KYOCERA Document Solutions
As in most things in life, in order to find the right solution to a problem it‘s important to know not only the issue itself and how it affects us, but what we want to achieve by solving it. This is a question that an effectively-conducted Managed Print Service Assessment helps to answer.
Most businesses have similar goals – higher productivity, more efficiency, lower costs to get the job done, and better (and faster) results. We all want to focus on the results, rather than on the process to get there. However, we can’t have good results if we don’t pay close attention to what’s bringing us those results in the first place. To improve, we first need to know where we are and where we want to go.
Initial Managed Print Services assessment: A key to a successful implementation
When considering Managed Print Services for your office, the most important step is the first one – the managed print service assessment – since this is where the particular necessities of the businesses are going to be discovered. These will be taken into consideration to provide the best possible solution to meet your business needs. When a technician visits your office to conduct an assessment, the main purposes are to determine the current print environment and conduct a full analysis aimed at working out ways to cut operational costs, improve productivity and optimize efficiency.
A preliminary visual assessment
In order to gain a full understanding of your print environment, it is important to walk through the office for a visual perspective of the office layout and overall device distribution in the workspace. This will give the assessor a sense of how many devices you have, what kind of devices they are, and where the devices are located within the office space. The assessor will analyze if devices are currently located in convenient spots for the employees to execute their tasks efficiently.
Device location may not be the only inefficiency. Having, for instance, a high number of boxes of toners in a closet can help give the customer an idea of whether the office is managed effectively in terms of supply purchasing. The program’s monitoring tool can help you have more control over what supplies are used the most and the least, as well as the ones that offer the best performance (to better concentrate your spending efforts in one way or another).
An MPS Assessment is the first step to taking your business to new heights.
Collecting metrics
After the physical walk-through, the assessor then proceeds to collect digital data from all print devices on your network to record and report data on print volume, usage and costs over time to gain a better understanding of your entire print infrastructure. Some of the information and insights gathered in this step include:
- Volume and usage analysis: An assessment of the volume of print for each device (as well as the type of ink or toner used) and the type of usage (print/fax/scan).
- Print comparative analysis: How cost-efficient a particular device is in comparison to another one in the office.
- User reports: An assessment of user behavior in the print environment.
- Optimized processes: The extent to which the new print infrastructure might contribute to an improvement in workflows.
- Environmental analysis: Helps gauge the impact of how the proposed MPS process might have on the environment.
A comprehensive system to monitor usage helps the office administrator have more control over how resources are being used and realize their total cost of ownership (which is the sum of the purchase price of a device, plus the operating costs over its lifespan).
Once a managed print service proposal is presented, based on the information shared by the customer and the knowledge gathered by the provider, an agreement is extended. Beyond the terms and conditions of the agreement, a managed print services agreement summarizes the extent to which the program is going to be implemented as well as important details regarding invoicing terms, general conditions and the type of service rendered by the provider once the program is implemented.
A comprehensive MPS assessment should generally help the provider gather all the necessary information on your print environment to best respond to your business needs.
An MPS assessment helps us to take a closer look at your current printing environment, and what could be implemented to improve and increase productivity and efficiency; improve workflows and, essentially, make better and smarter use of the resources available.
An MPS Assessment is the first step to taking your business to new heights.
Managed Print Services explained
Understand the details of Managed Print Services with our step-by-step guides.
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- Benefits of MPS