• 16
  Jul

Choosing the Right MPS Provider

As is the case with about every new product or service entry, the evolution of managed print services, or MPS, has been a work in progress. However, there are three aspects about MPS everyone can – and probably should – agree upon. Foremost, life is significantly easier for those managing offices who receive this vital service.

Secondly, once an organization decides to move forward to implement an MPS program, it must be tailored to meet their specific needs. The other element of paramount importance – certainly – is selecting the right vendor.

Whether implementing a mid-size or enterprise-level account, an MPS provider needs to have strong implementation processes and support infrastructures to be successful. The deliverables should be documented and agreed upon by both parties before the actual implementation, normally in the form of a Statement of Work (SOW). The SOW needs to clearly define each party’s roles and responsibilities, setting proper goals and expectations.

Part of making a customer value proposition is recognizing what one is capable of offering. When it comes to supplies management, many customers believe the process is uncontrollable from both an administrative and cost standpoint. The value that an MPS provider brings to a customer is simplicity and cost certainty.

Billing encapsulates all the services provided to an account. Since MPS is such a fluid engagement, there is an inherent risk for a vendor to not understand their true profitability. Cost control drivers such as an entitlement list, auto toner replenishment and advance inspection help control cost.  To maintain and understand true profitability, it is important for the vendor to establish a reconciliation process or system to consistently monitor billing accuracy.

• 20
  Jun

Secure Your Files In The Cloud

Mobile devices and the use of cloud collaboration services are growing rapidly. This is true for sharing information between business partners, customers and even internal users. It’s very easy to drag files on your PC into a folder and access them from a smartphone, tablet or another computer. It’s also easy to sync information between multiple devices quickly.

Using cloud-based collaboration tools like Dropbox or Google Drive makes it easy to share documents with anyone, but can be risky if you put confidential information into them. It’s great to pull up a customer contract on your iPad, but if you accidentally share it with the wrong person, you could have legal and financial troubles.

Many organizations are locking down access to mobile devices, but this doesn’t protect the information on them if someone syncs files to the cloud. Local encryption is important, but when the file moves to the cloud, you lose control of it. A colleague or customer could send that file anywhere. It’s like locking your front door, but giving your neighbor a key.

You need to focus on protecting the files themselves. By applying a persistent security policy to your files, you maintain control of them. You decide who can view, edit or print your files. It doesn’t matter where they are. You have the same control whether the files are on your laptop, mobile device or in the cloud. If you want to remove access to them, you can do it with a few clicks.

Sharing documents through cloud services is convenient. Before you copy a file to the cloud, lock it down. It’s the best cloud security there is.

• 14
  May

Printing Money: Cutting Costs in Your Print Environment

Even in a booming economy, businesses small and large are constantly looking for ways to tighten their financial belts. An often untapped area for savings is the print environment, and in the modern office, that can add up to a significant amount of money. Here are some ways your company can spend less money on ink, toner, and paper.

Print less – With a little effort, you can easily cut down on unnecessary printing. Before printing, take a moment to decide whether or not it actually NEEDS to be printed. Be conscientious about what you print, and encourage your employees to do the same. Distribute documents for review digitally rather than printing out hard copies.

Get the most out of your paper – Besides reducing the amount of printing in your office, another smart way to use less paper is by utilizing both sides of the paper you do use. Duplex printing enables you to print on half the amount paper!

Print only what you need – Printing from a website can produce an awful lot of waste, such as graphics, banner ads, footers, etc. Freeware such as PrintWhatYouLike enables to you to print only what you need from a URL, and preventing ink and paper from being wasted on content and images that you don’t.

Utilize your settings – Using ‘economy’ or ‘draft’ as the default setting for your printer will reduce the amount of ink used, and can be overridden whenever you need to print something in high-quality. Color ink is more expensive than black ink, so print in black and white or grayscale whenever possible. And many programs offer a ‘shrink to fit’ option that will print what you need on less paper.

Choose the right font – Use lighter, ink-saving fonts that require less ink, such as Century Gothic instead of Arial or Times New Roman, or even invest in an “ecofont,” which significantly cuts down ink usage. And reducing the font size of your documents will also reduce the amount of ink you use.

