ECI Software Solutions offers printer management software for managed print service (MPS) providers. Their Printanista remote device monitoring technology collects critical printing data from an unlimited number of devices.
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MySQL
Score 8.0 out of 10
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MySQL is a popular open-source relational and embedded database, now owned by Oracle.
We only use it to track meters and ink levels. But it's well suited for that as that is the most important thing to track, and the website does it well. As far as when it's less appropriate, I'm not sure, as we use it only when it's needed, and it does its job.
From my own perspective and the tasks that I perform on a daily basis, MySQL is perfect. It has a reasonable footprint, is fast enough and offers the security and flexibility I need. Everyone has their preferred applications and, no doubt, for larger data warehouses or more intensive applications, MySQL may have its limits, but for the area that I operate in, it's a great match.
It allows me to gather and organize meter data in relevant and useful ways. It works very well with MS Excel spreadsheets.
It provides complete meter data so that you can provide your Sales dept. with enough useful information so that eventual upgrade proposals can be constructed. It also provides real information that tells how much print volume may or may not have to suggest changes to a customer fleet of printers.
It is also simple enough for customers with smaller printer fleets so that you can isolate certain areas of the meter data that may prove useful in certain applications.
Security: is embedded at each level in MySQL. Authentication mechanisms are in place for configuring user access and even service account access to applications. MySQL is secure enough under the hood to store your sensitive information. Also, additional plugins are available that sit on top of MySQL for even tighter security.
Widely adopted: MySQL is used across the industry and is trusted the most. Therefore, if you face any problems, simply Google it and you shall land in plenty of forums. This is a great relief as when you are in a need of help, you can find it right in your browser.
Lightweight application: MySQL is not a heavy application. However, the data you store in the database can get heavy with time, but as in the configuration and MySql application files, those are not very heavy and can easily be installed on legacy systems as well.
The helpdesk and support is useless. I literally know more about the product than they do.
The onsites and connection to central is unreliable. We have to hire an extra employee just to keep this running.
The programers don't think about or test the patches the push out. Onistes break after they update central
Some machines will show up in the MIB walk but wont actually show up on the device page. Thier solution is to create a new account. They don't have the technical capacity to figure out why it is doing this.
Just a very unreliable product that we have multiple tickets a week open that they seem to never be able to resolve
Although you can add the data you require as more and more data is added, the fixity of it becomes more critical.
As the demand, size, and use of the system increase, you may also need to change or acquire more equipment on your servers, although this is an internal inconvenience for the company.
For teaching Databases and SQL, I would definitely continue to use MySQL. It provides a good, solid foundation to learn about databases. Also to learn about the SQL language and how it works with the creation, insertion, deletion, updating, and manipulation of data, tables, and databases. This SQL language is a foundation and can be used to learn many other database related concepts.
I give MySQL a 9/10 overall because I really like it but I feel like there are a lot of tech people who would hate it if I gave it a 10/10. I've never had any problems with it or reached any of its limitations but I know a few people who have so I can't give it a 10/10 based on those complaints.
The support staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. I only had to get part way through my explanations before they had a solution. They will walk you through a fix or actually connect in and fix the problem for you--or would if you can allow it. I've done it both ways with them. They are always forthcoming with 'how to do this if it happens again' information. I love working with MySQL support.
I prefer Printanista because it can be used industry wide. Some of the other DCA softwares don't seem to care alot about getting data from other makes and models of machines that aren't their own. The Kyocera product I mentioned was called KMNetViewer when I used it, but it seemed to only gather Kyocera information reliably as opposed to other makes. Not useful when you have multiple lines of products that are sold and serviced by this company.
Each of the products has its own merits and demerits. however since MySQL is a very good documentation and global community its easy to learn and apply in different stages for analytics work. compare to other data bases its simple for setup and work on it. MySQL is cost effective and low risk choice for start up organization makes it more suitable for small to medium enterprises.
The interface is fairly easy to navigate and figure things out.
It could use improvement for some Xerox devices, as it lists some models as " . " instead of the model name.
This has saved us tens of thousands per year instead of sending techs to collect meters.
The latest version of this product allows you to access the interface of the device, from the cloud dashboard instead of having to remote on to a user's workstation and then get to the device. This is cutting-edge technology without a doubt.
