Managed Print Services Assessment Tools

Created: April 23rd 2019 By: Keith McKerley

CIG-April 16-Blog

Incorporating managed print services into your client's business operations should not be a question of if it’s necessary, but rather of when they should do it. A properly designed and executed MPS program will provide their organization with more benefits than they can imagine, including reducing their printing costs by up to 30% and giving more time back to their business. This means that they will be able to streamline their operations and have much of their staff take on more business-related activities to enhance productivity.

However, before designing and implementing an MPS program, conducting a complete assessment of their document and printer fleet is essential. After all, to determine where you are going you must first understand where you are. Different MPS providers use a variety of assessment tools such as Print Audit 6, Axess Remote Monitoring Software, and Xerox’s Asset DB among many more. Each provider has their own custom software to give them a competitive advantage over their competitors. 

If you are a dealer and your clients are in printing pain, it's time you gave them a solution to proactively manage, maintain and supply their printing environments. At the Clover Services Group, we offer you  MPS tools to deploy to your clients. Axess offers you a fully integrated suite of services, software and support aimed at helping you implement a successful MPS program for your client and hence save them huge printing costs and inefficiencies.

Different MPS assessment tools are designed to gather data from your client's print devices to help them understand the full scope of their print environment. They speed up information collection by capturing print data from networked printers behind the scenes. As such, they are non-intrusive and perfect for monitoring and reporting printer usage data with little involvement by the IT department.

Managed Print Services Assessment Process

MPS assessment tools and software are excellent for capturing data on networked devices, but most likely not all your client's print devices are online. So, how is MPS assessment undertaken conclusively for both online and offline print devices?

The process starts with a Walk-Through

A physical walk-through is vital in helping MPS providers gain an understanding of your customers' fleet environments which cannot be attained using software assessment tools. A walk-through will provide a detailed visual perspective of where their devices are and whether they are conveniently located to ensure all employees have reasonable access to the gadgets required to accomplish their tasks effectively. The mapping tool will allow you to map the devices on the customers floor plan to help create a visual of their current environment and of course a future environment as well.

A walk-through is a critical step that shouldn’t be avoided. A simple observation such as boxes of toner piled in closets can be an indication of problems with supplies purchasing and management. It also gives you an insight into the exact type of devices in use around the organization. With this information, you can then assess and determine whether the gadgets need to be incorporated into the MPS program.

Assessment using software tools

After a physical walk-through, the next step is to use software assessment tools to collect digital data on all networked print devices. The tools will be installed into the client's system and run behind the scenes, capturing and reporting metrics to give them a better understanding of their entire print infrastructure. They will be able to realize their print volume, usage, and costs over time. Some of the information and insights they are likely to get include:

  • User reports – This will outline the user to device ratio
  • Volume and usage analysis – This will give them their print volume and subsequent usage
  • Print comparative analysis – This will compare the costs of running different devices
  • Environmental analysis – What impact does their printing have on the environment? 
  • Optimized environment – What would an optimized print environment for their business look like?

With a comprehensive and secure analysis of their print usage and costs, it becomes easy for you to make the customer realize their total cost of ownership. It also becomes simple for you to show them how a more efficient print environment would look like and how it would benefit their company.

A comprehensive MPS assessment process should entail:

  1.  Identification of over and underutilized printers throughout the organization
  2. Identification of users with the most significant print activity and their consequent user needs as well as habits
  3. Gaining a deep understanding of the physical print environment and assessing whether departments or users rely on any specific devices
  4. An insight on how to optimize the infrastructure layout
  5. Analysis of device usage, inefficient device location, nature of printing jobs variances, and overall workflow
  6. Checking the current procurement practices and analyzing how they can be aligned with future acquisition processes
  7. Assessing the evidence of costly expenditure and money waste resulting from excess material orders and preventable downtime

When you are choosing an MPS vendor as a dealer, make sure they have a useful MPS assessment tool and strategies that can support as many of your client's devices as possible. The tools should also be able to provide other services such as equipment diagnostics, automated meter collection, and security assurance among others.

With an MPS program, it will be possible for your client to make business decisions based on usage facts and data. They will be able to regulate the amount of printing in their company and streamline print infrastructure purchases hence control print costs. They will also enjoy efficient printing processes, material utilization and have the capability to make a positive impact on the environment. 

Click here to learn more on how the Axess Professional Services team can help implement your next MPS opportunity.

Author: Keith McKerley

Keith McKerley is a Senior Vice President of Sales for Clover Imaging Group, the market leader in providing independent resellers with premium replacement imaging supplies, best-in-class managed print services, and innovative recycling programs. McKerley is part of the team managing sales and business development in the Mid-Market segment.

Comments

Loading

Leave a Comment

Your Name is required field.
Comment is required field.
CLOVER’S NAME THE CHATBOT CONTEST
Close

Clover Imaging extended yield remanufactured printer cartridges are designed, engineered, and manufactured to offer superior quality and performance, while surpassing the OEM’s highest page yields. Extended yield cartridges guarantee higher yields and lower cost-per-page without sacrificing density or print quality. Clover Imaging’s extended yield remanufactured printer cartridges are highly sustainable and have been GreenCircle certified as closed-loop products that contain at least 86% recycled content. For businesses looking for high-quality, sustainable printing at an affordable price, the choice is clear.

Recycled Content Certified
Close
Recycled Content Certified

GreenCircle is an independent, third-party ecolabel that recognizes an organization’s commitment to reuse materials to support a circular economy and reduce their reliance on virgin materials. Clover Imaging Group remanufactured toner cartridges are GreenCircle-certified to contain 86% recycled content and inkjet cartridges are certified at 99%.

Low-Emissions Toner
Close
Low-Emissions Toner

Low-emission toners used by Clover Imaging Group have been pre-approved by Nordic Ecolabelling for use in Nordic Swan Ecolabel-certified remanufactured printer cartridges. These toners are specially formulated to ensure that applicable Nordic Swan Ecolabel requirements are met, including criteria placing strict limits on volatile organic compound emissions and prohibiting the presence of certain pollutants and other harmful substances.

Close

Sign Up For More Information

- SIGN UP TODAY! -
Close

Thanks For Signing Up!

Register now to start saving 40% over OEM pricing

2022 Aspire Sustainability Comparative LCA, commissioned by Clover Imaging Group.

Information
Close
Information
Close
Information
Close
Payment Information

To use the Clover Recycling Center, you must provide a credit card which may be charged on a monthly basis to offset program costs. Charges will vary depending on the contents of your return shipments.

View program terms and conditions

* Required Field
Notification
 
Close

 
Close

INFORMATION
Close

Press OK to switch region to Clover Imaging Group

Retrieve account data
Close
To retrieve your login data, enter your email:
 
Please wait...
Information

Thank you for your interest in Clover! Due to the robust functionality on our website, we can only support the most current web browsers. We recommend upgrading your browser to the latest version of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

Error retrieving data
Close
Thank you
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Video
Close
Web Tutorial
Close
Terms and Conditions
Close
Clover Video
Close
Warning
Close
Email
Close
To download this certificate, please provide your email address. You will receive the requested file within 10 minutes.
 
Collection and use of email address governed by our Privacy Policy
PROMOTION DETAILS
Close