Printer users troubled by security and data issues

Customers are worried about the security issues raised by network printing

Printer customers are worried about network security and spiralling data levels, according to HP. 

"The amount of data is growing so significantly in the enterprise space that IT managers have a really hard time handling it," said Jan Reicher, vice president of HP's Go To Market unit.

"The amount of data is doubling every 18 or 24 months, which gives some idea of the magnitude of what is happening in these companies."

As well as rising data usage, customers are also worried about the security issues raised by network printing.

"Security is an issue on multiple levels," said Bruce Dahlgren, senior vice president of worldwide enterprise sales at HP's Imaging and Printing Group. " Security for the hardware, security for the documents and security for the information."

Reicher agreed that security is now one of the top concerns for customers. Two or three years ago the concerns were about security for the device itself because of its storage capabilities.

But the issue now is that printers are connected to the network, raising concerns about the security of the network and the data on it, according to Reicher.

Dahlgren claimed that HP already has a number of products to handle security issues, but that it needs to position them better to meet customer needs.

"People really want to make sure that the device is protected, that documents are protected and that the network is protected," he said.