Remote printing has always posed issues for businesses with multiple locations and satellite offices. Whether it is enforcing company-wide print standards or managing information security, the print aspect of expanding companies has always been a point of contention. Then 2020 changed the entire office landscape.

Facing widespread closures, most corporations scrambled to temporarily convert their operations to a remote-worker tolerant atmosphere. Many businesses were forced to put the issue of print management on the back burner. The idea was that closures would be short and temporary, minimizing any potential security risks as the world dealt with a global pandemic. Once everyone was back in the office, things would go back to business as usual.

The New Normal For Remote Printing

But now, after a year of working from home, many office workers are reluctant to come back to a central office. And businesses are beginning to realize the potential benefits of a hybrid structure with more work-from-home flexibility. These benefits include fewer real estate worries, happier employees, and higher productivity rates. But the positive outcomes of a hybrid workforce won’t keep IT and Finance from thinking about the vulnerabilities and costs of all of those remote offices still needing access to print services.

Concerns Over Remote Printing

Everyone knows the IT department has an iron hold on your computer. Most are learning they also control or have access to anything you do on the mobile device you use for business. This is, of course, all in the name of security. Data breaches of big names such as Experian and Target highlight the problem hackers have become. But well-known companies are not the only ones vulnerable or even targeted. Approximately 41% of small businesses have said they were hit by a data breach that cost them $50,000 or more to recover.

What you may not know is that 11% of security incidents are print-related. Over half (59%) of businesses have reported at least one print-related breach in the past year. As print industry professionals are aware, printers have become far more than simple dot-matrix ink dispensers. Laser and ink printers nowadays have small hard drives that store the documents they print.

When employees “send” something to the printer, the complete document is forwarded to the machine. Those documents are typically stored for an extended period of time, providing a lengthy history of every item that has been printed and complete access to the information contained.

Security Concerns

But an unsecured hard drive connected to the company’s network provides more than potential access to printed items. It can also create a backdoor entry into the business mainframe, which criminals can leverage to bypass firewalls and gain access to sensitive company information. With these risks so prevalent, is it any wonder that IT departments balk at an exponential number of new home offices potentially using unsecured consumer printers?

But IT isn’t the only one complaining about an influx of home office printing. Finance is likely to begin asking questions about in-office print requirements and the increase in home-office printer purchases. But perhaps the most crucial item is printer supply management. There will be concerns about company printers being used even more extensively for personal use, leading to increased paper, ink, or toner supply costs. And what about the delivery of supplies? Shipping costs on office supplies can add up quickly in a hybrid work environment.

Options For Better Hybrid Printing

IT will be the first to offer up a VPN network option for managing remote printing security. Most companies are already using VPN to allow remote work in general. Adding printers into the already existing mix seems like a no-brainer. But VPN connections for printers are often clunky to set up, and Windows printing still requires several ports to be open within the firewall. Then there is the common issue of missing print drivers on individual devices. IT will have to look forward to managing ongoing printing problems from remote employees that require them to remote in for driver updates and other configurations. And a VPN hardly resolves any issues Finance may have regarding supply, delivery, and print monitoring.

Is An MPS Partner The Right Option?

Partnering with a managed print service provider is a far better option to control both the financial and security concerns around hybrid workforce printing. Printer services can provide secure printer models with software and services configured to the needs of the business – including the home office, remote offices, and work-from-home locations.

Print service providers using managed print services platforms like PowerMPS can make corporate print management even more straightforward. These powerful tools help business partners manage their print document output and supply usage with advanced analytics that help monitor supply levels, pages printed, and more. The system also allows printer supplies to be ordered and shipped on an as-needed or subscription basis leveraging the discounts and low freight pricing managed print service suppliers enjoy.

Managing The Hybrid Workforce Print Reality

So, as the hybrid workforce comes to fast fruition, hackers are sure to pivot further toward exploiting remote workforce printer vulnerabilities. But smart businesses will be prepared by implementing secure and affordable printing solutions for their business by partnering with reputable and innovative managed print service providers.

find out how Power MPS works!

While eCommerce sales have slowly been rising for more than a decade, online sales saw a significant boost in 2020. Consumers and even businesses spent 44% more online than they did in 2019. And, despite widespread office closures, office supplies such as ink, toner, storage, and mailing and shipping materials suffered much less than projected, but it’s not what you might think!

