessories).

Today's digital copier customers demand ever-increasing levels of functionality from their network document solutions. The major copier OEMs have responded to these needs by providing modular printing architectures that allow for a wide range of plug-in 'optional' hardware accessories. Thousands of possible accessory combinations may be required in order to meet these needs. Unfortunately, printer drivers supplied with digital copiers support only one 'default' configuration. This situation leads to either a high cost of installation support for the OEM sales channel or a poor end-user installation and configuration experience leading to a negative OEM brand image. In the past this situation has even lead to accessories remaining unused and extreme customer dissatisfaction because users do not understand how to enable the features.

Although bi-directional (BiDi) solutions offer the promise of automatic device configuration it can be complex to achieve across differing network architectures. Consequently this method has not been a typical solution for network devices (although all Software 2000 technologies include network BiDi support as standard).

ShipRight takes a fresh approach to this issue, by allowing the sales channel to pre-configure the copier drivers to exactly match the profile of the target device. Systems integrators can enable the configuration of different combinations of hardware and accessories prior to installation. Therefore for the first time drivers shipped with complex devices can be pre-configured to match the exact requirements for end-users. This makes multiple device and multiple site installation a breeze as all driver complexity is removed for the installation teams and end-users.

In addition, ShipRight can be used by internal IT departments performing their own hardware installations within the organization – they can pre-configure the drivers and remove end-user complexity.

ShipRight fills the gap between a standard device driver and the services offered by the Windows 2003 Server. Once the ShipRight-enabled drivers and devices are installed into the network the standard Windows 2003 and Windows 2000 driver installation features operate – Windows Point-and-Print supplies the correct drivers and settings transparently to users on network "client" machines.

All Component Driver Architecture (CDA) 3.7 toolkits now incorporate ShipRight as a standard value-added feature. Effective immediately, Software 2000 OEM customers can upgrade existing CDA drivers to include ShipRight and provide their sales channels with competitive driver offerings that are perfectly tailored to match their exact customer's needs.

About Software 2000

Founded in 1989, Software 2000 is the world's largest independent developer of printer driver and imaging technologies. The company licenses these technologies to Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of printer and digital copiers, through Driver Development Kits (DDKs) and custom driver developments. These customizable technologies support Microsoft Windows, Macintosh and Linux environments. Software 2000 technologies reduce cost and time to market whilst increasing driver performance.

Since the company began, Software 2000 has been at the forefront of innovation in print imaging and has worked with all of the major OEM suppliers of printers and digital copiers. These OEMs include Canon, Epson, HP, Konica, Lexmark, Océ, Olivetti, Ricoh, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Xerox and many others. There are now over 80 million drivers containing Software 2000 technology in use around the world.

Software 2000 is headquartered in Oxford, England, with offices in Japan, the United States and Canada. In addition, Software 2000 has recently acquired the Justway group in Japan.

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