Have you ever met someone new at a party or any social event, and experienced a sudden lull in the conversation once you got beyond the generic small talk? Those moments are so awkward, right?
I always freak out inside when this happens :
"What do I talk about now? Should I tell him he has spinach dip on his tie? Crap, we're inside, I can't even talk about the weather... oh well, I guess I'll have to fake another heartburn episode and run away, here we go..."
This was a huge problem for me until I discovered an easy solution: simply bring up the topic of Managed Print Services and Paperless Document Workflows with people, and they completely open up. Everyone loves to talk about innovative strategies for lowering their cost per page while reducing their carbon footprint in the process, right?
Yeah... maybe not so much.
Ok, so maybe Managed Print Services won't help you overcome socially awkward situations at your company's Christmas Party this year - but MPS can absolutely benefit the company you work for, so it may be worth bringing up with your executive team, They might yawn at the general topic initially - but the truth is that Managed Print Services can offer a plethora of benefits for your business.
I have narrowed it down to the Top 4 Benefits with the hope that you will make it to the end of this article without falling asleep:
#1: Managed Print Services will save you money
Whether you work in a law firm, healthcare clinic, or manufacturing facility one common thread holds true: money matters. No matter your line of work, making the company you work for (or own) more profitable is never a bad thing.
Printing costs can often be a drain on a company's profitability that lurk in the shadows, an afterthought on the expense sheet that can also be hard to define. Managed print services helps to illuminate those hidden costs and help you tackle the problem:
Datarite's average MPS customer reduces their printing expenses by an average of 30%.
The majority of the cost savings are found by:
- Identifying inefficient devices with abnormally high “cost per page”
- Replacing these devices with new machines that are much cheaper to operate
- Reducing overall print volume and paper waste through strategic document workflows
- Creating strategic partnerships to receive lower prices on supplies + equipment
- Implementing printing “rules” by department and/or user to gain full control of your costs
You can learn more about controlling your printing costs here.
With that being said, the cost savings are the LEAST important benefit of MPS for most customers. In fact, if you had to pay extra for a Managed Print Services program, it would still totally be worth it. We are just getting started on the real exciting features of Managed Print Services!
#2: Your IT Department will LOVE Managed Print Services
MPS can offer you HUGE benefits outside of cost savings. One of the most important areas we help businesses with is saving time for their IT Department.
I deal with IT professionals on a daily basis. When they talk about the printing equipment in their office, the most common phrase I hear is this:
“They are a necessary evil” - with a much greater emphasis placed on "evil" than "necessary".
Your IT department hates printers. Think about it – you have a team of highly skilled people with extremely specialized knowledge that is constantly evolving in today’s marketplace. They are tasked with ensuring your business is thriving in the chaotic digital environment we’ve all been cast into, while keeping your strategic objectives on the forefront of their minds while doing so… and you want them to fix a paper jam on Sally’s printer? Really?
The truth is, your IT staff are far too valuable to waste time addressing printing related issues. Yes, they are capable of fixing a lot minor problems – but that does not mean it is a good use of their time. Not to mention, your IT staff will still have to call in an expert technician if the device has a serious issue requiring replacement parts, making their time spent on the issue redundant.
When you partner with an MPS provider, we assume complete responsibility for the printers in all of your offices, often throughout multiple locations. We monitor all devices on your network and we are notified immediately if one of your printers requires service work, preventative maintenance or is short on supplies.
That’s right, service calls and toner for your printer arrive magically before you are even aware that you need them. The result is that your IT department stays on track with more important tasks and your staff experience very limited downtime due to printing mechanical failures or supply shortages.
Another benefit of our constant monitoring software is that you can beef up the security presence guarding your printing environment.
#3: Managed Print Services can protect you from cyber crime
Huh, printers need security? Yes, they absolutely do!
Printers are often an afterthought when it comes to cyber threats to your business. But the unfortunate truth is that printers are just as vulnerable as any other port to your network such as the computers, laptops and mobile devices in your office. This makes them a prime target for cyber criminals, who apparently don’t like a challenge and go for the easy target. I say have some ambition, hacker guys and gals.
Luckily, with the help of your trusted MPS partner, you can protect all of the document imaging devices on your network with easy to implement solutions like data encryption, secure release printing, device monitoring and much more.
You can also give departments and users differing levels of access to put you in full control of your printing environment.
Speaking of personalizing your printing environment for each user and department, a true MPS provider should also be able to help your business create strategic document workflows for inefficient processes in your business with software solutions. These document workflow processes not only dramatically reduce paper waste, they also create a much more productive workforce.
#4: Managed Print Services helps your business operate more efficiently
Many processes in your business may be redundant, but they have been ingrained into your daily routine. Let’s have a look at a common issue faced by many companies, we’ll them ABC Solutions.
Every time a salesman in ABC Solutions receives a new order from a customer, four separate transactions records have to be printed – one for the customer, one for the sales rep, one for accounting and yet another to be stored in their file room – which is quickly overflowing with unused documents. Does this situation sound familiar?
ABC Solutions realizes this issue needs to be addressed and contacts their local MPS provider for more information. After their MPS partner does a detailed analysis to ensure that ABC Solutions has the correct hardware and IT support in place, they collaborate to create a document workflow strategy personalized for the needs of their office.
As a result, now when ABC Solutions receives a new order, only one document is printed. With one push of a button that document is routed electronically to the sales rep, accounting office, the customer and also stored permanently in a cloud based electronic storage system.
By implementing this one simple document workflow strategy ABC Solutions immediately reduce their printing output by 75% on this one task, avoid the risk of losing documents, no longer have the need to lease extra space for file storage, and create a much more efficient process for all employees involved.
These document workflow solutions can be applied to a variety of business processes. To discover more about "going digital", click here.
Ok, maybe Managed Print Services has more to offer than I thought. How can I learn more?
Hopefully, this article was able to get you as excited as I am about Managed Print Services!
The tips outlined here are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Managed Print Services, and you can look forward to posts in the future that discuss even more benefits of MPS, questions to ask your MPS provider, the steps involved in an assessment and much more.
In the meantime, there are many great resources online to help you in your research:
- SmartPrint, located in Toronto, does a great job of breaking down MPS solutions by industry.
- Larry Levine is an industry expert that I often lean on as a information resource
- Lasers Resource has some very informative articles on their blog.
- TonerNews has all the latest information regarding the supplies industry
For those of you residing in Atlantic Canada, I would welcome the opportunity to work with you and answer any of your questions. I can be reached on Facebook and Twitter as well as by email at scroft@datarite.com
Whether you thought this was the worst article written since the conception of LinkedIn or the best thing since sliced bread, I welcome all your feedback in the Comments section below. If you did enjoy it, please Like and Share it within your networks.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. It is truly appreciated. Until next time, happy printing!
