An Overlooked Way to Save Money

Once an organisation has analysed its existing fleet, tools are available such as HP's Web JetAdmin and Lexmark's MarkVision, which enables IT managers to remotely configure, troubleshoot and administer devices.

This reduces downtime from undetected consumables depletion and job stoppages due to hardware failures. As a result, user productivity is improved and IT support requirements are reduced. 

HP first launched its Total Print Management (TPM) strategy in 2003, and has recently announced further plans to bolster this, estimating that the addressable market for managed print services is at least $40bn worldwide.

HP is not alone in recognising the profitability of offering managed print services.

Xerox Office Services is a managed print service offered through Xerox Global Services, IBM offers Output Managed Services as part of their Workplace on Demand services and Dell and Lexmark recently announced their plans to partner in managed print services for Boeing, a current Dell services customer.

There is no question there are real cost savings to be achieved from better managing print.

However, the challenge remains to convince organisations to invest, when many are still struggling to manage software licences, wireless services and address security issues, to name but a few.

Printing and imaging vendors need to educate organisations on the potential cost savings and productivity gains associated with managing their print environment.

Any IT investment should ultimately add value to an organisation - investing in a more efficient and productive print environment.