Proof your work – Before printing a document you are working on, perform a spelling and grammar check, and review it for errors. This can save both ink and paper by reducing the amount of times you print materials.

Cutting down on the amount of ink, toner, and paper your business uses will lead to cost savings, and might just make it seem like you are printing money!

• 19
  Apr

Insurance That Prevents Data Loss

Most of us have insurance for our homes, cars and life. Businesses have insurance against errors and omissions, general liability, malpractice, loss of business, and a hundred other things. We all have insurance against losing what is most valuable.

In our businesses, we store customer data, financial information, product designs, software code, strategic plans, contracts, budgets, employee salaries and a host of other critical information. Do you have an insurance policy that covers losing all that information?

Most businesses have backups of their critical data. That protects you if you have a hardware failure or if someone accidentally (or deliberately) deletes your information. How about if someone walks off with your information? It could be an employee who takes a document out of your organization on a USB flash drive. It could be a hacker that steals your intellectual property from an unprotected server. Or maybe someone takes a laptop that contains a lot of sensitive information from an employee’s car.

You need the type of insurance that stops the problem before it happens. The best insurance is to encrypt confidential data and files with a persistent security policy when you create them. By doing this you control who accesses the files and what they can do with them. By always controlling access, you don’t have to worry where the file is. If someone stores it in the cloud, on a mobile device or on their desktop, it’s protected.

Just like locking your front door keeps out most people who want to steal something from your home, encrypting your files keeps most people from stealing your information. The cost to your brand, reputation and ultimately your business can be much higher than the cost of replacing your information. Just as home insurance can rebuild your house, it can’t replace your photos that were lost in the fire or flood.

With insurance you have to wait until someone steals your valuables. With information security you can prevent theft from happening. What’s the better deal?

• 19
  Apr

It’s Time For A Little Office Cleaning

Now that spring has officially arrived, it’s time to think about a little spring cleaning in the office. The average office is overloaded with outdated, money draining output devices that not only increase monthly costs, but also your company’s carbon footprint. You might also notice a lot of unwanted pages next to your printers. It’s time to take a look at your output and see how to make a few improvements.

Look around your office. Does everyone have a printer at their desk? Do some of them have dust because no one uses them? Are you running out to the store to buy toner or ink cartridges all the time? It’s time to analyze your work habits and devise a better strategy. You have to know where you are before you change course.

One possible change is to consolidate older, more expensive printers and replace them with a larger, less costly device. Rather than spending a lot of money on expensive ink and the power to run all those devices, you could use a more energy efficient model that saves money. Think of it like replacing your old gas guzzling car with a hybrid or electric car.

Another way to reduce cost is to think about your business processes and how you can eliminate some printing altogether. Ask your customers if they prefer getting an electronic bill or monthly statement. That could save you a lot of time, paper and ink. It will also save on postage. If you take electronic payment, you can save a lot of steps when your customers pay you, since you won’t have to manage a paper process. You will probably get paid faster too.

The days are getting longer and the birds are coming out. Open the windows and get a breath of fresh air into your office. Help yourself and the environment with a little output spring cleaning. You’ll be happy you did.

• 11
  Mar

Print Smarter with Managed Print Solutions

With many companies facing tough economic times these days, wasting money because of inefficiencies is just plain bad business. An often overlooked area that can easily be managed and transformed to yield huge savings is your print operation.

Recognized by industry experts as the last major unmanaged business expense, printing can cost your company up to three percent of your total revenue.

Managed Print Solutions (MPS) enable businesses of all sizes to realize reduced costs and control spending by improving the efficiency of your printing practices. Not to mention making your office a greener, more environmentally friendly workplace by decreasing the amount of energy, paper, and print supplies used.

How does MPS enable you to print smarter and improve the efficiency of your printing fleet?

• Cost Savings: A comprehensive audit of your business assesses your printing habits to identify inefficient devices and practices, which will lead to a bounty of savings. After switching to MPS, most companies save between 10 and 40 percent in printing costs.

• Improved Functionality: Wouldn’t it be great if you received proactive service alerts and functionality reports before your machines ever showed signs of disrepair? With MPS, this becomes a welcomed reality, so that your company can run smoothly at all times.

