Green Office Blog

Companies’ investment of R1.5 million on 4 Devices, could have potentially been R350k!

You really need to know and understand the rules of engagement of the Office Automation and Asset Financing World, as being aware of the details can possibly save you millions!

In our world and our interaction with clients, we have accepted that the printing and print related contracts, are placed at the bottom of the food chain.  As specialist in our field, we believe that C levels in businesses should be aware of what’s going on. This information is not always filtered through the correct channels of the organisation, to ensure that contracts and pricing are properly reviewed, before it is signed.

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?

It is imperative for businesses today to work in an optimal environment to increase efficiency. Office automation is one area in which a business can reduce costs and increase productivity significantly, provided you do your homework. Office Automation is critical for many businesses and because you are replacing many devices such as scanners, printers and multifunctional devices, the partner you choose becomes even more important.

According to Gartner, by 2020, 80% of IT infrastructure modernisation projects will fall short of cost saving targets because of an inability to simplify and address unnecessary complexity.

To be able to address this complexity, and meet cost savings targets in today’s competitive commercial landscape, businesses need to adapt to best practice. In IT Infrastructure, this means that it is crucial that I&O (Infrastructure and Operations) leaders have clear strategies in place for current and future business’ operations.

When it comes to sustainable solution based offerings to businesses, the in-vogue term used in the print industry is “Managed Print Services (MPS)”. This term has come to be loosely used and not quite defined, causing confusion not only among decision makers in the consumer market but also within the industry suppliers themselves.

So, what is Managed Print Services?  It is not uncommon to hear of a business saying that they have an MPS Strategy in place and yet when one delves a bit deeper into the actual service in place, there are gaps found in the solution.

Managing Vendor Relationships is often focussed on finding suppliers with the cheapest price for a product or service, however, it’s about much more than just that.  Vendor management is about ensuring that the agreement between the company and the supplier is mutually beneficial for both parties.

By ensuring that you manage vendors effectively, you ensure proper service delivery at the required rate and satisfaction to help achieve your business goals.

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).