December 5, 2024
It may sound strange to outsource print management, considering that unlike managed IT, everyone in your office probably knows how to print their documents and clear a basic paper jam. However, printing is still a silent budget killer in 2024. Even as businesses do more and more in the cloud, the average employee’s printing habits cost $725 per year, per employee. And even though printers have more time-saving features than ever before, they’re still notorious for causing workplace frustration: 23% of help desk calls are printer-related.
Managed Print Services is a rare find that saves money and time and can improve morale all at once.
What Should Managed Print Services for Business Include in 2024 and Beyond?
All MPS providers are not the same; for example, most print providers don’t include thorough printer security as part of their standard offering as Marco does.
However, in general, MPS providers will include the following services:
- An initial print assessment to identify what printers you have, how they’re being used, and where waste can be reduced
- In-depth conversations about your organization to make sure your print strategy is aligned with your long-term goals
- Real-time print analytics
- Recommendations for tools and print policies that can help reduce waste and optimize workflows
- Recommendations for tools and policies that can improve basic workplace security
- Supply monitoring and automatic ordering capabilities
- Help desk support
- Employee training
- Troubleshooting, repairs, and predictive maintenance
- Print security
Many organizations will include most of these, but as print volumes have declined, a lot of providers haven’t updated their offering to proactively monitor and troubleshoot equipment remotely, nor are they able to address print security issues.
And that’s unfortunate because, like any networked device, networked printers can potentially serve as a gateway to your network. They also have a hard drive and software that can be vulnerable to hackers.
Although some organizations are required by law to include additional security provisions to address this significant vulnerability, we believe that every organization deserves to have its data protected by an MPS provider that knows how. It may not be required by law (yet), but it’s the right thing to do.
Have These Goals for 2025? Here’s How Managed Print Services Can Help
Managed Print Services offers a wealth of benefits to the organizations that have sought them out. Along with the obvious — saving time and money — an excellent MPS provider can have a massive impact on your organization in ways you might not think about.
Increase the Responsiveness of Your IT Team
The average IT department spends 15% of their time on printer issues. Considering how vitally important IT skills are for helping modern businesses increase productivity, reduce costs, reduce risk, and strategize for growth, throwing away 15% of their time on printers probably isn’t the best idea.
Introduce More Sustainable Printing Practices in Your Business
Printers burn through energy, ink and toner, and paper, and millions of spent cartridges end up in landfills each and every year. There may always be a need for organizations to print documents, but up to 17% of what employees print isn’t actually used.
Your MPS provider can help you address print waste in many ways, but one great solution involves special printing software that won’t release a print job unless an employee is standing by to collect it.
If reducing your carbon footprint is on your to-do list for 2025, your managed print provider can also set you up with more energy-efficient equipment that uses more eco-friendly ink or toner cartridges.
Reduce Vulnerability to Scams
With cybersecurity grabbing most headlines, it’s easy to forget about toner pirates and other office supply scams. With one vendor responsible for all of your print supplies, it will be much easier for your staff to spot fraudulent invoices. Office supply scammers are still fleecing organizations out of millions of dollars the old-fashioned way, so while this benefit doesn’t always make the cut, it’s definitely a nice side perk.
Get More Life From Your Equipment
Printers are expensive, and when they go down, they cause significant disruptions. A well-maintained printer will work more reliably and need fewer emergency repairs. Are you 100% sure that all of the printers in your fleet are getting the maintenance they need? If they’re in the care of an MPS provider, they will. You’ll get more life out of your equipment with fewer workplace disruptions and budget blowups.
Add Hybrid Workplace Printing Solutions
If your employees are hybrid or remote, but they need to print securely on-premises, a provider that’s kept up with the times will be able to implement a cloud-based printing platform that eliminates the need for a direct connection and can unify printing across multiple locations.
And because print management software has also evolved, your provider should be able to remotely monitor and manage those who need to print from home.
Achieve a Digital Transformation
While you’re at it, you might also ask your MPS provider if they can integrate their hybrid printing solutions with a document management system (DMS), which can make it easier for employees to find, retrieve, and manage a wide variety of files.
That’s all well and good, but here’s where things get more interesting — your DMS can also help you automate manual processes like document approval, review cycles, or signature collection. You get fewer errors, drudge work, and delays, and more productivity and job satisfaction, all with one little upgrade.
Increase Printer Security Organization-Wide
As I mentioned before, you won’t be able to find this with every provider, and some will only provide print security services at an additional charge. But we believe that as print security threats continue to escalate, print security is a necessary component of proper data protection.
Recession-Proof Your Business
Many traditional ways businesses make cuts during a recession — like cutting staff or marketing budgets — have adverse effects on morale and sales growth.
Managed print services, on the other hand, have no unpleasant “side effects.” It’s a smart way to cut costs easily in a way that makes people happier.
Simplify Regulatory Compliance
Don’t think your organization is regulated? Don’t be so sure. New cybersecurity laws and regulations may now apply to you, or they will very soon.
Proper print security is essential to protecting sensitive data, but there’s more that a managed print services provider can do to help simplify compliance. For example, your provider can help you automatically track and log all printing activities, including who printed what, when, and on what device. And should you ever need to run a compliance check, many print software platforms can automate the process.
Why Use a Provider To Manage Your Business Printing
It’s not always easy to find the right technology provider for your business, but as one of the top print providers in the country, at Marco, we feel like we’re a relatively easy decision to make. Organizations that work with Marco as their MPS provider typically save up to 30% on print expenses. Plus, they receive additional print security to safeguard the data of their stakeholders, employees, and clients.
However, managed print services might not be the right fit for every single organization. If you’d like to do a deeper dive on the subject, then not only are you our kind of people, but we’ve got something special for you!
Click the link below to get our comprehensive (and ungated) guide!
