Printing, scanning and copying have been used in businesses since printing began, which some research suggests was as early as 3500 BC.
Technology has hugely progressed since then, with most workplaces now having a printer and scanner. It’s as much a part of your office as the coffee machine or water cooler.
However, with the world becoming more environmentally conscious, many have been led to question whether printing is still relevant as everything is moving online.
Studies have shown that while over 50s still print as much as they always have, millennials and Generation Z do not generally print unless they absolutely have to.
To survive this, print manufacturers must develop new products, services and business models that will sustain and drive growth.
This leads to the question: are managed print services still relevant in the digital workplace?
Firstly, what is a managed print service?
A managed print service, also known as MPS, provides a business with all they need to run a successful print operation within the business.
Included within an MPS are the correct toners, functional hardware, working parts and spares along with full support service, delivery, installation and even remote support can be used depending on certain problems encountered.
With a managed print service you can sit back knowing that everything is in hand. Any issues that do crop up (it’s technology at the end of the day) will be covered within your MPS agreement.
Check out our service levels on our managed print service page by clicking here.
Who needs managed print services?
Any business that regularly prints out or scans documents will benefit from managed print services.
It’s a hassle-free way to ensure you are always able to print and scan, increasing your efficiency.
Consider the amount of time you spend troubleshooting issues, and the knock-on effect this has.
These problems are taking you away from the work you really need to be doing, if not you then your IT staff who could be dealing with more important issues.
This time can be remotely managed by a third party, leaving your staff with time for more important tasks.
Why are managed print services important for the digital workplace?
An increasing amount of digital businesses are becoming environmentally conscious and pledging to reduce their carbon footprint as part of their corporate responsibility.
The key word here is ‘digital’ - with many advancements in the workplace, more and more organisations are moving their documents online to be kinder to the earth.
According to Quocirca’s global Print2025 report, 77% of businesses across the world say that paper will still be important to their business over the next five years.
Printing is still very much alive and kicking and this research suggests it will continue to do so into the future.
Digital transformation
Managed print services are an enabler for digital progression. A managed print service has the ability to transform workflows.
Even if your business still very much requires hard copies of documents, we can assist with creating workflows that contain both digital and printed approaches together.
Digital workflows also help you to cut down on unnecessary waste, again tying in with reducing your carbon footprint.
You can see which documents you already have on file, meaning you won’t have to ask clients for duplicates of documents or keep them for longer than necessary.
This also means you don’t have to use lots of space to keep hard copies.
Mobile printing will also be a top requirement moving forward. Over 40% of businesses now use mobile printing regularly to ease efficiency.
Even if you’re not at your desk, you can print something from your phone with ease.
Technology is constantly progressing, but it’s looking like print is here to stay.
Reducing your carbon footprint
Being more environmentally friendly doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning all physical documents - rather, reducing your output of unnecessary materials where possible.
This is something we can assist with at Copy Print Services. Through MPS we are able to monitor your print usage and can inform you of how you can reduce and manage it in a more carbon-friendly way.
We can also help you to reduce your electricity usage, your number of devices and print consumables.
Security
Anything within the IoT (Internet of Things: essentially any devices connected to the internet, and to each other) are at risk of being hacked.
Multi-function printers, also known as MFPs, are some of the oldest IoT devices to date. This is how we monitor and predict maintenance issues.
Even though there is the risk of hacking, simply due to the fact that these devices are connected to the world wide web, through managed print services we can help you to keep your endpoints secure.
If you experience a security breach, we have an automated alert system that will notify us of this before it escalates.
We can perform an automated audit that focuses on password management, upgrades and device settings configuration.
This helps digital workplaces stay secure and compliant.
Managed print services also protect the security of your physical documents. There are pull-printing features available, which require authentication from someone who is standing at the printer.
This means sensitive documents are protected as you are there waiting for them once they are ready to be collected.
Efficiency and productivity
Thanks to our IoT system alerting us of issues, we can efficiently manage these without even needing to be in your office. This minimises disruption to your staff, meaning they can focus on their work.
Furthermore, managed print systems have a ‘follow-me’ printing feature which allows you to print from your nearest device, so you can send a document to the printer closer to you.
This saves time as you aren’t having to travel to your main printer, which could be a few floors away.
Having a third party managing your printing system also means your IT staff are more productive.
They may not be trained specialists and this can cause headaches when trying to solve issues.
This leads us to the factor of saving money.
Cost-effective
You won’t need to hire an in-house expert to manage your devices as you have access to all the expertise you need remotely, saving you money.
In addition to this, after analysing your current processes and usage of materials such as toners and paper, we can suggest ways to reduce this and for you to be more cost-effective with the amount which you are currently printing.
We can also recommend more efficient devices to you, such as multi-function printers, which are printers, scanners and photocopiers all rolled into one. This saves both space and money.