If you’re like most business owners, greater efficiency and lower costs are always on your list of goals. Some opportunities are more obvious – like making your employees more productive. While others, like taking control of your IT costs, may seem more challenging. But both of these opportunities, and many others, can be leveraged with the help of managed print services (MPS).
If you’ve yet to engage with an MPS provider, you may be wondering what to look for. Equally, if you’ve had a bad experience with a partner, you may be wondering what qualities they were missing.
MPS has never been more user-focused and intelligent than it is today. That means it’s easier for you to understand and to use. Printers and multifunction printers (MFPs) have become more like workplace assistants, going well beyond the basic functions of print, scan and fax. The design, connectivity and platforms behind today’s MFP and other infrastructure have set new standards for value.
Here’s what that value looks like in practice, and how it can benefit your business:
- There’s a much shorter learning curve with these new systems, so you don’t have to worry about losing productivity as you implement them. They also have less downtime than their predecessors, which means a boost in productivity overall.
- By monitoring and regulating your printing and scanning practices you can reduce costs and improve your document security.
- Monitoring your usage will also give your sustainability goals a shot in the arm.
- You’ll be opening up new opportunities to dramatically improve your business workflows and simplify the way you work. Easier work processes = better productivity.
What Every Business Wants from Managed Print Services
Printers and scanning devices still play a major role in businesses of all sizes.
Whether you use them for internal documentation or for heavy-duty promotional work, the devices you rely on day-in, day-out need to deliver on quality and cost savings. And for that, you’ll need help from an MPS partner.
When you consider your print environment as a whole, there are three key challenges an MPS provider should be able to help you with:
- Reducing costs of hardware purchases and consumables
- Raising productivity throughout the organization
- Obtaining a single invoice and the ability to recharge business units
If you run a multi-site operation, the above challenges are multiplied, but even if you’re a single-site SME, you’ll benefit significantly from an MPS provider that has a proven track record in building strategies, achieving cost savings and basing their work on solid industry experience.
4-Step Managed Print Services Methodology
In order to solve the challenges notes above, Parmetech works with a four-step methodology:
- Assess: We work with you to understand your people, processes, business needs and goals before designing a print strategy.
- Design: We design a print strategy based on the context of your workplace to meet your business needs and achieve your goals in the short-term and the long-term. We work to optimize your print environment and help you to utilize existing technologies to improve performance, streamline workflows, and reduce costs.
- Implement: Our experienced team of industry professionals support your organization through the transition process, establishing best practices and providing training as needed, to ensure to your business maximizes results such as productivity and cost-savings.
- Manage: We automate your print management sevices, including helpdesk and repair, usage monitoring, and supplies tracking and replenishment.
Managed Print Services (MPS): No More Sweating the Small Stuff
The closer a Managed Print Service (MPS) partner works with you, the more their efforts will benefit all areas of your business.
For instance, by implementing analytical solutions and data-driven analysis of your print environment, they help put an end to guesswork.
By acting as the conduit between your business and suppliers, an MPS partner also ensures you benefit from transparent billing, consolidated invoices and clear contracts.
The job of an MPS partner is essentially a streamlining exercise. This results in:
- Simplified machine servicing
- More efficient fleet of multifunction devices
- Automated processes
Results You Can Expect From MPS
It’s not uncommon to see cost savings in excess of 40% per year when you engage with a great MPS partner. Despite this, there are other, intangible benefits to be enjoyed, too. Beyond the direct cost savings, new ways of printing and automated processes offer significant time savings and reductions in human error.
Finding the right MPS provider is relatively straightforward when you know what to look for, and considering the pointers above will help you to choose the best partnership for your company.
