Many organizations begin their search for a managed print partner focused on equipment, pricing, or service response times. While those factors matter, enterprise organizations need much more than a copier or printer vendor.
An enterprise-ready managed print partner should provide strategic guidance, security expertise, nationwide support capabilities, advanced analytics, and the ability to scale with your organization.
In this article, we'll explore five key methods you can use to differentiate enterprise managed print services providers from traditional print vendors. The information you’ll gain will help you understand how to choose a managed print provider that can support your long-term business goals.
To help guide your evaluation, let's explore each area in more detail.
Enterprise print environments are often spread across multiple locations, departments, and user groups, creating challenges that extend far beyond managing printers and copiers.
When evaluating providers, look for experience supporting organizations similar to yours in size, complexity and industry. An enterprise-ready partner should understand how to standardize devices, optimize fleet performance, and deliver consistent service across the organization.
In addition, ask for references or case studies of comparable enterprise accounts. A proven track record in complex environments can provide confidence that the provider is equipped to support your organization's long-term goals.
Printers and multifunction devices are connected endpoints on your network, making print security a critical part of your cybersecurity strategy. When evaluating providers, look for capabilities such as user authentication, secure print release, data encryption, device hardening and firmware management to help protect sensitive information.
If your organization operates in a regulated industry, choose a provider with experience supporting industry-specific compliance requirements and document security best practices.
You should also understand how the provider will assist you in managing your printer fleet security. An enterprise-ready partner will present you with a plan designed to proactively monitor devices, identify risks and recommend improvements rather than simply reacting to issues.
Ultimately, the right managed print provider should help strengthen your organization's security posture while reducing risk across the print environment.
The best managed print providers do more than maintain devices and replenish toner. They help organizations optimize print environments, reduce costs, and improve efficiency over time.
Look for a provider that begins with a thorough assessment of your print environment. This should identify usage patterns, inefficiencies and opportunities to improve performance while lowering costs.
An enterprise-ready partner should also provide ongoing recommendations based on reporting and analytics. Regular reviews can help uncover trends, measure results and ensure your print strategy continues to align with business needs.
You should also consider whether the provider can support broader initiatives such as sustainability goals, digital transformation efforts, and workflow improvements. The most valuable partners view print management as part of a larger business strategy rather than simply maintaining equipment.
Even the most advanced print environment depends on reliable service and support. When evaluating providers, look beyond response time promises and examine the infrastructure behind them.
An enterprise-ready managed print partner should have the resources to support all of your locations through a combination of local service teams, proactive monitoring, remote support and clearly defined service-level agreements (SLAs). They should also have established escalation procedures for resolving critical issues quickly.
The right provider won't just react to problems—they'll help prevent them, minimizing downtime and keeping your business running smoothly.
Managed print services should support your broader technology strategy, not operate separately from it. As you evaluate providers, look for a partner that can integrate print management with your existing business applications, document workflows and cloud platforms.
An enterprise-ready provider should also be knowledgeable about print management software, workflow automation and emerging technologies that improve productivity and visibility. These capabilities can help create a more efficient print environment.
The right partner will ensure your print infrastructure evolves alongside your organization's technology needs.
Selecting a managed print partner involves much more than comparing equipment and pricing. Enterprise organizations need a partner that can support complex environments and scale alongside the business, as well as offer Onsite Service personnel to staff your Print Center, mailroom and more.
Gordon Flesch Company has decades of experience helping organizations manage enterprise print fleets across multiple locations. Through strategic guidance, advanced technology and proactive support, we help businesses improve efficiency and control print-related costs.
Ready to evaluate your print environment?
Contact Gordon Flesch Company to discuss how our enterprise managed print services can help support your organization's goals today and into the future.
