Most organizations underestimate the total cost of print production by as
much as 50%. According to a recent Gartner Group study, organizations can spend as much as 3% of their total annual revenue on document output. Very often, those organizations will find that the majority of the output is from laser printers. Those costs range from toner and parts to service labor and network management. The real challenge is that most organizations do not understand how to measure or manage these costs. Without measurable controls in place to control these costs, positively affecting the bottom line is nearly impossible.
Managed print services, often referred to as print management or MPS, is a service that provides organizations with cost containment tools and strategies for print output. Gary Halperin, former CFO for IKON Office Solutions and Print, Inc. points out that, “MPS is a method for a customer to have their entire environment surrounding the management of output devices handled by one vendor [usually] under one agreement.” Managed print services provide certain service components for the end-user. Halperin continues by saying that end-users benefit by “right sizing their fleet of print devices in the right environments including networking, parts, service and all consumables.” continue reading...