The rating is based on evaluation of products, services, customer experience, strategy, ability to execute and several other criteria. Sixteen vendors were evaluated by Gartner.
The study evaluated the IBM Infoprint Workflow Portfolio, which includes the Infoprint Workflow services offering, IBM Infoprint Manager software, and new IBM Infoprint ProcessDirector software.
Distributed output management is defined by Gartner as middleware that drives the output process and supports the automated creation and delivery of business process and ad hoc documents. They estimate that the 2005 worldwide market size of distributed output management was $441 million in software and maintenance and forecast that this market will have a 5 percent compound annual growth rate from 2006 to 2010.
Karen Fukuma, vice president, production solutions, IBM Printing Systems Division, says: “Distributed output management is an important consideration for companies that are looking to automate processes, while increasing flexibility and security. It has become much more than managing output from a server to a printer.
“Leaders in this area have designed an end-to-end framework to include print, the web, email and other forms of electronic distribution. We believe Gartner’s ’Positive’ rating confirms IBM’s position in distributed output management and our commitment to providing clients with a wide range of capabilities to meet a variety of requirements.”
The IBM Infoprint Workflow Portfolio can help address business challenges ranging from basic printer management to enterprise-wide output transformation.
IBM Infoprint Manager software is for managing transaction, distributed, and POD (print on demand) printing. It enables more efficient enterprise print management with lower overall costs, better utilization of existing printer assets and full accounting of printer resources.
Infoprint ProcessDirector software is a customer configurable output process management system based on the Linux platform. It enables job-level control of print processes to simplify operations, lower costs and support the re-engineering of transaction output processes. ProcessDirector enables clients to start small and grow over time.