Overall, office supplies recorded $12.6 billion in sales last year, down only 0.3% from 2019. However, the drop was recorded mainly for in-person office supply retailers as regulations closed down stores, and buyers were encouraged to avoid unnecessary excursions outside the home. The result was an influx of eCommerce sales for office supplies to help support not only a few individuals still frequenting the principal place of business but the additional home offices now required for companies to continue operation.

But it wasn’t just home and remote offices boosting online sales. A nation pushed into pseudo-homeschooling produced an unprecedented increase in demand for art, coloring, craft, and, of course, ink and toner supplies. The need for workplace materials was so great it was often referred to as one of the “new essentials” alongside toiletries and lumber. Office supply eCommerce saw gains of up to 35% year-over-year.

But the revenues were by no means doled out equally, so ink and toner dealers who have not invested in an online strategy have been impacted greatly.

“The Big Box” Competition

When Walmart first entered the retail market in 1962, Sam Walton’s dream was to change retail. The following decades saw the “big box” giant overtake communities throughout the United States. Their dominating strategy? Win on price. Cutting costs on goods by even a few cents across the board pulled customers away from local grocers and Mom-and-Pop that lacked the negotiating power of the more significant retailer. Building on this initiative, the company set the stage for providing a wide range of products from pharmacy, home, toys, and tires to even grocery.

But, while Walmart was a pioneer in the brick-and-mortar space, Amazon is the force majeure of online sales. From the humble beginnings of a standard suburban garage to a worldwide name, Jeff Bezos has built Amazon into the eCommerce equivalent of a “big box” retail store, except he did it online.

The Amazon Of Today

In 2021, Amazon has ranked as number one on the top 10 retail eCommerce companies yet again. Over the past year, they have amassed over 40% of total eCommerce sales, sitting at a whopping $367.19 billion. Despite its continued efforts to disrupt Amazon’s lead, even the brick-and-mortar giant Walmart trails far behind in the number two slot with a mere 7.1% of the eCommerce pie.

Perhaps not too surprising, given the website’s initial purpose as a purveyor of books and other media, Amazon still receives most of its sales through books, music, and video. However, the company’s strategy has been to gradually introduce new categories to its marketplace as it sees the opportunity. In addition to holding over 80% of all US eCommerce in their primary category, Amazon also accounts for over 50% of the US’s computer and consumer electronics online market.

Other recent additions to Amazon’s usual disruption strategy include the “prime wardrobe,” which allows consumers to “try before you buy,” and Amazon Pharmacy. But these recent forays should not overshadow continued efforts by the corporation to expand its hold in other areas. This effort is most notable for toys and hobbies, of which they currently hold 46% of total US sales and office supplies (45.6%).

How Ink And Toner Dealers Can Win In eCommerce

Brick-and-mortar stores had to learn how to compete and survive against Walmart for survival. To do so, they had to understand that competing on price alone would put them out of business. Instead, they had to differentiate themselves and help their customers understand what made them a better choice than the “big box” retailer – and worth the price. Ink and toner dealers have been dealing with this impact for some time.

Today restaurants, grocery, clothing, and home goods stores find what they have that Walmart lacks and flaunt it to gain success. Many stores have found success by cultivating a political or religious ideology. Others focus on customer service, guarantees, or dedication to the environment. Where is the niche for Ink and toner dealers in this realm?

Walmart and Amazon Killing Price Play for Dealers

Amazon might dominate the eCommerce space, but there is still plenty of pie to go around. This is especially true for office supplies, where global demand is expected to rise by $38.6 billion over the next six years. Computer, copier, and printer supplies alone are projected to capture a market share of 29.9% in the US. The trick to grabbing a slice of that printer and ink space is the same as when retail was fighting brick-and-mortar behemoths – find a way to take advantage of their weaknesses.

For ink and toner dealers it has to be going outside of supplies alone and offering value-based services and combining it with business and e-commerce automation, resulting in deeper solutions for your customers.

Solutions Are Available

Using an all-in-one mps platform that combines eCommerce, managed print services tools, and business automation like those included in PowerMPS, can help you leverage those benefits when it matters most – while eCommerce is still beginning to take hold of the copier, printer, and ink office supply space. While Amazon works hard to expand categories and gouge prices, eCommerce solutions like PowerMPS that combine everything needed to offer deep value, helps print and ink specialists create customized interactive tools for current and future clients. With this system, customers can monitor their ink levels; receive tailored notifications; easily create and modify subscriptions; and request service, maintenance, or troubleshooting for printer and IT needs, and incorporate automation solutions that make it more effective.

