For quite some time, office printers were the only piece of gear sitting in a corner, trusting that orders would create documents. Aside from the occasional need to refill ink and toner or conduct routine maintenance, printers stood out enough to be noticed.
Despite being more sophisticated, Internet-connected, and integral to operational proficiency, many administration offices still consider their organization printers this way. There is a problem here.
Recent years have seen a dramatic change in the capacity of printers. These devices, aside from adding faxing, copying, and other functions that we currently ignore, have also grown to be complete, wireless network devices.
Workers can print from anywhere using practically any mobile device. Several organizations are making use of printers that are suitable for printing small or large batches, something that once required the services of a print shop.
To maintain these digitally powered machines, which appear to be incredibly powerful, require a high level of skill that most government workplaces lack. However, many organizations attempt to do the job themselves.
1. Improved efficiency
Among entrepreneurs, 66% accept hardware and gear that is delivered as a service because it offers more value.
This is true when it comes to printer fleets. It doesn’t make sense that most of the cost of documents is related to infrastructure and printer management, despite popular belief. Individuals differ, however, in how they manage, offer, and store documents within their companies or with their clients and suppliers. This is the place where MPS shines.
In my opinion, the best benefit of MPS is that solutions providers will provide a quick and accurate assessment of what is or isn’t working with a printer fleet – and then recommend valuable solutions for optimizing and smoothing out processes and workflows while minimizing downtime.
Providing MPS providers may suggest using multifunction printers instead of separate gadgets to perform individual functions, such as printing, copying, scanning, and faxing.
Essentially, they might recommend printers based on usage patterns and requirements in various regions. As part of their managed print services (MPS), managed print providers would also ensure that organizations always have the most up-to-date and most productive printers deployed.
Furthermore, top printing service providers will undoubtedly use assessment devices to further enhance MPS results. By continuously monitoring and evaluating how printers are used across different departments and areas of a company, assessments can improve operational performance over time by identifying maintenance concerns or a need for replacement gear.
2. Reduced expenses
According to analysts, companies can save between 20 and 30 percent on their printer fleets when they use MPS. Most of the time, MPS saves clients money because of its operational improvements. It is common for service providers to manage to print more cost-effectively than government entities because they have the right personnel, information, and equipment.
In an office, providers can, for example, use assessment to determine the optimal locations to install gear thereby reducing the number of printers per worker. Consequently, fewer supplies will be used and less paper will be wasted. Furthermore, MPS providers may invest in the replacement of outdated, more maintenance-intensive machines with more efficient, more energy-efficient models.
It is also important to understand that time is money. Because MPS relieves IT administrators, from updating and supporting printer fleets, offices don’t have to hire staff to keep them in working order.
3. Avoiding security events
As long as they have internal memory and storage, and are connected to the Internet, today’s printers are not that different from PCs. Therefore, they are as vulnerable as any PC to attack – and hackers are well aware of this. No matter how you slice it, most companies still view printers as disconnected and inactive devices.
43% of IT experts in North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa who participated in Spiceworks’ survey felt printers are overlooked when it comes to endpoint security. In addition, according to a new study, only 18% of CIOs believe printers are susceptible to data breaches, compared to 91% for PCs, 77% for mobile devices, and the rest for servers.
