What’s Eating Up Your Resources? Taking Charge of Wasted Print Costs
Finding the competitive edge in any business requires the company to regain control over wasteful practices. Although many activities require additional oversight and control to keep costs down, an area often overlooked by companies is with print costs. Color prints, blank pages, reprinting multiple times, even paper cuts can add up to wasted costs and productivity losses in any organization. If the business has been operating for a few years, it’s common to buy the printers and copiers at different times, from different vendors with different features and efficiencies. As the legacy devices grow older, they become prone to failure and may be more expensive to service and repair.
Printers and networks that experience regular downtimes lead to reduced revenue, while wasteful printing practices eat into the company’s bottom line. It’s common for print costs to be the third biggest expenditure in small businesses, after rent and payroll. If these activities remain uncontrolled, the company is missing opportunities to save money. With the speed and competitive nature of the modern economy, the company will need to re-establish control over all of their print operations and find innovative ways to improve their workflows.
Save Money with Managed Services to Reduce Waste and Print Costs
According to a recent report from Xerox, companies need to partner with managed services providers in order to limit both downtimes from IT-related device failures and reduce the overall print costs to save money. As the devices become more sophisticated and deliver greater features, maintaining productivity in the office requires a team of dedicated technology professionals. Modern Multifunction Printers (MFPs) come with advanced software integrations that help companies streamline their entire business process.
Benefits of Managed Print Services
Managed Print Services (MPS) allow companies to regain control over their fleet of printers and copiers. This will enable the company to leverage newer technologies and increase the office’s productivity by establishing a uniform set of print policies for every device. If the organization is still relying on in-house resources to carry out administrative tasks on every device to track print costs, it’s adding unnecessary overhead to the workforce.
An MPS provider will work with the company to find a cost-effective solution for both their printing volumes and device selections. As the service comes at a single monthly cost, the budget will remain consistent and predictable. When a business needs to scale or grow, the MPS Company will work with them to ensure they can continue to expand without any disruption to the operations. The company will also be able to keep track of all prints by user and device, helping them identify wasteful printing practices and establishing additional controls to prevent runaway costs and save money.
By adopting a sustainable MPS business model, the company will also receive regular servicing, maintenance, and repairs for the devices as required. The MPS provider will monitor all devices remotely and schedule the necessary tasks before it becomes a problem. MPS Companies will also ensure the business receives supplies on time, preventing situations where a printer is down due to a toner or ink cartridge not being available.
Saving Money with Device Monitoring and Managed IT Services
Once the business has regained control over their office’s printing practices, they can opt to work with a managed IT services supplier to achieve even greater efficiencies. Managed IT services can include hardware such as workstations and servers, but also provide enhanced productivity tools and software solutions to improve the company’s workflows. A managed services business model helps the company operate with a consistent budget and provides them with access to reliable hardware and software solutions.
As regulations continue to evolve and governments expect companies to protect all personal information, reducing the cost of compliance with a Managed IT and MPS solution partner is key. Document management solutions and cloud storage services will improve the company’s information security policy, while advanced network monitoring tools will keep the network protected. With the global rise of cybercrime, any company that fails to take action faces an existential risk. In some cases, a ransomware attack was enough to bankrupt small businesses.
Automating the workflows will ensure better transparency in the business, while accurately routing all documents and tasks to the appropriate resources. This will reduce the amount of prints required, helping the company save money in the short and medium term. With a comprehensive device monitoring service, the organization’s resources are free to focus on their core duties instead of dealing with hardware failures or network interruptions.
Partnering with Virginia Business Systems to Create a Sustainable Business Model
For more than five decades, Virginia Business Systems worked with customers to find a sustainable business model using the latest technologies. Virginia Business Systems have a team of dedicated experts that monitors all the company’s systems and devices, ensuring they don’t impede productivity. As a company continues to grow, they’ll need a solution provider that gives them the ability to scale efficiently. With managed print services, managed network services, device monitoring, and other office productivity tools, Virginia Business Systems can help organizations achieve their cost-saving goals.
For an assessment of your exact managed services requirements and reducing print costs, speak to Virginia Business Systems today.