The benefits of effective print management

We know that each and every business' main concerns are its bottom line, cost savings and productivity. The good news is that if these are well managed, the benefits are huge.

Organisations should consider the impact that a poorly managed internal print fleet would have on the bottom line and the burden it places on other departments that support the printing infrastructure.

In 2006, according to an InfoTrends assessment, it was revealed that substantial IT support savings resulted from taking the common print drive approach with the Universal Print Driver (UPD). Interviews with several UPD customers were undertaken and mostly prominent benefits were revealed.

In the first instance, an organisation that moved away from a multi-driver environment and consolidated print queues, reduced the number of print servers required by its infrastructure and resulted in benefits amounting to over $1 million in annual savings.

Secondly, organisations that provided a more consistent user interface across devices and locations noted a lower number of print-related help-desk and IT job tickets. The universal nature of the driver promotes faster trouble-shooting and maintenance, saving an estimated 5 500 hours in annual IT support for an organisation with 22 full-time IT engineers.

Thirdly, reducing costs to add new sites, devices and functionality has proven to substantially reduce the burden on the IT department through the simplicity of a single-driver approach. A 40 000-user organisation interviewed realised 886 hours in IT support savings.

The fourth benefit is that UPD essentially nullifies the need for certification and deployment of new print drivers in a single-vendor print environment. The same organisation mentioned above, reported a 99% reduction in these efforts.

Lastly, with user interface consistency across locations and devices, UPD users noted a lower reliance on help-desk and IT personnel. More consistent access to advanced functionality such as duplexing, input selection, two-sided printing and stapling also improves user satisfaction, resulting in an increased user satisfaction and productivity.

Procurement also benefits in that it will have fewer vendors to manage, as well as fewer contracts, invoices and billing.

Shane Tyrell is enterprise business unit head, Imaging & Printing Group, HP.

The above are not the only benefits that organisations will enjoy as they only reflect the common driver aspect of print fleet optimisation and the benefits of standardisation overall. Similar types of cost savings can also be expected from centrally optimising and managing the entire print fleet.

We have realised that one new, more efficient single-function or multifunctional device can replace several older, more costly ones, not only providing hard cost savings on equipment but also decreasing the burden on IT and help-desk through the reduction of the fleet size and the number of models being maintained.

We have also noticed there is less need for training and support calls where users are provided with a common interface for printing, as well as decreased on-site support costs where IT and help-desk personnel are supported by a central, remote interface to deploy, maintain and track print devices and software.

We ask, why shouldn't organisations opt for reputable vendors that can provide specialised, outsourced print management services, allowing IT personnel to use their time for more strategic projects? If an organisation can be contracted at similar costs that would cover salaries of help-desk staff and a field technician, this, in my opinion, would be an ideal situation to contract third-party specialists.

It is generally difficult to quantify the increased productivity of end-users that results from print optimisation. End-users are most often unaware of how much time they spend tracking down, reprinting and queuing jobs; learning how to use different devices, installing drivers and resolving print issues.

It is important to note, however, that a balanced deployment of a single-function and multifunctional devices across all print environments can enable the end-user to perform his duties efficiently, while alleviating much of the burden on the departments that support print.

Furthermore, standardisation involving common tools, fewer vendors, and fewer productivity gains can be enhanced by choosing intuitive, easy to use devices that enable users to incorporate new workflows such as a scan-to-e-mail and/or scan-to-workflow.

Overall, with a successful print optimisation initiative, procurement also benefits in that it will have fewer vendors to manage, as well as fewer contracts, invoices and billing.

This will allow procurement departments to gain additional leverage with vendors through centrally monitoring costs and spending as well as a volume purchasing, which can be accomplished because the printing infrastructure has been standardised and is integrated with the enterprise's network.

* Shane Tyrrell is enterprise business unit head, Imaging & Printing Group, HP.