Financial details of the deal have not been disclosed and information is scarce on where Hiflex will fit within the technology giant’s printing industry strategy. HP Australia told ProPrint: “It’s too soon for us to provide local details. We will share that information at a later date.”
However, the company said in a statement: “Hiflex provides a valuable software platform to support [the HP Imaging & Printing Group’s] overall print ecosystem strategy and adds to HP’s cloud-based solutions portfolio infrastructure.
“The Hiflex technology is a natural extension of our industry-leading cloud printing strategy and will help us create new solutions that help enterprise customers easily connect via the cloud with the printing solutions they need.
“While we do not disclose our internal growth projections, we see cloud-based printing as a strategic and large market opportunity for HP.”
It is unclear exactly what impact the deal will have on the local market, where Hiflex is a bit player compared with MIS leaders such as EFI Prism, Tharstern and Quote & Print.
ProPrint spoke to a few Australian printers who have looked at Hiflex.
One user, who is currently implementing the system, said: “Hiflex has great JDF workflow integration and I imagine HP would use that in their Indigo product.”
A Melbourne printer, who has researched the MIS, said: “It is expensive but it is a sensational system. Hiflex integrates very well with Prinegy and Kodak.”
ProPrint asked workflow expert Mark Campbell, founder of Agentink, who was unsurprised to hear HP had gone down the route recently carved out when EFI bought Prism.
“Obviously HP are on the same path. These industry players are realising the importance of the MIS and the overall workflow to capture their clients, especially as printers now recognise that integration is a way of generating large step improvements.
“I am certain that these players that are consolidating are working on a ‘total’ workflow solution that comes pre-integrated that includes MIS/pre-press and shopfloor data. With the pattern of movement towards inkjet and digital, speed-to-market from quote to invoice becomes crucial.”
HP has also revealed that it could push the Hiflex technology beyond commercial printers and into the enterprise market. “HP expects to incorporate Hiflex’s technology into solutions for the enterprise, and could potentially develop solutions for SMB customers as well,” said Campbell.
The HP-Hiflex deal was actually one of two acquisitions of German-made MIS systems by US giants: EFI also announced a buyout in this space on 6 Decembe, the very same day as the HP deal was revealed.
EFI has taken over Alphagraph, a German provider of “management information systems and enterprise resource planning software products for the printing industry”.
The buyout follows EFI’s acquisition of Prism back in August.
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