The Office Supply Marketing Outlook

Market outlook for the US and global office supply market space has not only survived a pandemic; the market is set to grow significantly as companies continue to re-invent the central/remote/home office dynamic. But this new take on office functionality will likely only speed up the move toward greater eCommerce reliance. Astute ink, toner, and print companies aren’t looking to join the race to the bottom bid. Instead, they are making plans to take advantage of tools that will help them differentiate their business, provide more convenience, and allow them to grow beyond the walls of their physical location and spread their wings wide into the eCommerce space.

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When the pandemic hit in 2020, global governments implemented extreme lockdowns. As a result, businesses that weren’t considered “essential” were forced to find new ways to do business. And a large part of that was moving employees to remote workspaces wherever possible.

Both businesses and employees reaped the rewards from this maneuver. Perhaps the most important benefit was that companies were able to stay open despite mandates. As such, employees were able to ditch their daily commutes, spend more time with their families, and generally avoid exposure to COVID, flu, and other common illnesses found around schools and offices.

But now that COVID-19 is not a big concern, some employers are starting to change their tune about remote work. Unfortunately, hybrid and remote jobs have dominated listings for the past two years,. Employees have begun to accept that the new workplace norm includes allowing employees more flexibility over time and place of employment.

The contrast between what business leaders want and employee expectations are increasingly stark. For example, recent polls show around 50% of company leaders want their staff back in the office full-time. Yet over 52% of workers have plans to switch to hybrid or fully remote positions. Even more, telling is the number of employees that would actively choose to be in an office forty hours per week – 12%.

But, as the job market continues to favor the worker (at an average of 1.7 positions open for every person looking), employers may want to step back on their demands for in-person appearances at the office. Fortunately, the right printing programs can help any office be a more flexible workspace – providing better options to attract and retain employees, no matter the office format.

Why Aren’t More People Willing To Work On-Site?

The ratio of occupied space to the total available space is known as an occupancy rate. Compared to the pre-pandemic era, office occupancy in the top 10 metros is now over 50%. Yet, many US businesses, including Vanguard, Paycom, Amazon, Salesforce, and Google, are pushing employees to return to the office at least three days a week. Some have begun taking attendance and threatening to fire for those who don’t comply.

But most (75%) of US businesses are still using hybrid work models or are planning to move to that model soon. So despite the end of the government pandemic response and the proliferation of vaccines, experts don’t anticipate office occupancy to get much higher than it is right now.

But why are workers seeming more inclined to the hybrid office than a full return? COVID had a lot to do with that.

During lockdowns and in the years after, when hybrid and remote work continued to be the norm, many workers took the opportunity to move – seeking out locations that had more affordable living and better education or communities for their families. But even those that stuck closer to the office saw added benefits such as:

• More freedom to choose a working model that fits their needs to increase productivity.
• Better work-life balance as employees and their families feel they are home and more and more attuned to what is happening there.
• Spending less on childcare such as before and after school programs.
• Reducing or eliminating the daily commute lets employees spend less on fuel, vehicle maintenance, or public transportation fees. In many municipalities, it also saves a notable amount of time.

It is hardly surprising to discover that most employees don’t want to go back to the office. A Gallup survey in August of last year found that 34% of respondents chose to work remotely full-time, while 60% preferred a hybrid setup Only 6% of respondents indicated they would like to work in the office full-time.

Meeting the Needs of Business and Workers

Acknowledging this new trend toward remote and hybrid work, over half of US jobs that can be performed remotely were officially hybrid as of November 2022. And they are reaping the rewards.

Recent research has shown working from home boosts productivity by thirteen percent. This performance improvement came from more calls being made per minute due to a more comfortable and quiet working environment and by working longer shifts with fewer sick days and breaks.

But what does that mean for printing, something many businesses have struggled to modify to fit the remote workforce? First, printing is a crucial activity for workers, no matter where they are.

Businesses looking to provide real flexibility for their employees can look at leveraging the power of Managed Print Services (MPS) partners. These businesses can provide a wide range of options that fit fully remote, hybrid, and in-person offices.

