MANAGING A WORLD OF PRINTING CHOICE

Managed print services come in a vast array of shapes and sizes and dealers play an important advisory role in ensuring customers commit to the right solution for their needs

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anaged print services (MPS) have been a staple in many offices for years - but there is a wide array of solutions available on the market and, with changing needs among many businesses over the past couple of years, which solution is right for them is not always obvious. This means dealers have an important role to play.

“Dealers should consider MPS providers with a broader offering - those that are constantly expanding their knowledge and services to meet market demands,” says James Pittick, director of B2B Indirect Sales, Canon UK and Ireland.

He adds that dealers should look to work with an MPS provider that has switched to a cloud-first mindset. “This can deliver significant benefits. Not only do cloud-based solutions support digital transformation processes, and agile working effectiveness, they are also more sustainable and lower in cost, which is extremely attractive to customers.”

Anna Grubb, ECI’s managing director of international sales for field service, believes that taking advantage of the technology available is also important in helping businesses to adapt to the hybrid world. “It’s important to point out that the market demand for home worker printers is growing,” she says. “Research conducted across the UK and US markets found that 63% of people are printing more at home than they were a year ago, and 43% of home workers who don’t currently have a toner subscription service in place would be interested in having one.

“This demonstrates that there is a gap in the market. As the demand for printing from home increases, dealers

The market demand for home worker printers is growing

need to leverage the toner subscriptionbased models offered by manufacturers, enabling home worker printers to be brought into scope as part of the toner automation service.”

However, while being technologically advanced is important, simplicity is also valued, says Anna. “A solution that is easy to install and can discover devices effortlessly will save teams endless amounts of time. Choosing a system that can capture big data in the background will also allow management teams to gather meaningful insights; over time, this can help inform smarter decision-making across the business.”

Data security is also important, she adds. “Organisations need to be sure that their customer data is always processed in a secure manner and protected from the risk of exposure. The only way to ensure that these key elements are accounted for is by choosing a provider that knows the industry inside out – one that has a wealth of experience.”

Using click-per-print systems can also be a more efficient solution for dealers and customers alike. “Dealers don’t have to issue as many transactional invoices or spend hours chasing for payment and consolidating their ledgers, while customers don’t have to spend hours manually approving each transactional toner order or process potentially hundreds of invoices per month,” Anna says.

BRINGING EFFICIENCY

Pietro Renda, chief marketing officer at MPS Monitor, agrees that efficiency in MPS is important – as is bringing clarity to what is often a costly, but poorly understood, business process. “One of the big reasons to choose MPS solutions is that they reduce costs,” he says. “An MPS provider can assess the entire range of printing resources and look for ways to consolidate and optimise printers, which saves money in the long run.

“An MPS solution takes the burden off the shoulders of IT, allowing the team to focus on its principal work. It can also minimise printer down time by replacing manual processes with automated ones that send alerts and notifications about supply needs and service issues - MPS providers also actively monitor and install updates to ensure devices are equipped with the latest security capabilities. To reduce their impact on the environment, many companies are looking for ways to become more sustainable and MPS helps to decrease environmental waste.”

Dealers should look for MPS that meet certain criteria, he advises. “The system needs to be modern, easy to use, cloud – and SaaS [software as a service] – based, and compliant with all the security standards such as ISO 27001 and AICPA SOC2, as well as GDPR. It should also allow integration with CRM and ERP and be capable of providing reports and statics – predefined or customisable – using embedded BI Analytics.”

SCALABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

For Mike Mulholland, head of services and solutions at Brother UK, the real value of MPS is how they offer customers scalability and flexibility. “Dealer-vendor partners can create packages to meet the unique requirements of each individual business to ensure they get meaningful value from their print estate,” he says. “Implementing effective MPS solutions calls for consultative, needs-based assessments, where suppliers get under the skin of customers’ IT requirements and uncover necessary productivity, security and costefficiency improvements.

“The shift to services is strategically important for the wider print IT sector. Partners can lock-in revenues by switching clients onto contracts, which offer them more long-term security over their cash flow when compared to transactional sales. Dealers can deepen their relationships with customers by placing a greater emphasis on consultative sales, while they maintain a dialogue with clients on how their MPS is meeting their changing requirements. Building stronger relationships with customers will yield opportunities to expand revenue streams in the future.”

Mike adds that vendors are introducing new solutions to help dealers meet shifting customer demand. For instance, some small businesses are looking for more flexible, non-committal subscription services, which make it easy to get set up with a new printer and access the benefits of MPS – such as device installation, supplies recycling and maintenance services – without having a credit agreement but, instead, an agreement that it can be cancelled at any time.