Managed Print Services (MPS) are services offered to assist businesses by identifying their printing goals and defining a strategy to help them achieve their goals. Managed print services are a necessity to grow your business because you'll spend less time on management and less money printing overall.
Generally, your MPS provider will assess the company's needs, decide on the hardware required, what service will be needed and how the whole process can be optimised in a way that reduces printing costs and maximises security. MPS usually also track the hardware installed to ensure a constant cycle of feedback is being used to improve the service. This includes regularly scheduled maintenance to keep your machines running at their best. You might be thinking, "I'm a small business owner, I don't have the money to spend on managed print services. I'll just do it myself!"
This has the potential to hurt your business in the long run you’ll end up spending more money and time.
1- Reduce cost and save money
It might seem like a good idea in the short term to just keep your current printers, but when they break down, you’re left with a hefty bill to repair or replace them. And how about when you run out of toner right at the most inopportune moment and can't wait for it to go on sale?
With managed print services, you don't need to worry about these expenses. With a predictable monthly fee, you'll get all of your bulky, outdated printers replaced with faster devices. Imagine having a multi-functional printer with all the necessary functions built-in and having your managed print service maintain it so that you can get down to work.
2- Save time and improve efficiency
What if you had to give away a dollar every time your printer had a paper jam, ran out of ink, or just wouldn’t print right? Many printers in businesses today are slow and prone to malfunction, which wastes your time and money. The amount of time your employees spend on printer-related tasks can be frustrating. The process of printing, scanning, copying or faxing documents on old hardware or poorly configured software is just the start. There is also the time spent fixing device malfunctions and replacing ink cartridges and toners to consider too.
Managed print services won't just come in and give you a fancy new printer. They will analyze the exact needs of your departments to make sure your resources are being used wisely and everyone is being supplied with the printer that has the functions they need for scanning, copying, faxing, and, of course, printing.
3- Expert on your side
Another managed print services benefit is that you'll have the experts on speed dial. Your advisor will help you with any printing, scanning, copying, faxing or network connectivity issues. Plus, the help desk will assist you with updates of your software and supply you with the right amount of supplies you need.
4- Improve productivity in your team
Consider that next time you’re standing at the copier. With managed print services, you and your team will be able to cut this waiting time in half because your MPS experts will be monitoring your printing systems and making sure they are up to date before problems can arise. This means the responsibility of dealing with malfunctions, changing cartridges, and adding paper is taken off you, giving you more production time.
5- Improve your information security
Chances are your current printer doesn't allow you to print from your smartphone, tablet, or straight from the cloud. With new printers, these features are basic standards that allow you to carry on with your business much faster. These new printing perks also need to be protected and secure just like your other IT systems. The benefit of managed print services is that they take care of any changes to the firmware. Nowadays, with more threats out there and greater risks of data breaches, make sure you've got your back covered with managed print services.
Long term, unmanaged print services are costing your small business, whether it's through print waste or opening your company up to security risks. However, implementing an MPS solution can provide you with a carefully managed and optimised print fleet, reducing your printing costs and mitigating security risks. But before you can achieve these benefits, you need to choose the right MPS provider that can tailor a solution to address your small business's specific printing and security requirements. At IT&T we provide document management solutions with long-life eco-friendly that sets the standard in sustainability while delivering greater productivity, reliability and uptime.