Page 18 - BOSS Today Issue 21

Managed Print Services

result of a deliberate strategy as remote monitoring directly through a print audit - by most effectively, how best to
towards offering services: “We live with each machine that walking the floor, interviewing source colour print, as well as
were always in the business logs service calls, consumables users and gathering financial offering scanning, data capture
equipment sector, as well and gives us meter readings. information about the total and document management
as office supplies. When I That in itself is a form of current situation. This is services. We are really looking
acquired the business in 2003 managed print service.” supported in many cases by at a holistic view of everything
I wanted to move it more However, Rumble explains using print audit software - document-centric.”
to a value-added solutions that Ben Johnson’s MPS and we use the statistics to
business and so we developed offering is different: “We visit compose what they could Questions, Questions...
four divisions, with the clients who want to review do using a Canon balance Given the complexity of
technology division moving and replace their current deployed model. We add definitions and offerings
more and more into MPS.” print fleet with a more cost- value through understanding available, it is no surprise that
effective way of running their what our customers’ needs many dealers find embarking
What Are We office from a print, scan, copy really are: not just how to on the road towards offering
Talking About Here? document workflow point print, but also how to allocate MPS both baffling and
But what do we exactly mean of view. Normally we do that costs, how to route print intimidating. What is needed
by MPS? From the customer’s at the back end? How can
point of view, its objective print audits be undertaken?
is to optimise the costs of in What needs to be monitored?
house printing and save time Tindale’s solution was to
by outsourcing the hassle of consult as many people as
managing their printer fleet to possible: “There was no single
a third party. They expect to place that we could go that
reduce the costs of print (by as gave us all the answers, so
much as 20-30%) by installing we began talking to a lot
fewer, more efficient printers of people, including the
and have them managed manufacturers. Then people
more effectively, often by started coming to us like Print
installing innovative print Audit and Inmap, so we started
control software. In effect, this talking to them. In 2012 we
not only reduces demand for were contacted by the OP
printer cartridges and paper: it wholesalers and Integra,
also chokes off the traditional offering solutions aimed at
method of the piecemeal helping dealers to protect
individual supply of printers their cartridge business. My
and their consumables. advice is to speak to as many
However, from a supplier’s people as you can, but in the
point of view, how this is to be end the best thing is to just
achieved can be rather unclear. do what you are comfortable
As Tindale notes “The MPS with.”
acronym is very much open to Certainly, both dealers insist
interpretation. A lot of people that - despite the plethora of
will argue that the traditional advice and options available -
way of selling a copier on a the best strategy is to select a
lease with a maintenance single OEM partner and stick
contract is actually managed with them. As Tindale notes,
print. It’s perhaps a very loose “It’s important to stick with
form of MPS. Everyone’s got one brand. Those people who
a different interpretation of are going out and offering
it, some of which aren’t really MPS across a range of ten
MPS at all, as I see it. We do a brands? Well, their engineers
hybrid version: we have other surely cannot be any good at
things wrapped around it, such being experts in all of them...!”

18 BOSS TODAY | February/March 2014

MPS.indd 4 19/02/2014 14:04