Companies seldom realise the extent of the complexity and time involved with the apparently simple task of printing documents, says William du Preez, Services and Solutions divisional manager at HP partner Introstat. Poorly managed environments hamper productivity, waste resources and cost more to run than they should, he says.
"Our clients indicate that efficiency and cost controls are becoming top of mind across their organisations. However, few really know how to maximise their print environments to get real value from better print management," he says.
Du Preez says time wastage in the print environment includes staff waiting for pages to print on slow devices, unnecessary print jobs slowing down the works and staff having to be called in to order, replace consumables and repair devices. "Then there's the issue of cost," Du Preez says. "Inefficient management of the environment results in serious paper wastage, and the cost of call-outs and repairs should a device break down, not to mention the potential losses due to confidential information being leaked due to an insecure environment."
Du Preez notes that modern MFPs generally feature software enabling better management and maintenance, but many companies do not actually use it. "People buying their own devices and toner and managing the devices themselves often don't understand the full capabilities of the machines. They may neglect to set alerts and find themselves stuck without a printer when the toner runs out or the device reaches its end of life. In the case of advanced HP devices, even if they are not managed, alerts around low toner or replacement of maintenance kits will appear on screen when someone prints, to enable proactive maintenance. But nine times out of 10, the people seeing the alerts will ignore them."
In contrast, an optimised print environment allows for power saving, enhanced security, less waste, proactive monitoring and a more productive workforce, he says. Whether it be a large enterprise running hundreds or thousands of printers and MFPs or an organisation running only a few devices, the cost savings and improved efficiencies can be significant.
"When a managed print service partner manages an optimised print environment, the company no longer has to worry about the cost and complexity of running the environment. They gain proactive maintenance, an optimal fleet design with redundancy built in, and expert advice on the most cost-effective settings to meet their company's needs."
Du Preez explains that optimal fleet design might include factors such as an ergonomic assessment of the office space to limit the distance between staff and the nearest printer; or the use of HP's balanced deployment model to reduce unnecessary printer numbers, but still ensure enough large MFPs are available to meet the demands of the office.
Large enterprises are moving to outsourced print and managed print solutions that enhance efficiencies, reliability and cost-savings, with the added benefits of offering comprehensive reports, analysis, access control and security, says Du Preez. "It makes sense. Why would you buy a product with a limited shelf life, in an environment of constant change, when they can simply pay per copy and gain an efficient print service? The print sector is moving from a box-dropping environment to a value proposition, where services and value are bundled with the solution."
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