Will the real MPS please stand up!

The more I look the more I am coming to the belief that the number of companies that actually understand what a real MPS is are very, very few.


From my own research I find a huge number of people talking about and offering to provide an MPS service but when you lift the lid what you find is still a simple 'pay for page' or ‘click charge’ offering with nothing else behind it but wrapped in some nice MPS marketing.

When are we going to get some sort of clear understanding that to provide an MPS you have to be able to fully understand not only the print side (hardware, supplies and service) but also the network side (drivers, operating systems, help desk support, desk side support at a network and local level) The document side (applications, document management, scan to archive, business document process, work flow), the user side (Accessibility, functionality, habits, wants, needs, wishes, emotions), The Finance side (reduced purchasing resources, full visibility of all services, audited cost savings, comprehensive SLA’s covering guaranteed cost savings with planned future reduction in print volumes and costs, planned annual device rightsizing over the contract period and simplified exit stratagy) and most important of all help, guidance and support to integrate the print (MFP) platforms into the clients business processes to increase efficiency and cost effectiveness of all paper or digital document workflow.

This requires the provider (and the client) to have a full understanding of where they are, where they want to be and how they intend to get there.

To use a well known saying, “An MPS engagement should be a long and profitable journey (for both parties) not just a final destination”.

The MPS objective strategy

A Managed Print Services strategy requires a clear definition of the objectives to be achieved from both parties.

The Organisation

One of the key steps in any MPS project is to identify the key stakeholders and information holders that need to be involved. Typically you will need to include IT, Purchasing, Legal, Finance, Facilities, Users groups and maybe HR but you need to make sure you are covering and including the following.

• Who owns the budgets for funding an MPS 
• Who will benefit from the savings of an MPS 
• Who will be involved in implementing an MPS 
• Who will be affected by the installation of an MPS 
• Who will be the Sponsor for the project. 

Most vendors view that the objective is simply to replace the existing devices on your network with their (newer) devices. That is not an MPS strategy. From your point of view, a managed print services strategy should include discussion of some or all of these points:


Identify your clients objectives

• How will the MPS provide improved access to information  
• Improve quality of customer-facing documents  
• Cost effectively incorporate color in business documents  
• limit unnecessary colour usage 
• Ensure Compliance, Regulatory, Security  
• Streamline document and business processes and increase user efficiency 
• Develop processes that are concurrent instead of linear  
• Right-size and right-purpose the output fleet  
• Control supply costs  
• Control supply inventory-provide just in time supply  
• Automate meter reporting of devices with audit trail 
• Contain provisions for proactive service to reduce or eliminate downtime  
• Manage the lifecycle of output devices  
• Provide for business changes (department downsizing or relocation, new projects, new feature requirements, device types not already in vendors portfolio) 
• Reduce or eliminate desktop printing  
• Provide cost effective print output based upon rules and permissions  
• Decrease waste/environmental impact  
• Develop an ongoing review schedule to measure, manage, and improve

10 questions to ask yourself if you’re thinking about a Managed print service.

Often when talking with customers about Managed Print Service offerings I am surprised how many of them have little or no information about their own real print infrastructure, its costs or its impact on business processes, other than what their vendors tell them after doing a quick audit. So before you start talking to your print and copier suppliers about a managed print service here are some questions you really need to ask yourself (and be able to answer truthfully).

1.How much do you really know about your print infrastructure?

• Just counting the pages or printers is nowhere near enough information to be able to even start evaluating MPS offerings. You need to know why they are there, who is using them and what for. Only then can you see what the impact from an MPS vendors offer and if the change will be good or bad.

2.How much do you know about your real print costs?

• Using the manufacturers ‘best guess’ average page coverage and cost to work out your print expenses just is not enough. Document types and styles are changing; the average web page and PDF document uses far more toner today due to graphics, fonts and colour. You need to know where all the costs are if you are to correctly calculate the real savings from an MPS offering. (A portion of them will be your printers, their supplies, paper, service, support, but also you need to include people and business processes.) How do you measure user time, helpdesk costs, server and workstation driver support?

3.How much do you know about how print affects your business documents and business processes?

• Which are really valuable to your business, which are just day to day and which are pure waste? Even today business documents are still the life blood of a company. Buying a MPS is the first step towards Document Automation and Management, how will you know if the MPS you are buying will help you or hinder you when you start to implement document management.