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Organisations continue to be driven by a combination of controlling cost and improving efficiency and, to achieve these, increasingly turn to outsourcers, as well as approaching IT as a utility. Alongside this is the continued drive for sustainability and the growing awareness of how IT impacts an organisation_s carbon footprint. This trend is seeing the emergence of consulting services that help organisations to implement initiatives that make the procurement, operation and disposal of IT assets more environmentally responsible. Such services include data centre and desktop virtualisation, supply chain optimisation and remote working solutions and, increasingly, the optimisation of the printing environment. Print costs are estimated to account for between 1% and 3% of an organisation_s total revenue, yet is an area that has literally been left to its own devices. Digital communication has actually led to a rise in printed content, often these days in colour, which has led to escalating print costs for many organisations. Adding to this is the fact that ownership of devices is often fragmented across departments and locations, many of which are from a diverse range of manufacturers, requiring the storage of many incompatible consumables. In addition, whilst facilities management would have been traditionally responsible for the purchasing and management of service contracts for photocopiers and fax machines, the emergence of the networked multifunction device (that acts as a printer, scanner, copier and fax) has led to IT becoming more involved in the purchasing and management of all devices. In order to gain control of their complex print environments, many organisations are turning to managed print services (MPS). MPS providers may be printer or copier manufacturers, specialist managed print providers, channel partners or IT service providers. An MPS provider assumes responsibility for the management of either part of or the entire print environment and can handle the full gamut of activities including assessment, fleet optimisation, asset management, maintenance, and support and change management. This report provides an overview of the MPS market landscape, the key suppliers in this space and how their capabilities compare. Quocirca interviewed a range of MPS providers to understand their strategy in delivering managed print services, their approach to delivery and their strategic focus on this area. This is not a definitive list of all suppliers but a sample of the key players.
The MPS market has evolved from the basic services of maintenance, supplies and fleet management to encompass solutions for assessing, optimising and managing an enterprise-wide printing infrastructure. This is where most MPS offerings fit today, although companies such as Xerox Global Services already offer a full range of enterprise document services. Document process outsourcing relates to the on or off-site services which cover the complete document lifecycle, from creation to storage and archival. Business process services enable documents to be effectively integrated into the business workflow, for example by using software to improve the efficiency of both paper and electronic document processes. MPS providers who are able to also offer these types of enhanced document services will be able to drive further business value by enhancing the fundamental cost savings of optimising the printing infrastructure. However, many organisations still need to take the first step to optimise their print environment, which provides the foundation for creating a wider enterprise document strategy.
MPS engagements vary in the service capability offered and delivery approach. Whilst some MPS providers, such as Xerox, favour a fully outsourced approach, taking full control of an organisation_s output environment, an increasingly popular approach is the modular, or out-tasking approach characterised by companies such as Canon, HP and Fujitsu Siemens Computers. Through this flexible outsourcing model, services can be outsourced as required, enabling the customer to retain control of their technology if needed, and the customer can move to a fully outsourced approach if required.
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