Even workers with print-heavy jobs have found the flexibility MPS provides an easy way to maintain productivity no matter their office set-up. Mobile printing setuptivity, small-footprint printers, multi-address supply delivery, and service to any location make office printing easy for any office format.

Keep Workers Happy With Flexible Office Printing

Remote employment is here to stay. But, according to a recent survey of more than 1,100 US business executives, only a small fraction of CEOs consider moving workers to a physical office a priority in 2023.

Over ninety-five percent of job postings today are considered flexible, allowing the best candidates to work remotely, hybrid, or entirely on-site potentially. And employers see the option as necessary to tap into talent pools that would otherwise be out of reach.

Office printing partners are the best choice for business in this flexible office environment. These businesses have built options, technology, and service structures designed to fit a variety of office configurations and needs. In addition, most MPS partners include must-have features for any US company, including printer security, print tracking, ongoing remote print software updates, and robust reporting.

With most employees preferring more flexible work options, businesses need the technology and capabilities to accommodate remote, hybrid, and on-site workforces. Fortunately, thanks to managed print services, companies can provide their employees with adequate and reliable printing equipment and solutions.

Get on board with Power MPS

Let’s take the mystery or any confusion out of the meaning of managed print services, also known as “MPS”. The reality is that managed print services can extend to many boundaries, limited only by the solution provider’s ability to deliver a complete solution specific to managing and supporting the print environment of a company.

What Is Managed Print Services?

Managed print services is made up of providing a complete yet customized solution to solving the needs of a specific customer’s printer and copier fleet. This can be a comprehensive set of hardware, software, services, supplies, and consumables, with support and infrastructure management that enables better printer and copier utilization and lower costs. However, by simplifying what MPS is or what an MPS program looks like as a value offering and solution from YOU (the provider), life will be easier on your organization’s effort in rolling out and delivering an MPS program, as well as being able to communicate and educate the end-user on what exactly MPS means for them.

MPS Is Flexibility, Transparency, And Automation For The Printer Fleet

The most important aspect of MPS is the ability to monitor and manage the print environment with a print management software solution and data collection agent (printer dca). Delivering a managed print services solution requires at a minimum, an ALL-in-ONE software platform that will allow you to automate and streamline as much of your business processes as possible. Such as having the ability to track and report on devices and consumable data (i.e. page counts, print volumes & usage, track and monitor toner waste, track cartridge installation dates and cartridge utilization to prevent waste, track orders & shipments, etc.)

Keeping things simple, start small, and then GROW (depending on what your current offering and capabilities are today). First create YOUR own definition of what makes up YOUR MPS offering on a high level. For example, purposes, use the foundation of any MPS solution and know you must offer one or all of the following solutions, services, and/or toolsets to start:

• Data Collection Agent or printer dca Software (mandatory) – Print Device Monitoring
• Supply Fulfillment Program (Toner & Ink) – Automated supply fulfillment and order management processing
• Break-Fix Service & Maintenance – Printer service and repair program (JIT or SLA)
• Hardware Optimization – Print device sales, upgrades, etc.
• Toner Cartridge Recycling – Environmental sustainability program

Is the above an elementary breakdown of what encompasses Managed Print Services, of course it is. But that is my point. Keep it simple.

1. Define your purpose for offering MPS
2. Develop a Strategy to get there (start SMALL and then GROW)
3. Conduct a GAP analysis (including the type of solution you truly want to offer) and determine what capabilities you have today and what type of MPS solution you can currently offer (simple/basic or robust) and identify what the differences are.
4. Take an Inventory of your resources (that includes people, software, hardware, and capabilities), and determine what parts of an MPS Solution do you sell today and what skillsets do you currently have in-house to sell MPS.
5. Determine what else YOU need to close the GAP(s) and figure out how to get those things (utilize toolsets available on the marketplace that can streamline and automate processes, don’t try and re-invent the wheel, use relationships, partners, and other available resources, or acquire the things you need in order to reach the desired state of your MPS Solution Offering!
a. Determine the things you WANT to offer
b. Determine the things you CAN offer
c. Determine how to GET the things you CAN’T offer
The example of Providing the 5 service offerings as the core of what makes up an MPS program or MPS solution is key, (with the understanding that ALL of the above aspects of MPS do NOT have to be implemented at the same time in order to be considered an MPS program). Certainly, within each of the above service segments, there are a number of processes and procedures that take place which can and will turn the program from simple to robust, but that is the beauty of defining what your MPS offering consists of! Keep it simple. Start small and Grow. A most importantly, commit to learning and educating.