• Reduced Downtime: Constant monitoring of your machines and automatic ordering of consumables such as toner when needed prevents any down time due to shortages of supplies.

• Environmental Sustainability: Going green is easy with an MPS solution that reduces waste of consumables like paper, toner, and ink, and helps conserve energy by consolidating your printer fleet and implementing energy-saving measures.

MPS enables you to reduce the amount of printing your office does, as well as the associated costs and the time involved in managing your print fleet, while improving your productivity and the quality of your work.

• 22
  Feb

Choosing the Right MFP for Your Office

The multi-function printer, or MFP, has become an extremely valuable piece of equipment in the modern office. This versatile device eliminates the need for standalone printers, copiers, scanners, and fax machines, saving you space and money while benefiting the environment, as well.

Once you’ve decided to opt for an MFP (or replace your existing unit), the next step is to find the right machine for your organization. However, with so many choices out there, this decision can appear complicated — of all the machines available, which one is best-suited to handle your specific needs?

Selecting the right MFP is important to ensure that you end up with a machine that will meet your business needs, keep up with your workload, and prevent you from overspending on a unit. So how can you be sure to choose the right MFP for your office? Here are some things to consider:

Define Your Needs – Take the time to go over your requirements and determine what you’ll need from an MFP. What will you be using it for, and how often? Will you be working with black and white or color documents? Which is more important to you, the speed and quantity, or the quality of your prints and scans? Which features, bells, and whistles will be beneficial or necessary to your operation?

Evaluate Initial Investment vs. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) – Consider not only the initial cost of an MFP but the cost of supplies and maintenance over the lifetime of the unit. What may seem like a bargain up front can end up costing you much more over the long run. Also, consider asking your office equipment provider if leasing an MFP might be more cost effective, since sometimes lease agreements include regular service and some supplies.

Learn Your Specs – MFP specifications can seem like a foreign language (DPI, RAM, PPM, etc.). Get to know what these industry specs mean, and what they mean to you. An impressive DPI (dots-per-inch) won’t be a requirement for you if your office will only be scanning documents and forms.

Demand Compatibility – Determine which operating systems are used by your staff and select an MFP that will be compatible. And it is essential you choose a machine that will easily integrate into your existing network.

Seek Expert Advice – If you’re still not sure which MFP is right for your office, ask your local office equipment provider to help you make a good choice. They truly know it all when it comes to these machines, and can also support you with local, reliable service after your MFP is in place.

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• 22
  Feb

Get the Most Out of Your Inks and Toners

Let’s face it – the cost of constantly replacing ink and toner cartridges can have a significant impact on your bottom line. However, there are steps you can take to cut down on the number of print cartridges your office uses.

Print In Draft Mode: Unless you are printing the final version of a document for presentation, print in draft-mode. This will reduce the amount of ink used for a job.

Stay Away from Large and Bold Fonts: Using smaller fonts, like Arial and New Courier, and reducing the amount of bolded text can prevent you from wasting ink and printing too many pages.

Keep on Printing: Ignore “out of ink” warnings from your printer and just keep on printing. You’d be surprised by how much ink is still in there.

Find Your MPS Solution: With the right Managed Print Services (MPS) solution, your business will not only optimize its entire print fleet while lowering overall printing cost, but you’ll also save big on inks and toners when all of your output devices are properly managed and maintained.

• 22
  Feb

Paper vs. Digital Documents

What You Should Know about Document Imaging

By converting your hard-copy documents into electronic files, you can turn information on paper into valuable digital data. Document imaging utilizes scanners to convert paper documents into electronic, searchable files with the use of Optical Character Recognition (OCR). Once converted, your data can easily be indexed, identified, accessed, and managed electronically.

Digitizing documents will allow you to reduce the paper clutter in your office, as well as the amount of time previously spent prepping and handling those documents. You’ll also benefit from improved collaboration and decreased storage costs.

When you prioritize document imaging as a critical business process, you’ll quickly realize all of the benefits that come with this practical solution. Compared to paper documents, digital documents are also:

• Less expensive to store
• Less expensive to transport and distribute
• Easier to locate
• More search friendly