There are many reasons businesses switch to managed print services. It could be cost: you want to reduce spend or regain control of unpredictable outgoings. Others switch because it's more convenient to outsource this key IT role to an expert. Or perhaps it's more strategic: you've inherited a collection of printers that no longer fit the needs of your business.
No matter what the impetus, there are excellent reasons to choose managed print services provided by the world's number one printer manufacturer, or draw on the services of one of HP's expert partners. Find out more about the services HP has to offer in our guide to the New Style of IT.
Control cost & secure your data
Let's take costs first. Can switching to managed print services MPS for short really help deliver on the lower price promise? Whilst every business is different, which is why HP and its partners provide a tailored solution, there are some key reasons why it can save money.
First of all, a good MPS will take control of the printers in your organisation so you can figure out who's printing what and how much it's costing. One obvious case in point: the senior exec who insists on his own expensive desktop printer because of security. There are easy ways around that, including secure "pull" printing, where the output pages will only appear when the user activates the print job with a PIN entered at the printer.
In fact, PIN protection is a great idea all round because it eliminates another piece of waste: the forgotten print-out.
By switching to a fleet of modern HP printers, you'll also be able to control colour printing and identify those who are printing large volumes. Perhaps they need to, because of their role, but there's every chance they're just printing without thinking.
You'll also benefit from the latest printers with almost certainly lower print costs than the models they're replacing. And now you'll know exactly how much consumables such as toner and paper will cost, as that's all part of the contract.
No wonder that an IDC study showed that businesses can save up to 30% of their printing costs by outsourcing to a print service provider.
Simplify supplies & streamline your printers
Another key benefit is simplification. Left uncontrolled, printers have a nasty habit of springing up on all sorts of desks, and most IT professionals will know the annoyance of managing disparate makes and models of printer. How do you keep them supplied? How do you keep them secure? It's no easy task and it's a complete waste of your time.
That's important for any business with more than a couple of printers, but it becomes crucial if you have to run multiple sites or have high concentrations of, say, sales staff in one particular office. A one-size-fits-all doesn't approach, as printing experts know.
Turn your printers into a business tool
Ultimately, though, we all need to remember that printers are a business tool. They're the pivotal part of the information flow that keeps all businesses alive, and if they're thought of in this way rather than the grey box humming away in the corner then they could and should help your business grow.
So ask yourself, do you understand how printed documents are used? Do you know how they fit into your employees' workflow? Are you confident that the infrastructure you have in place is helping employees, not hindering them?
You may not feel qualified to answer all those questions, but again this is where turning to experts can help. It could be they identify clever solutions that mean some stages of the workflow don't end up in a printout at all, with employees instead encouraged to archive to some kind of digital store.
Don't forget security and compliance either; these are already key considerations in highly regulated industries such as financial services and healthcare, and no industry is safe from the ever-increasing data regulations.
All this is theory. What matters is what's right for you, so take a few minutes to create your own custom report you'll get an early idea of inefficiencies in your office printing, and practical solutions to boost your productivity and cut costs.
To find out more about HP's services, download our whitepaper "Switch to the new IT".