BASIC Components Of A Successful MPS Program

1- The MPS Educator/Director

First and foremost, there must be a committed MPS educator, director, or trainer at the dealer level, and there SHOULD be (in my opinion) a committed MPS educator, director, or trainer provided to the dealer at the distributor level. These point of contacts need to know all things MPS, including the vision, direction, toolsets, resources, with a goal of providing education top-to-bottom on the why and how managed print services is crucial and successful for all parties involved. Without these committed individuals, it’s going to be a challenge to garner MPS business from your clients.

2- The Printer DCA must be installed.

Without the deployment of the printer data collection agent (DCA) to monitor the end customers’ device fleet and print environment, there is zero visibility, transparency, or data to be able to offer the end customer with true MPS solution. Simply put, without an intelligent, flexible, brand-agnostic printer DCA, there is no start to offering an MPS program.

**NOTE – We will be outlining the detailed components for a successful MPS program in the coming weeks, so be sure to join our newsletter for details when it is live!

Detailing The Flexibility, Transparency, And Automation Of MPS

Flexibility in the general supply ordering and order fulfillment process:

• Providing automated toner and inkjet supplies fulfillment, which is only possible with the use of a printer DCA to monitor the device fleet and trigger consumable alerts and orders automatically at the right moment.

Flexibility in payment or billing options and structure:

• Providing the end-user with the ability for orders to be automated and purchased on a transactional basis. (The MPS DCA must be installed at the end-user location, an alert is triggered by MPS DCA, toner is shipped, end-user is charged or invoiced for the individual toner or ink consumable)

• Providing the end-user with the ability to be invoiced on a cost-per-page billing structure (DCA is monitoring print environment, page counters report is generated at the end of the billing cycle, end-user is invoiced for total pages printed during billing period x cost per page black & cost per page color) In addition to billing CPP, dealers also have the ability via the MPS DCA, to build in additional revenue-generating billing parameters, such as charging for scans, toner waste (utilization), page covered percentages, min/max page counts, additional flat fees, and more.

Transparency in what the print environment looks like:

• Dealer ability to monitor all print fleet-related data, including:

– device inventory
– page counts
– print volumes
– device make and models
– service and technical alerts
– cartridge utilization and consumable waste prevention
– fleet optimization and obsolescence avoidance
– actual page coverage
– consumables status and alerts
– preventative maintenance and downtime reporting
– consumable forecasting
– and more

• End-user visibility via a customer-facing data collection panel or dashboard to view

– the devices being monitored by the DCA
– fleet status
– page counters
– consumable alerts
– technical service events and alerts
– device uptime and downtime data
– TCO reporting
– and more

Automation for Print Fleet Management, Order Management

Including:

– Sales order & Purchase Order
– Supplies Fulfillment
– Technical Service & Support
– Device Analytics
– Billing
– Fleet Optimization
– and more

Providing transparent and flexible solutions to ordering consumables and automating the fulfillment process, along with monitoring the print fleet and environment so that both the end-user and dealer know EXACTLY what the print environment is costing (the end-user) and what opportunities reside within the environment to capture revenue (for the dealer), is the core value behind operating a true MPS solution. This is combined with the goal of securing and increasing the customer lifetime value (CLV).

The end-user and the dealer (MPS provider) all get value in the form of transparency and strategic control (with visibility and access to print devices being picked up by the DCA), long-term recurring revenue in the form of contractual agreements for providing the aforementioned MPS services defined, and closes the loop for keeping competitors out by offering more value-added services where the end customer does not need to go anywhere for services you can provide.

MPS providers have been thrown many curve balls over the last decade. Covid-19 was just the latest in a string of circumstances and technological transformations facing MPS. These difficulties have disrupted the managed print services industry and they likely won’t be the last. Business automation requirements for vendors have steadily increased, requiring that MPS providers keep up with digital transformation and technology innovations. Industry leaders are being expected to meet the challenges with systems that serve the needs of their business clients who are pushing to transform how they do business.

