October 3, 2024
It’s tempting to want to make your copiers and printers last as long as possible! They’re not cheap, and if your organization is like most, there are tons of improvements you’d prefer to spend your hard-earned money on. And ten years ago, depending on your print needs, you could often get by just fine pushing your printer a little farther, especially for an organization where printing issues wouldn’t cause emergencies.
But print security threats have evolved very quickly, and now, if your printing device is over eight years old, the quantifiable cyber risk may begin to tip the scales of whether or not it’s worth removing or replacing your equipment.
How Outdated Devices Drain Your Finances
We don’t know your printer personally. But if it’s old, it’s probably costing you more than you think in these areas:
- Electricity
- How it uses ink and toner
- Repair parts and services
- Frequent print disruptions
- Limited capabilities that slow productivity
But those costs pale in comparison to how much an outdated printer could cost you if a cybercriminal spots it. Print security is still a blindspot for many companies, but unsecured equipment can give hackers access to your systems and data, and can also be used to launch ransomware attacks. Most printers over eight years old aren’t equipped with sufficient security features.
How Updating Your Copier and Printer Can Pay Off
Some of these benefits aren’t obvious right away, but some improvements are felt the same day new equipment is installed, like this first one:
1. Increase Office Productivity
A lot of clients tend to purchase printers based on the sticker price. If they do a bit more research, they’ll purchase based on the cost of the supplies as well as the machine itself. A lot goes into calculating your cost per print, but if your staff frequently has high-volume print jobs, a device that can produce them in a fraction of the time could potentially help boost your productivity organization-wide.
If that device could also provide more capabilities — like scanning and faxing — and if its software allowed your staff to scan documents directly to the right folder or an email address, they’ll save even more time throughout their day.
And then, imagine if this new printer performed so reliably that work wasn’t constantly interrupted by paper jams and other printer troubleshooting needs.
Sure, many of these productivity gains might only give your employees back 5-10 minutes here and there. But if these gains happen multiple times throughout the day and throughout multiple departments, you’re talking about some serious productivity numbers — all because you replaced equipment that didn’t owe you anything anymore.
2. Reduce Printing Expenses
Modern printers help you save money in all of the ways that outdated devices add to costs. It may take you some time to notice how much you’re saving on your energy bill or your print supplies. And it may take even longer to notice how those maintenance and repair costs have been almost eliminated. But over time, your new equipment will start to pay for itself.
3. Secure Sensitive Information
Prevention is always difficult to quantify. There’s no real way to know the number of incidents that didn’t happen because of proper print security. However, we do know how much ransomware will cost companies in 2024:
- Average recovery costs (not including the ransom payment): $1.82 million
- Average ransomware fee: $2.6 million
If a new printer prevents just one attack, it may do more than pay for itself. It may save your company.
4. Minimize Your Environmental Impact
Using less power will save you money, but it can also help you meet green initiatives. Some printers also take sustainability much further, incorporating more recycled plastic into their toner and ink cartridges and components. When it comes to sustainability, HP is a real standout, and their recycling program makes it easier for companies to do the right thing.
Saving More on Cost-Effective Printing Solutions
A lot of our newer clients are surprised to hear this, so feel free to pass this along: You can often get a better deal if you get your equipment through a provider rather than from the manufacturer directly. There are a number of reasons for this, but the biggest one is that manufacturers would rather focus on building superior equipment rather than selling and maintaining it. It’s just not where they excel. Taking those responsibilities off their hands in exchange for volume discounts is a win/win for everyone.
That’s why we’ve taken the step of partnering with top equipment manufacturers, like HP, to make sure that our clients can always access competitive pricing and unrivaled support.
Because service and support are what we excel at, we’ve taken the time to design a free online tool to help companies identify the best printing equipment for their needs. You’re always welcome to talk to a human too!
