moOftentimes, organizations assume print management services are only worthwhile for large enterprises with extensive printer fleets. The thinking goes: “We’re a small business; we don’t have the complex printing needs of a Fortune 500 company. We can handle it ourselves.” While that might seem logical on the surface, the truth is that print management services, in some form, makes sense for any organization, regardless of size. The benefits scale, but they don’t disappear. Printing remains an essential function that impacts efficiency, security, and costs so let’s explore why print management services make sense for any business that has at least one print device.
The Universal Challenges of Printing
Regardless of whether you have one desktop printer in a small office or a mix of tens or hundreds of office copiers and smaller printers across multiple floors and/or locations, there are some printing challenges that are universal:
- Hidden Costs: Expenses related to your print devices’ supplies and service like toner, drums, maintenance, parts for repairs – these expenses add up quickly, and often go unnoticed until they become a problem. Small businesses, with tighter margins, feel these costs even more acutely.
- Wasted Time: Tasks like troubleshooting printer errors, waiting for print jobs, having to manually order supplies – these might seem like no big deal but they take up valuable time from employees, regardless of the size of your organization. For smaller teams, this lost productivity can be particularly damaging.
- Security Risks: Unsecured printers can be a gateway for data breaches and common printer security risks. Sensitive information left unattended on the printer or intercepted in transit poses a risk to any organization, no matter how small.
- Environmental Impact: Wasteful printing and energy consumption contribute to environmental damage. Even small offices can make a difference by implementing more sustainable printing practices throughout their organization.
Print Management Services Help Businesses of Any Size
When it comes to optimizing your print environment, the size of your organization does not matter. Let’s take a look at how print management services, also referred to as managed print services, tailored to the specific needs of an organization can address these universal printing challenges and contribute significant benefits.
Small Business Benefits
According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), organizations are defined as a small business based on their industry, revenue, or number of employees. Though this varies widely based on industry, typically a small business is defined by firm revenue ranging from $1 million to $40 million and by the number of employees being fewer than 500 to fewer than 1,500. Here’s how print management services can benefit small businesses:
- Cost Control: Even a single printer can be a drain on resources. Print management services can help small businesses track printing costs, identify areas of waste, and optimize and automate supply ordering. This can translate to significant savings over time.
- Simplified Management: For small teams without dedicated IT staff, managing printers can be a hassle. Print management services take this burden off employees by putting the responsibility onto the print management provider, allowing them to focus on their core responsibilities instead.
- Enhanced Security: Basic print management features, like secure print and user authentication, can help protect sensitive information, even in a small office setting.
- Sustainable Practices: Even small businesses can contribute to a greener planet by implementing simple print management strategies, like double-sided printing and reducing paper waste.
Medium-Sized Businesses Benefits
Medium-sized businesses or mid-market enterprises are obviously larger than small businesses and smaller than large enterprises. Generally, a medium-sized business is defined as having between 1,500 and 2,000 employees and annual revenue of over $40 million but less than $1 billion. Here’s some of the benefits print management services can bring to medium-sized businesses.
- Scalability: As businesses grow, their printing needs become more complex. Print management services can scale to accommodate this growth, ensuring efficient and cost-effective printing remains across the organization.
- Improved Workflow: Streamlined printing processes and easy-to-use devices can boost employee productivity, especially in medium-sized businesses where printing is often a critical part of daily operations.
- Centralized Management: Managing multiple print devices across different departments or locations presents a significant challenge. Print management services provide organizations with a knowledgeable provider and tools for seamless and centralized monitoring, management, and optimization the entire print environment.
- Data-Driven Insights: Print management services will be able to provide your organization with data and analytics on printing usage, which allows businesses to identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions about their print infrastructure.
Large Enterprise Benefits
So, what’s left? Large enterprises are relatively few in number when looking at the total number of businesses, but their size means that they produce the majority of total revenue. Larger organizations obviously benefit from the comprehensive management and optimization that print management services provide. However, what’s often overlooked is how these services can help standardize printing across different departments and locations, ensuring consistent quality and cost control throughout the entire entity.
- Enterprise-Level Security: Large organizations have more sensitive data to protect. Print management services offer advanced security features, like secure print release and data encryption, to safeguard confidential information.
- Compliance: Many industries have strict regulatory requirements regarding data security and privacy such as HIPAA regulations for Hospitals and Healthcare. Print management services help organizations meet these compliance standards.
- Cost Optimization: For large enterprises with high print volumes, even small inefficiencies can translate to significant costs. Print management services help optimize the entire print environment, from device placement to supply management, to minimize expenses.
- Global Management: For organizations with offices across the U.S. or even around the world, print management services provide centralized and streamlined management of organizational printing across all locations.
Print Management Services Can Service Everyone
From simple supplies replenishment and basic cost tracking to comprehensive cost per page contracts and sophisticated secure print and device security features, print management services can help any organization save money, improve productivity, enhance security, and promote sustainability.
When considering print management services, it’s time to stop assuming it’s just for the big guys. The question shouldn’t be “are we big enough?” but rather “can we benefit from print management services?” For almost all organizations, the answer is going to be “yes!” The key is finding a provider who can right-size their service to fit your specific needs and address your organizational challenges while delivering the benefits that matter most to your business. Ready to take the next step with print management services? Explore your options with Parmetech and see how print management services can work for you! Give us a call at (800) 727-6383, email us at info@parmetech.com, or submit our website form to get the conversation started.