More than ever before, businesses are changing how their operations and workforce utilize corporate offices. They are fragmenting their employees into hybrid workplace environments spread over multiple venues. Work at home, staggard in office shifts are being deployed along with numerous other variations that make up the new normal of the hybrid workplace. These changes have been coming for some time, however, they have been forcibly pressed into service by the Covid-19 pandemic over the last year.

Well before the pandemic, most large and mid-sized brands were on a mission to undergo digital transformation. But what is digital transformation?

Digital transformation is often described as the transformation of business to integrate technologies, processes and priorities that allow for an overall more efficient, competitive and effective operation. source fondalo.com In this article there are some incredible facts about digital transformation that MPS providers need to pay attention to. You must understand the effects of Covid-19 as well as the transformation of business and the hybrid workplace.

Digital Transformation Facts

– more than 80% of Fortune 500 companies that existed 20 years ago, either are no longer in business or are no longer on the list.

– many of the current fortune 500’s did not even exist as companies just 20 years ago.

– as many as 40% of today’s F500 companies on the S&P 500 will no longer exist in 10 years.

– entire industries along with major brands have died because they failed to digitally transform.

How Managed Print Services Providers Must Transform

Recently Quocirca released their Managed Print Services Market Landscape 2021 report. It is no longer a secret what is at the door for MPS. Let’s go through some of the findings of the executive summary from the Quocirca report.

MPS leaders are differentiating beyond traditional print services.

MPS leaders are offering broad service offerings across office and production print environments. They are also delivering on the digital transformation of business process automation. Offerings by MPS leaders that focus on security services and solutions portfolio along with distributed environments and cloud print services are standing out in the crowd.

Slow recovery of office print volumes.

• 77% of those brands who were surveyed indicated that paper is fairly or very important to their business, down 10% from 2019.
• Large companies are more print-dependent than smaller and European counterparts.
• HALF of the respondents reported a decrease in office print volumes since the start of the pandemic.
• As companies continue to reduce print-based processes, it is clear that a return to pre-pandemic print volumes is unlikely.

MPS spend growth is slowing.

• 53% of respondents expect to increase MPS spending in the coming year. This is a drop from 79% in 2019.
• The US remains the most positive about MPS spend, with 73% expecting it to increase, though that’s down from 84% in 2019.

MPS being used to support the new hybrid workplace.

• Outsourced MPS is showing to be the perfect fit for the future hybrid workplace.
• 56% of companies with fully outsourced MPS have provided printers for remote workers, compared with only 42% of those using a hybrid model.
• Provisioning printers for the home worker can combat shadow IT purchasing. This allows companies to control devices accessing their network and data.

On-line purchasing of home printers has filled MPS provider supply gaps.

• While 52% indicated that they used their MPS supplier to procure home printers, 44% indicated that these were purchased online.
• 10% purchased using a B2B online store such as Amazon Business.
• This highlights the changing nature of B2B purchasing. This is particularly through the pandemic where speed of purchase and delivery was critical to ensuring remote workers were set up quickly for home working.

Cloud adoption accelerates.

• As businesses adjust the physical space and infrastructure changes, as well as to adapt to a large number of remote users, cloud-based print management and advanced analytics can play a core role in print environment redesign and deployment.
• 75% of companies expect to see greater use of cloud print management by 2025.

MPS as a digital enabler.

• Companies continue to see MPS as a key component of their digital transformation efforts.
• 37% saying MPS is very important to digital transformation in their organization.
• Companies have accelerated digital transformation programs to lessen the impact of COVID-19.
• MPS providers should be capitalizing on the current climate by assisting brands with business automation processes and workflows and aiding remote collaboration and print management.

Read the executive summary here

What Does This Mean To MPS Providers?

In the current business climate, companies desperately need solutions that further their ability to adjust and manage the challenges of today. They’re facing obstacles with remote employees, fragmented corporate real estate consumption, and the hybrid workplace. Managed Print Services software solutions are the critical components that will enable MPS providers to help their customers digitally transform. Furthermore, it helps automate customer business processes and reduces their overall costs. Automation, end-to-end print fleet, and purchasing management along with actionable data are key to the success of the MPS industry moving forward.

Find out how PowerMPS can help you deliver what your managed print services customers need today and into the future.

Marching into the new year, companies might be looking for ways to shake things up. These changes might include reducing or increasing prices, improving productivity and efficiency, or hiring new employees.

As always, profit is the key consideration for every business. As such, one of the first moves companies often look to make in the new year is to eliminate factors that hinder profit. Simultaneously, they are also looking for newer, more efficient ways to improve their bottom line.

