Pharos Blueprint

Introduction

After investigating software options available, to provide the university with print activity reports,we settled on Pharos Blueprint as it is similar to the Pharos Uniprint system used in the student print network and offered the best value for money. It also had the benefit of not being linked to a printer hardware supplier, therefore allowing us future flexibility in our choice of printer hardware.

The software has been tested in Printing and Stationery Services (PSS) and then piloted in IT Services and some areas of Facilities. It did not cause any operational issues and so was rolled out to the whole University's PC network in September 2010. The thin client network will be covered by installing the software on the print servers and this was completed by early October 2010. A further upgrade to version 5 was completed in October 2011.

Software Features

  • Logs all print activity by user, job (name, number of copies, pages and colour pages) and printer
  • Logs USB/parallel connected printing activity as well as networked printers
    Note Blueprint does not read, record or in anyway monitor document contents.
  • Will provide cost centre managers with a report of printing activity charged
  • Allows us to identify over and under-used printers to manage the printer fleet effectively
  • Allows guidance messages to be displayed if best-practice is not being followed (e.g. printing many pages to an ink jet printer)
  • Can be used to enforce printing policy, canceling jobs if they break policy - this is currently implemented to reduce print jobs viewed as large in size which can be produced more economically through PSS
  • Supports 'follow me' printing (also known as pull printing) where a print is requested and can then be printed at suitably equipped printer
  • Supports copy control so MFP's in open areas can be used by any member of staff and charged to that person's cost centre

Important Note - Home Printer Exclusion

As Blueprint monitors all print from UWE hardware there is the likelihood that Blueprint will track usage if a user prints from a UWE portable device (such as a laptop) or if a user uses external access and prints to a non-UWE device.
To overcome this issue, this form should be completed and sent to PSS for each device.
This form is to be used to identify any printers which a member of staff would print to where UWE would not finance the device. Normally this would be a personal printer at home that is connected to a staff laptop.
It could also be used to cover instances where staff print to a printer outside UWE such as if they are visiting another institution.
As there are so many different ways in which staff could end up printing to a non-UWE device it is the responsibility of all staff to ensure that they inform PSS to avoid unnecessary charge to staff cost centres through the printers use.

Sample Reports

Here are some sample reports that can be extracted from the system:

  • Application Process Opportunities - Shows the top applications based on usage across the enterprise. Also shows top applications based on usage by budget centre, position, building and manager.
  • Application Summary - Shows the usage summary for the top budget centres and positions that use the selected applications. Also shows how usage of these applications is distributed over time.
  • Colour Opportunities - Shows the key contributors to color volume in the University, helping to direct further investigation on areas with greatest potential return.
  • Dashboard by Budget Centre - Summary of key performance metrics and high level breakdowns for active devices.
  • Dashboard by Building - Summary of key performance metrics and high level breakdowns for active devices.
  • Dashboard all UWE - Summary of key performance metrics and high level breakdowns for active devices.
  • Device List and Usage by Budget Centre - Show the output volumes for each device in a department group, budget centre or location.
  • Device Summary - Shows a detailed summary of the selected device's activity.
  • Device Technologies Opportunities - Shows print output grouped by device technology and department group.
  • Employee List and Usage by Building - Show the output volumes for each employee in a department group, budget centre or location.
  • Employee Summary - Shows a detailed summary of a selected employee's activity.
  • Policy Violations - Find the groups that are not adhering to print policies. This information will help identify opportunities to change the behavior of these groups or if a policy change is required to accommodate the printing needs of these groups.
  • Transactions - Shows detailed information for each unique action matching the selected filter.
  • Trends by Type of Device - Shows trends for print output volumes and costs.
  • Trends by Output Type - Shows trends for physical output volumes and costs.
  • Volume and Cost Opportunities - Volume and cost grouped by budget centre.