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Abstract
InfoTrends' market research indicates that the total cost of general office printing and related activities accounts for about 2% of revenues, and that total print costs, from the desktop to external print, average 6%. At the same time, print and printing technology is often treated as an afterthought—something that is usually handled on an ad hoc basis— but this is changing. As a result of the high cost of printing and recent technological advances, organizations are revisiting their printing practices to find ways to manage them more efficiently, provide higher levels of satisfaction to users, communicate more effectively, and become more cost-effective. This HP-sponsored assessment details the print management challenge and explains how HP solutions provide the answer.
Executive Summary
Enterprises devote substantial resources to print and related services. This is typically the result of fragmented processes. IT, procurement, line of business management, and facilities departments are unduly burdened due to this lack of centralized management. Multitudes of end-users are also subjected to inefficiency and low productivity, as the lack of print management results in ineffectual document processes and unnecessary document obsolescence, however, InfoTrends is seeing a shift in this trend. Equipment and services vendors such as HP now deliver solutions that enable enterprises to achieve cost savings, improved worker productivity, and overall efficiency through print optimization. Optimization is an ongoing discipline. Therefore, the best approach is driven by services through which specific process and technological expertise can be leveraged to the benefit of the client.
In general, the five key steps of a successful print optimization program are as follows:
1. Assess the current state: a review of print related spending must be conducted. This assessment should include an inventory of equipment as well as actual utilization (print, copy, fax, and scan); networked and direct-connect; and dedicated labor, supplies, outside purchases, distribution, and associated system costs.
2. Create a business case for the new strategy and deployment: gain executive sponsorship; align the objectives and roles of IT, procurement, the pertinent lines of business, and other support services; and develop clear, tactical plans for managing the transition.
3. Optimize the fleet to meet cost and productivity objectives, including actual user needs for print, copy, fax, scan, and related workflow:
- Optimize the number and types of devices for general offices and departments based on utilization and the unique printing needs of different users. This usually entails replacing an over-proliferation of personal devices and production copiers with a balance of single-function and multifunctional peripherals (MFPs). It may also involve the incorporation of more production-class color devices to reduce external printing costs.
- Employ fewer vendors and standardize on fewer models to simplify support and procurement and to obtain more consistent services, processes, and output.
- Upgrade to state-of-the art printing technology to maximize efficiency, reliability, ease-of-use, and management. Improve efficiency through the use of common control panels and a common driver for the fleet.
- Integrate with the broader enterprise network infrastructure and ensure end-to-end security.
4. Implement a process for ongoing management and optimization to meet the organization's evolving needs through the collection and analysis of regular (e.g., monthly, quarterly) reports on usage, service, changes, and other related factors.
5. Engage with the vendor beyond the typical transactional vendor/client relationship which is primarily focused on price. In this role, the vendor takes on more of the ongoing print management responsibility.
Introduction
Documents are critical to the operation of almost all enterprises. Printing is a common activity that spans the enterprise from general-purpose activities to specific workflow applications such as medical or employment record processing. Printing is conducted on the desktop in the general office and in internal print centers (e.g. in-plant print shops, small copy/print sites, data center print centers) and it is also purchased externally from a wide range of pay-for-print providers. Printing activities that take place within the enterprise are ultimately part of the computing infrastructure, as printing and copying devices are network-connected within every corporate environment. Companies spend significant amounts of money on print and print-related activities. In fact, InfoTrends' market research indicates that the total cost of general office printing and related activities accounts for about 2% of revenues or funding, and that total print costs, from the desktop to external print, average 6% of revenues.
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