But businesses should be wary about considering eliminating office printing. Business printing has long been a core aspect of efficient office processes and 2023 looks to continue this trend. While businesses turn increasingly toward digital sharing and communications, ink and paper are still playing a crucial part in helping employees operate at their best. Office printing still provides important tools for sales and marketing, employee engagement, and efficient solutions for meetings, note-taking, and much more.

Here are just a few ways office print remains important in the coming year.

Printing Usage is Expected to Increase Rather Than Disappear

Moving closer to a fully digitalized society, experts and idealists continue to envision a paperless future. Yet, the printing industry and use of print is expected to increase rather than take that oft-predicted nose-dive. Recent research shows paper used for printing is likely to increase by 50% as the average worker continues to print 34 or more pages per day.

There is a wide range of documents many individuals still consider necessary to print for use, reference, or storage. Legal documentation, important financial statements, banking forms, presentations, and meeting notes are just a few of the things employees and customers continue to demand in printed formats. But why?

While digital signatures are becoming exceedingly common, people of all ages remain more comfortable with physical signatures than digital formats. Similarly, providing printed documents for meetings helps relieve stress as attendees have a clear guide to the meeting and a place to take relevant notes. Written notes are especially important as they help employees and customers analyze and retain the information discussed.

However, when it comes to the company’s bottom line, the massive amount of paper employees use could be an issue. Despite the importance of printed documents within the workspace, around thirty percent of pages printed by employees are thrown away. It seems clear that implementing stricter printing policies along with a wider range of digital document options could be the solution to cutting printing costs. But how much of that waste is employee-driven versus machine error?

Printing Costs Likely to Have a Bigger Impact on the Business’s Bottom Line

As inflation continues to maintain its stranglehold on the economy, the cost of printing supplies, equipment, parts, and service is likely to remain high. Research shows continuing economic pressures could force up to a 30% increase in printing costs.

Office printing costs traditionally take up the third slot for the largest business expense, right behind rent, payroll, and other business utilities. But improper print management and printer-related inefficiencies can increase printing expenses by up to 15%.

Rather than immediately sinking large sums into digital document solutions, businesses should look to proper print management to streamline their printing costs. In most cases, document waste, supply levels, and equipment issues are the root cause of overspending. Eliminating paper jams, employee education, and more efficient printer equipment can significantly reduce print waste and save the business big money.

Fortunately, there are print industry professionals who can help evaluate and recommend customized solutions for any office. Managed print services providers can streamline a business’s printing processes, provide more efficient print management, and significantly improve the print impact on a company’s bottom line.

Printer Service Partners Will Become a Key to Business Success

IT departments are not print industry experts, making the task of a thorough office printing audit and strategy difficult without bringing in outside resources. A focused printing professional can help evaluate office print waste and appropriate use by location and department. They are then able to make recommendations about equipment, strategy, printer features, and supply levels that will improve business efficiency while controlling spiraling costs.

The correct printing equipment for a business is especially important as the size, model, and efficiency directly affect costs associated with floor space usage, electricity/energy pull, as well as ink and paper volumes. Additionally, newer printing equipment is designed for efficiency, maximizing ink and toner use and reducing electricity to save even more on operational printer costs.

But equipment, supplies, and paper waste are not the only price of inefficient office printing. Old, outdated, or improperly serviced machines can also lead to an influx in maintenance and service calls to the IT department. Most businesses with interoffice managed printing report up to 50% of calls to the IT help desk revolve around printing issues. Most complaints require technical help for equipment problems, paper jams, flawed prints or copies, or software malfunctions.

In addition to providing better equipment and printer configurations, managed print services partners have the capacity and ability to absorb the maintenance, customer service, printer security, and other day-to-day operations of the office print platform. The savings in IT time, payroll, and help desk efforts alone can help refocus the department onto things that directly benefit the business’s bottom line.

Planning for the future

Office printing will remain a strong component of the business space in 2023, alongside ongoing digital transformation. However, rising printing costs will continue to impact many businesses – generating a significant need for new and improved printing strategies and management.

Fortunately, there are business printing solutions available to help companies continue to meet the printing needs of their employees and customers without taking too hard of a hit to their overall profits. Managed print services providers are ready and available to ensure that their business partners have safe, efficient, and cost-effective office printing solutions.

