Are Managed Print Services Cost Effective?
Posted by aonenetworks On June 26, 2015
When you look at the best use of your IT budget, you may find that outsourcing your office equipment management is a wise choice. Making the call to have your copiers, printers and other imaging hardware managed by an outside service can make sense for a number of different reasons.
Centralize the Approach
If you have printers and copiers scattered throughout your office or in several locales, having a dedicated team managing their operation, maintenance and supplies can make a lot of sense. Taking a systematic approach to budgeting for and using your print services can really cut costs and means that your in-house IT staff are working on tasks that better relate to your core mission.
Letting a managed print service take over the responsibility for your printing, copying and imaging needs is a brilliant idea. No one in your office needs to make a career of sorting through printing and copying issues when a competent outside company is on duty. Everything from ordering toner and paper to troubleshooting and solving major problems can be shifted to a company that specializes in print services, saving time, money and aggravation.
Lighten Your Carbon Footprint While Saving Money
A quality managed print services partner will set systems in place which ensure much less waste while printing. Some of this waste management will come from appropriate printing and copying results the first time but will also result from smart printing and copying protocols.
Be sure to investigate print release software or print release stations with your managed print services provider. Using this approach ensures that print jobs are not released to the printer until staff instruct the printer to queue and print. Since statistics show that around one third of the print jobs sent are never used or even picked up; using a system that inserts this step will save paper, toner, electricity and wear and tear on your printers.
Improve Compliance and Security with Pull Printing
In addition to saving money by reducing paper and toner expenditure, printing using a release or “pull printing” system also ensures that only appropriate eyes will be upon printed materials. If data privacy and security are issues in your industry, you can risk financial and regulatory exposure through carelessness with printing operations.
Using a managed print service will give your company many practical ways to keep your operations in compliance with laws, regulations, rules and best practices. This will avoid potential fines or lawsuits.
Constant and Consistent Review of Printing and Copying
Assigning an outside consultant to the task of reviewing printing and copying reduces the emotional impact of second guessing the quantity and quality of print jobs and copying requested and performed by individual staff members or departments within your company. Monitoring printing and copying decisions and levels, either business-wide or in smaller increments, can help your company identify where cost saving can be had or where less environmentally damaging decisions can be made.
