The state’s Social Services Data Processing Division manages and distributes approximately 1.8 million print jobs per month. With over 2500 remote printers scattered across 115 counties, the Data Processing Division implemented Solimar’s iCONVERT™ solution at a truly enterprise level. Solimar Systems interviewed the agencies’ Computer Information Technology Specialist to learn more about their impressive environment.

Before standardizing on Solimar’s iCONVERT, the State previously tried a variety of offerings from other vendors. The Technology Specialist explains the State’s experiences, “Routing print to remote printers was previously achieved by a variety of means. Due to the nature of mainframe IPDS data, expensive hardware and software solutions were required to ensure the PSF data would print properly on a conventional PCL printer. Some of the options included installing IPDS cards on the remote printers, using OS/2 print servers or other 3rd-party conversion hardware and software solutions at each remote office, and even purchasing expensive IPDS-capable printers. iCONVERT’s user interface, ease of configuration and maintenance, versatility and licensing costs were all factors in choosing it above other products.”

Managing the statewide deployment of reports is not a trivial task. The Technology Specialist explains the specifics of the State’s iCONVERT implementation, “iCONVERT has been implemented in a single, centralized location on seven dedicated print servers, eliminating the need for 200 remote print servers. Each of the seven servers is configured for 359 remote printers to handle all 2500 printers in our environment. iCONVERT’s simple and intuitive GUI interface makes configuration and maintenance chores easy, and the use of command files provides tremendous flexibility in routing the print jobs. Having a centralized server environment makes support and maintenance much simpler, faster and more cost-effective,” states the Technology Specialist. “This helps insure reliable and always-available print output to our users.”

Eliminating the mix of previously installed hardware and software has benefited the organization at many levels. “With iCONVERT we are able to simplify and standardize our environment while simultaneously saving large sums of money. We can now use standard PCL printers in all offices. Centralized server management will also save a tremendous amount of time, money and labor, especially with maintenance and support,” explains the Technology Specialist. “Tangible and intangible benefits are currently being realized.”

Customer support both before and after a sale is one of Solimar System’s top priorities. We asked the Data Processing Division to comment on their experiences, “Simply Superb Support – the best I’ve worked with. The support technicians always reply immediately to messages or e-mails, and follow up on each support incident to insure we are happy with the resolution and have no further need of their services.”

When asked to summarize the agency’s overall impression of iCONVERT, the Technology Specialist states, “The iCONVERT platform has been very stable and consistent in its performance. It’s a very flexible product that we can easily expand to handle whatever growth we see in future years.”