Office Document Strategies Blog

Bringing Managed Print Services (MPS) to the SMB Client

Posted by Lee Kirkby on Wed, May 26, 2010 @ 10:05 AM

There is a lot of discussion in the printing industry these days about managed print services.  According to the Managed Print Services Association this concept is, "Managed print services is the active management and optimization of document output devices and related business processes".  To date the focus of these concepts has been the large enterprise, organizations with hundreds or even thousands of print devices.  Over time the concept is working its way into the SMB space where organizations with a few printers or multifunction printers can begin to think along the same vein.  

document listThe idea behind MPS is that a vendor provides a complete turn key process for the document focused strategies of a client organization.  With a beginning assessment of the current state of operation the vendor begins to build a relationship with the client where they can have direct impact on the overall operation of their document processes.

Why is this important?  Aaron Dyck another presenter at the recent MPS conference described some of the issues with these questions.

  • What percentage of printers avoid formal procurement approval? 37 – 42% is the answer
  • What’s the biggest office expense next to payroll? Printing is correct.
  • How many pages per day does the typical office worker print? The average is 34 pages per worker per day.
  • What is the average life span of a printed page? Five minutes. (Note: Wow.)
  • How much does it cost to power a printer for one year? $240 per printer per year.

Most clients do not have any idea of what a printer or MFP costs, just what the lease and operating costs might be.  The true nature of the product including the impacts on user productivity and other performance measures are usually not considered.  With an advanced MPS engagement a vendor can assist a client in looking at these issues as well.  If the focus is only on the hardware then the real impact of a purchase can be missed.  Of course the vendor needs to have a means to recover the costs of the additional services provided and this is where MPS can help. 

MPS contracts are more comprehensive in nature than a simple hardware purchase but they offer the means for the purchaser to obtain more impact on their overall document processes.

Are you ready to talk MPS?  Do you have the knowledge and expertise to really know what your documents are costing you?  Are efficiencies in your document processes part of your strategy?  The MPS focus of the industry may bring you new opportunities and benefits...its worth learning more.

More information from the MPS Conference .

Lee K 

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Topics: Multifunction Printer, MFP, Document, cost of printing, Managed Print Services, MPS