When was Sefas Open Print 7 launched?
Open Print personalisation software first entered the market way back in 1993, and this latest version was launched globally at Graph Expo in Chicago last autumn. Following a period of beta-testing and a number of installations in the US, its official UK launch was at Northprint in May. According to Sefas Innovation, there are currently about 20 users of the software in the UK, and a further 120 globally.
 
Which markets is it aimed at?
The product has three main markets, claims Sefas Innovation UK & Ireland managing director Giles Hill. The first two are end-user organisations such as banks, telecoms providers and utilities firms, split by those that outsource their print and mail communications, and those that have in-house facilities. The third market is outsource companies themselves.
 
How does the software work?
Personalisation software is all about assigning unique data to different areas on a document. This allows the software to build a repository of frequently-used objects, rules, texts or fonts, which the designer can go on to access in the future, meaning every time they compose something they don’t have to build it from scratch.
 
How does it differ from previous versions?
The biggest change in Version 7, says Hill, is that the host composition tools and the document composition tools are now within one single interface. Previously, users would have used different interfaces for creating documents and for adding functionality to existing documents, but this has been unified under the Document Workshop and Production Workshop modules. "Irrespective of the origin of the document you’re composing, the workflow tools are the same," says Hill. "That’s key, as it allows clients to build documents quickly and cheaply." The graphical user interface (GUI) has also been tweaked.
 
What is its USP?
Hill believes the single interface gives Open Print 7 an edge over rivals. With some composition tools, Hill believes you have to buy different products to match Open Print’s capability – and then hope they will work together. "At Sefas, we’ve talked about the Nirvana being a true single architecture for composition and post-composition, and we’ve got there far quicker than we thought we would," he claims. This aside, Hill graciously concedes that personalisation software is a pretty homogenous marketplace. "Our legacy is in very-high-volume transactional businesses, and I would suggest other engines perhaps can’t convert and manage as much volume as quickly and as well as we can. But they will have other little things that they are stronger than us at," he adds.
 
How fast is it? And what’s the quality like?
Open Print is used in some of the busiest environments. BT, for example, run more than 1bn pages per year with the software, and Hill says some of the US print houses do even more. While the quality of output is often driven by the needs of the customer, Hill says Open Print provides all the standard colour configurations and font management. "We integrate and work with all the main printers, and we have a global framework agreement with Océ. Xerox have used us for years and years as well," says Hill.
 
How easy is it to use?
Thanks to a "very intuitive" drag and drop GUI, Hill believes the software has moved from an IT environment into a business user one. "The fact is that end users can create and manage documents – you don’t have to script and configure from an IT base."
 
What level of support service can customers expect?
Training takes typically between three to five days. According to Hill, Sefas tailors training courses to the specific needs of individual customers and works with them to fully understand the document types and the particular data issues that may affect them. Additional support includes an online fault reporting system and a UK-based helpdesk, both of which are part of the support maintenance agreement.
 
How much does it cost?
Because of the modularity of the software, prices do vary extensively, says Hill. "You can buy a simple transformation module for low-volume work, say putting a barcode on a PDF document, for about £20,000. And then you can go right up to £1m worth of software in the enterprise suite."

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SPECIFICATIONS
Operating platforms: IBM AIX, Sun Solaris, Linux, Windows (HP-UX, Z/OS on request)
Clients’ requirements
Operating software: Windows 2000, XP, Windows 7, Pentium 4, 1.6Ghz+, 512MB of memory available, Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat viewer. Databases: DB2, Oracle, MySQL Enterprise security server LDAP-Compliant directory services. Input formats: AFPDS/mixed mode/line mode, Metacode/LCDS, PCL, PostScript, PDF. Output formats: AFPDS, GIF, HTML, IJPDS, Metacode, PCL, PDF, PDF/A, PostScript, TIFF, XML
Price: £20,000-£1m
Contact: Sefas Innovation 0117 373 6114 www.sefas.com

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ALTERNATIVES
Pitney Bowes P/I Output Enhancement
Output Enhancement enables clients to manipulate document workflow and document content on-the-fly in a production environment based on data and/or rules. The software includes adding transpromo messages, images, or even populating documents and databases for client or management reporting. Importantly, no change to the original document is required therefore no upstream investment or resources is needed.
Operating platforms: Microsoft Windows
Input formats: any typical print stream (PDF, AFP, PostScript, PCL, Xerox Metacode and more)
Output formats: all major printer languages (IPDS, PS, PDF, PCL, IJPDS and more), all major electronic formats (PDF, XML, HTTP, HTML, TIFF)
Price: from £25,000
Contact Pitney Bowes 01923 279300 www.pitneybowes.co.uk

HP SmartStream Designer
HP SmartStream Designer enables you to design, preview, impose and print static or personalised documents. The Adobe InDesign version integrates with Photoshop and Illustrator, offering the ability to create dynamic personalised images and charts. Although optimised for HP Indigo Presses, documents can be output to any PDF device.
Operating platforms: Adobe InDesign (Mac & Windows), QuarkXpress (Mac only)
Input formats: Adobe InDesign CS4/CS5 (Mac & PC), QuarkXPress 8 (Mac only)
Output formats: PDF, JLYT, PPML
Price: £2,550 site license for new users
Contact: HP 01344 363368 www.hp.com

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"Nationwide has found that Open Print offers leading-edge document composition tools that enable us to reengineer existing documents, create new ones and easily integrate them"  4/5       
Keith Allsop, Print and mail services manager, Nationwide Building Society