Data has always been essential to running a business, especially when it comes to the financial side of a company. Tracking materials usage and time spent on projects or tasks has always been a struggle for accounting departments. However, Big Data has made it much easier to set up programs and systems to assist in tracking items essential to fully developed financials.

The beginning of this type of tracking was embedded in the use of firewalls and servers. IT used these tools to block access to websites and services that were deemed unsafe or distracting. It also helped keep tabs on what and how employees were using their time and equipment.

Now, however, with an ever-growing remote-work environment, companies are moving beyond the standard in-house tracking. Instead, they are beginning to implement project management software like Monday. More intensive clock-in and clock-out tracking systems like Toggl are also a common alternative. However, businesses with significant security concerns and stringent compliance or regulatory requirements have begun to migrate to all-in-one screenshots, website usage, and time-tracking systems—programs like Time Doctor or Clockify. But, no matter the software or methods being used, businesses can now fully monitor and track the work and time of each of their internal and remote workers.

For finance departments, the introduction of these systems means easier tracking and categorizing of employee time. It helps them tabulate hours spent on individual projects and apply costs to specific areas throughout the business. However, despite more advanced tracking capabilities in the realm of the employee, there are back-office and overhead expenses that are still tough to trace, such as printing.

The Printing Expense Dilemma

Many may argue that printing costs are very easy to tabulate. But printing industry experts such as Managed Print Services providers know the actual costs of printing go far beyond the equipment and supplies. How much a company pays to purchase or lease a printer or spends on paper and toner are only the surface expenditures.

The truth is that, for every $1 spent on office printing, another $9 is paid to manage it. This expense is created by IT management, infrastructure, and support. While the Information Technology (IT) group may lump print in with the rest of their general office assistance and structure, analysis proves it takes up far more time and energy than anyone would like to believe. Most businesses report 40% of their help desk calls and tickets are print-related when thoroughly evaluated. And these ongoing print problems can require anything from basic assistance such as supply replenishment or jam assistance to a repair call.

But IT is not the only department affected by office print management. Equipment, toner, ink, and paper supplies all fall on the administrative and procurement departments. Ensuring these items are appropriately sourced in a timely manager often requires inventory regulation. Larger offices may even require regular reports on print dispense and ink levels. In some cases, this information may involve direct contact and inspection of the print equipment’s stored data.

Add to all of this the need to provision and upkeep on-site (and now remote and at-home) printing facilities; it does not seem unreasonable for print management to encompass such a staggering hidden cost. Yet nearly half (40%) of North American businesses cannot accurately track print and print management expenses. As a result, most companies spend a great deal more than they should to provide these services to their employees. A typical business spends up to 3% of its annual revenues on office print services.

Managed Print Services – Solution To Print Costs

Seeing such a cost analysis, finance departments might immediately attempt to steer their company toward a paperless environment. Indeed, many organizations have been working hard toward the vision of a completely digital office. But studies have shown paper is still an essential feature for employees and security. Fortunately, there are ways for businesses to provide finance with the data attributions they desire while significantly lowering the overall costs of business office print.

Managed print service (MPS) providers consolidate administration, printer helpdesk, and maintenance into one package. As a business that is wholly focused on providing printer services, equipment, and supplies, they can leverage their industry knowledge, experience, and volumes to help reduce wait times, resolve issues, and lower supply costs. Overall, MPS services can reduce overall printing costs by up to 30%. The cost-savings to print-related helpdesk tickets and calls alone range from 7-14%.

MPS providers using business process automation systems like PowerMPS offer even more data and cost savings. These platforms provide MPS customers with easily accessible data on print volumes by printer, location, and current supply levels. This information can be accessed from the comfort and safety of the home office – for even remote office and connected desktop printers.

MPS using PowerMPS systems can provide an in-depth look at supply usage for those finance departments demanding even more convenience and cost savings. And there are ample time savings with predictive supply ordering technology and online maintenance management.

Finance departments in businesses across North America might be at a disadvantage for tracking and understanding their actual office printing spend. But, just like there is a growing service and software space for proper employee time management and attribution, there are solutions for the enterprising finance team. When it comes to tracking and management for print, these companies should take a hard look at partnering with a reputable MPS provider – especially one galvanized by an authoritative tool such as PowerMPS.

Learn more about Power MPS here