Americans buy more and more products as a service. Most of our technology is available as an online app and even razor blades and beauty supplies can be delivered as subscription services. So why not buy your office printers as a service?
When buying a new product or service, most of us assume that the seller is pushing us to buy more of something than we truly need. But the goal of a Managed Print Service (MPS) is to reduce - reduce total costs, reduce the number of devices, reduce the number of manufacturers and models, reduce the time IT spends dealing with devices and to reduce the number of vendors you work with.
An MPS should fit your organization’s needs and objectives using corporate comparisons and trends to make decisions from a global perspective, rather than a unit or commodity basis. A Managed Print Service program offers solutions and benefits because the program will:
Once a fleet strategy is deployed, we will work with you to evaluate areas that can benefit from consolidation as well as solutions to improve document workflow. Here’s how it works.
During this phase, business analysts focus on gaining control of the fleet. GFC performs a walk-though of our customer facilities to map and catalog all SFP’s (single function printers) & MFP (multifunction printers) devices. The goal, through both the electronic and physical reconnaissance, is to identify all output devices, both networked & local. If possible, GFC interviews primary users to gain a comprehensive understanding of their needs.
At this point, the focus is to optimize the fleet by ensuring that print assets are deployed in the most efficient possible ways. One of the first things to be assessed is the need and use of local printers. These printers only service one user and are rarely networked, making them inefficient in most business environments. And too often, time is wasted walking across the building or to another floor for printed material.
Managed Print Services can help you identify which machines are underperforming and replace them with more efficient devices.
In the final phase, once the size and scope of the fleet has been brought to manageable levels, the goal is to move beyond optimization to enhancing the capabilities of the fleet by using document management and document workflow to improve basic business processes and manage print output.
GFC experts work with the client to identify frustrations tied to specific processes within their organization. We then engage the client in a Symptoms of a Broken Process exercises. Managed Print Services solutions come in many forms and can be tailored to your business's needs. It is a complete print solution that keeps your IT staff focused on other priorities, reduces print costs, improves productivity and generally enhances the effectiveness of your print environment.
MPS programs even reduce the workload of your IT department and therefore, increase their efficiency. Finally, MPS programs are a partnership that enhances a business' ability to manage its printing environment more efficiently.
An MPS enables you to consolidate your costs (and vendors), which provides the ability for a consistent monthly investment. In addition, it may be important to control access to documents and print devices, so that confidential information is not put at risk. For example, the use of employee keycards to release print jobs can be installed to prevent confidential paperwork from sitting around in output trays for anyone to see or take.
Learn more about what MPS can do for your business by contacting GFC today.
