My previous Industry Insight highlighted the various benefits smaller companies can gain from outsourcing to a managed print service (MPS) provider. Now, I will discuss the importance of aligning the service provider with the company's output management goals.
With an outsourced MPS, the main business drivers should include reducing output costs, enhancing company/employee productivity, improving resource management or sustainability, and bettering performance reporting for increased control.
Balancing these goals, however, can be challenging, especially as most businesses lack the in-house expertise to assess and implement the change management required. Companies also may need help in ensuring that visible savings will be guaranteed and ongoing.
An up-front assessment of the current output situation is critical: if a company doesn't know what it's spending, it is impossible to understand where to identify savings. The first step is always to establish a baseline of output costs to allow accurate tracking of subsequent savings. Once the organisation has a true picture of output fleet total cost of ownership (TCO), it can begin optimising the fleet to deliver short- and long-term savings.
High value vs low price
In most cases, the best solution emphasises high-value service over traditional technology purchasing strategy based on lowest unit cost. The most successful of these solutions are generally the managed service contracts that deliver guaranteed cost savings and efficiencies.
Finding a service provider that can deliver on this contract, however, is not always easy.
Organisations must assess the credentials of potential service providers to make sure they truly understand the requirements and can deliver a complete offer, with proven best practices, access to specialist tools and expertise in managing the change process.
Most businesses lack the in-house expertise to assess and implement the change management required.
Rabin Ram is MD of the Xerox division at Bytes Document Solutions.
The service provider should also be able to manage ongoing operations to ensure sustainability of results and deliver future improvements. The chosen firm should offer continuous improvement and optimisation of the print environment once strategy implementation gets under way.
Potential service providers must demonstrate a proven ability to provide ongoing managed print services within a robust service level agreement (SLA), and these should include:
* An accurate and complete assessment of the organisation's current output environment, including complete and accurate fleet TCO.
* Design of an optimal environment that supports the organisation's goals and minimises new investment by leveraging existing multi-vendor assets.
* Delivery of regular, contractually guaranteed and highly visible savings.
* Enhanced end-user productivity through increasing device uptime, eliminating consumables management chores and introducing new, innovative capabilities.
* Centralised control over the output environment.
* Continual assessment and adjustments to the strategy to deliver ongoing improvements over time.
Contracting for guaranteed savings against true device TCO (all assets, processes and spend in the office) is a fundamentally different approach to the traditional process of buying assets at the lowest unit price.
When the objective is lowest unit price, a good request for proposal (RFP) simply pits one vendor against another. The organisation develops a list of preferred suppliers, sends out an RFP, and picks the best deal for that particular transaction.
The supplier rarely adds value beyond the sale, provides any expertise in long-term optimisation strategy, and the organisation gets no closer to its goal of management control.
The service provider should contract for guaranteed savings using as much existing equipment as possible. The provider should not count on the client to replace his entire device fleet; a complete technology refresh is not a cost-effective solution to the problem. The ability to support multi-vendor output environments on an ongoing basis is essential.
The contract must establish a current cost baseline, define clear end-state savings targets, and establish milestones that chart progress between the two.
Rethink - think ahead
To stay competitive in a challenging business environment, organisations must rethink their output management strategies. Lack of central management has turned many companies' output fleet operations into sprawling, seemingly uncontrolled environments. SMEs typically spend far more than they need to on output, even when budget-constrained.
Taking a focused and holistic view of the entire office output management infrastructure and appointing a strong internal champion provides opportunities to reduce costs, minimise compliance and security risks, and improve operational efficiencies throughout the office.
An SME's MPS provider should help the company achieve its output management goals.