Green Office Blog

As with most companies this year, Green Office is under immense pressure to drive cost reductions while generating sales to ensure that we are sustainable and will be around next year! Luckily for us, our purpose is to make business more efficient and sustainable, and that is exactly what we’ve been doing for our own business and are planning on doing this year and beyond.

Green Office has been in operation since 1997, starting out in a garage with only three people. We are now a fully fledged Managed Service Business focusing on driving efficiencies and sustainability initiatives to ensure that our clients don’t have physical, financial and operational waste.

Green Office will be focusing on delivering services within the following four towers:

1. Managed Print Services looking at all aspects of a print environment.
2. Digitalisation Consulting, Services & Technology
3. Cyber Security, focusing on identifying and managing vulnerabilities
4. Sustainability Consulting, through assessments and training, amongst other items.

The expectation to deliver on an effective and efficient print environment for customers is becoming more and more important, whether it is a big corporate business with almost 3 000 assets to keep track of, or a small church down the road relying on one device to do the job. No matter your business size, you will most likely need to invest in a reliable partner to manage your devices and office automation space.

By investing in a partnership, you trust that the prices and terms presented to you are market-related and that the solution offering is a bargain because that is what the sales representative has told you…. right?

All businesses use office printers, and few really know which printer to purchase that will cater to their requirements.

Not all printers print documents of the same quality, not all printers can perform the same jobs and have the same functions. Choosing the right printer is pretty much as complex a purchase as getting a computer, laptop or smartphone.

As with any kind of asset investment, it is worth it to take the time to consider whether buying or leasing a printer is the best option. This is no different when it comes to buying or leasing an office copier, scanner or other multi-function device. In both cases, you want to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both a lease or purchase agreement.

To help you make a more informed decision when it comes to gaining control of print costs, here is a comprehensive list of pros and cons related to both purchasing and leasing new digital Multi-function Printers (MFP's).

Purchasing a printer or copier may be one of the most daunting tasks one would need to carry out for the organisation.  Often, these big monstrous car-like contraptions all look the same, just with a different name and often with an alpha numerical that is more like a formula to an intergalactic mineral.  Be that as it may, purchasing a copier/printer is quite important and there are a few things to consider before leaping into the commitment of procuring it.  

We live in the age of technology, with that said, ask many companies what they spend on their print environment and you will be surprised by how few companies really know. To make matters worse, we have found that many companies do not know how many devices they have and the location of those devices.  This creates a major risk within the business as it leads to costs being unmanaged. Just to clear up any confusion, when I say “Print Environment”, I am referring to all printer and copiers that a company is making use of.

Businesses that have a printer or copier on contract on their premises will have to pay a CPC/CPP. Businesses pay these print costs without entirely understanding what they stand for and what the costs include, making it the “Scary Unknown” that has to be paid or else printing will come to a standstill.  In this blog I am going to give you the definition of CPC/CPP, explain how it is calculated and what should be included, so that you can make an educated decision when signing printer contracts and paying those print bills.

Like anything, print devices have a life span and depreciates over time.  The performance consequently gets worse as the device ages.  It is therefore important to address the situation promptly so that you are not relying on a machine that offers sub-optimal performance. 

Print devices are continuing to innovate themselves to keep up with the technological demands that organisations require.  Although the printer might not be that old, new features can be beneficial to increase efficiencies whilst reducing costs.

The print environment can often find itself in an inefficient state due to business processes that take too long to realise the required results.  Printing makes up a big part of any business operation and if a printer is down and users can’t print, IT must ensure quick resolution to keep downtime to a minimum.

An SLA (Service Level Agreement) for a print device is offered by a third party to your business at a rate that is determined by the running cost of the printer. You will pay a predetermined cost per page (CPP) which includes items/responsibilities for the upkeep of the device (replacement of additional parts and toners/cartridges).

When it comes to cost reductions in any business, budget cuts are the first task item that management enforces.  Printing makes up a big portion of any IT budget, so when a new printer/copier must be purchased, the pressure is on to find both quality and best price.

One of the best ways to do this is to first define the exact requirements and then compare pricing options based on the total cost per page (TCO). In most cases, this sounds easier said than done.

TOP TIP:  Requirements are determined by the business, not the users.