5 Ways Managed Print Services Can Improve Your Business
What are Managed Print Services?
Managed print services (MPS) are programs designed to oversee, analyze, simplify, and optimize all of your business’s printing devices. MPS are made up of printing professionals with the expertise and knowledge to troubleshoot malfunctioning devices, identify problems before they arise, and streamline every process of your printing fleet.
Why do Companies Need Managed Print Services?
Staying on top of your own printing fleet is serious work, and it’s something that could be costing your business significant time and money. When your business manages its own printers, your employees have to dedicate their time to keeping track of your inventory, ordering supplies from a whole range of vendors, juggling multiple invoices, calling manufacturers for troubleshooting questions, requesting repairs, and more. If managing your own printers is starting to sound like a full-time job, it’s because it can be.
If managing your own printers is starting to sound like a full-time job, it’s because it can be.
One of the biggest drawbacks to self-managing your printing resources is that it tends to fall in the laps of your IT team. Most business can’t afford for their limited IT professionals to focus on maintaining the office’s printing devices. Plus, most IT workers simply aren’t trained to troubleshoot and repair all of the various printers, scanners, fax machines, and other devices in your office. And most importantly, your IT staff has much more important work to perform — things like maintaining your network security and fulfilling your company’s technology initiatives. That’s where managed print services come in. MPS can help your business save money, reduce waste, and increase productivity by lifting the responsibilities associated with your company’s printing needs off your shoulders.
MPS can help your business save money, reduce waste, and increase productivity by lifting the responsibilities associated with your company’s printing needs off your shoulders.
5 Major Benefits of MPS
1. Improve Efficiency
When you select an MPS provider, their first goal will be to audit and analyze your current printing network, including the number of devices you use, where the majority of your traffic and usage is coming from, what devices need to be upgraded, and more. This allows the MPS provider to make recommendations for replacing devices, consolidating your fleet, reducing local printers, upgrading your security, and relocating your printers to the most optimal locations. This will help reduce overall supply costs, decrease congestion, reduce waste, and improve printing efficiency across your business.
2. Provide Visibility
When working with an MPS provider, you’ll receive detailed reports on how much your printing services are actually costing your company. When you manage your own fleet, it can be difficult to track where the expenses are coming from due to the collection of invoices from various vendors and manufacturers. MPS help consolidate your vendors. Then, they provide one easy-to-analyze package of information, including where the majority of your costs are coming from. MPS also eliminate the unpredictable aspects of managing your printing capabilities yourself. Instead, you’ll have one consistent monthly investment.
3. Lower Costs
MPS providers claim they have the potential to help companies save up to 30 percent on printing costs. This is done through a few different avenues. First, MPS help to optimize your existing fleet. This could be done through many ways, such as replacing old hardware with more efficient and capable devices, or relocating printers to help consolidate your fleet. Second, MPS allows your IT staff to concentrate on other work, which ultimately saves you money.
4. Enhance Security
As with most Wi-Fi enabled devices, printers and scanners offer another security challenge to business. The problem is, many IT professionals and CSOs say they simply don’t have the time or resources to devote to improving the security on their printers. This leaves many businesses open to cyberattacks. MPS providers can help fill these security gaps without placing more responsibility on your IT staff.
5. Eliminate Headaches
The final benefit of an MPS solution may be the most beneficial — MPS make your employees’ lives easier. Now, no one has to worry about ordering more toner, or if the company is running low on paper, or if the hardware is up-to-date. That’s all taken care of. On top of that, your MPS provider will routinely update your hardware to ensure that it stays up and running, and if a problem does occur, they’ll fix it. Plus, when a device inevitably breaks or something goes wrong, your team knows exactly who to contact for support.
The Bottom Line
For many companies, MPS just make sense. They can help alleviate the pressure on your IT team, reduce your overall operating costs, simplify your supply lines, and improve your business’s efficiency. Whether your business uses three printers or twenty, there may be room for optimization and savings by partnering with an MPS provider.
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