The Purpose of a Managed Print Service Assessment

What is a Managed Print Service Assessment, and Is It Even Necessary?

At the core, the problem that we are trying to solve is to help clients understand what they are spending. Currently, they are fixing printers over here with method A, and they are buying toners with method B. Switching that model over to a simplified cost per print model, eventually they have to ask if they are going to save money. 

In order to fully understand where the money is going and how to organize things in a more efficient model, you have to do an assessment of some type  just to be able to say, “Here’s the baseline of what you are spending and your current print environment.” Without the baseline, how can you know if the company managing your printer fleet is helping or hurting your financial goals?

We understand that not many businesses are going to just randomly jump on board without proof of how we can save them money, time, and energy.  We simply pull the data, and the data tells the story of what the organization is doing. 

Almost every organization can do something better.  Also, almost every organization is doing some things exactly right. Our job is to help you keep the good parts of how you manage printer fleets and get rid of the aspects which hurt your goals.

Some Items Covered in a Managed Print Assessment Include:

• Print environment analysis
• Printing cost
• Print device analysis
• Service audits
• Print process
• Print strategy
• Printer security

Ultimately, if you know money is going out of the budget in costs, but it is not easily tracked or understood where that money is going, and you have a large or growing fleet, you should have an assessment done. This is a core initial job of a competent MPS provider.

What Should a CEO Getting Ready to Hire a Managed Print Service Company Look For?

That depends on the problem you are trying to solve. If you are looking to hire someone to take over your fleet, printer manufacturers generally are not good at servicing. Even HP will say, “We’re not good at that.”  For most companies we would not suggest using the manufacturer.

Depending on your location, getting someone to service your devices can be difficult. We would suggest you look for a company that is big enough to support you, especially at a local basis.

Many companies will outsource their printer service. If you have multiple branches all over the country, you want to get someone who is good at servicing nationwide. There is no company with techs all over the country. We excel in having in-person service coverage nationwide, and that is why we have grown. 

What Red Flags Should You Look For?

We would say looking at potential managed print services client list and expertise is critical, because managing a site of 1000 printers is far different from managing an office with ten or fifteen printers. 

Just like anything else, a good reputation for dealing with other clients similar to you in need says a lot. A lack of experience for your company size and needs becomes a risk, where you have to ask, “Am I willing to be the experiment?”

Other Than Pricing, What Matters to You?

What matters to most companies is that they can print continuously, without interruption. It’s that simple. It’s not unusual to do a walk through and find a significant number of the printers just aren’t working. Maybe ten percent just don’t work or they’ve been down recently. That has many causes, most of which can be avoided. 

The second issue is finances. Can you save money with an office technology partner? If you are losing money from unknown or unorganized costs, then yes, we can save you money, which leads us to the next thing that matters the most, using the data we provide. 

Once we see why, where, how and when money is going away, we can implement ways to decrease it using the information from our assessment.

How We Help a Company Save Money if it Means They Are Paying Less?

We all have to figure out ways to be profitable but drive down costs. If we do a good job, it ultimately translates into referrals. Saving a client money may mean we get less over time from that one client, but it also means we generate more business which brings more money in. 

We are a success-driven model of growth. If we weren’t able to do this, we would obviously fail. The fact that we can have a client pay us less and still grow just reveals the value of the model we use. 

If you would like to explore how we can help your company reduce costs on your printer fleet, we would love to do an assessment and help you see how and where there is money to be saved.