by David Hanly, imaging & printing technical consultant, Datapac

When it comes to implementing services which will cut your costs, improve productivity and enhance security in your organisation, it’s quite possible that Managed Print Services (MPS) is not the first solution that springs to mind.

The fact of the matter, however, is that a complete managed print and documents solution can offer a very comprehensive package of benefits for your business, including the opportunity to cut costs by up to 60% and much more besides. Read on for an insight into what an effective MPS can do for your organisation.

Costs savings and more

The potential to dramatically cut costs is almost reason enough to implement a managed print solution in your organisation. MPS significantly cuts down on wastage, saving money while also aiding the environment. What’s more, customer resources can be freed up by reducing the amount of time spent dealing with printer issues. Finally, a combination of usage tracking by device, and the provision of tailored reports, provides complete cost transparency, allowing you to control your spend better than ever before.

Managed print and document services can offer much more than mere cost savings however, and has evolved in recent years to become a real value-add service for Irish businesses. Many modern managed print solutions now include touch screen interfaces, giving complete control over functions such as scanning documents into workflow and controlling numbers of copies printed, as well as authenticating users on the system.

Scanning documents directly into a workflow process is a function that many document-intensive businesses, such as legal firms and accountants, now depend on as part of their document management approach. What’s more, regularly printed documents can be retrieved repeatedly without the need to be sent to print from a PC each time they are required.

Security and authentication

User-authentication has become hugely important, as the rise of cybercrime has led to increased concern in many organisations about the security of client information. To aid security, users can be provided with swipe cards or PIN codes, ensuring that unauthorised persons are prevented from accessing the system. In recent years, many organisations have implemented so-called ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) guidelines, permitting their employees to use personal devices, including laptops, smartphones, and tablets, to store and print documents.

Staff have become accustomed to the flexibility of printing on the go, but this can cause a range of challenges. MPS can help to reduce the possibility of confidential documents being compromised by offering the option to only release print jobs when the user is present at device. This prevents documents from being left in an output tray and picked up by someone who does not have the requisite clearance to see them.

Improve productivity

MPS can also help to optimise productivity. With functionality such as Follow-Me-Print, users can release print jobs at alternative devices, meaning that if one device is busy they can release print jobs at another location, eliminating the need to wait until the previous job is finished. What’s more, managed print monitors levels of consumables such as paper and ink, and ships more as required. This means that there is no need to organise a constant inventory of stock, a process which takes up valuable time and storage space.

Reduce your carbon footprint

Another benefit on offer from a comprehensive managed print and document services solution is a quantifiable reduction of your organisation’s carbon footprint. Print jobs sent in error can be deleted before being printed, and power consumption can be more easily managed. This approach can help companies to become much more eco-friendly and sustainable.

Print audit and Managed Print solution implementation

From the above it’s clear that there are numerous benefits on offer to organisations that implement a managed print and document services solution. In order to ensure as smooth a deployment as possible, organisations should first conduct an audit of their existing print solution and procedures, looking at the requirements for colour or mono printing, and scanning and faxing, as well as specific departmental needs and user behaviour.

Following this, any aging printers, scanners and copiers that are unused or unmanaged should be removed from the network. This will facilitate the roll-out of a number of connected, multi-function devices in centralised print locations to take the place of the old machines.

This audit and streamlining process will permit your organisation to take advantage of productivity-boosting web-based tools, while experiencing improvements in speed and quality of printing and cutting costs. The range of benefits that a managed print and document services system can offer your business really has to be experienced to be believed.

Datapac is fully equipped to implement comprehensive and effective MPS solutions. To find out more about the range of options on offer click here or contact our expert team by emailing info@datapac.com