Itec helps Water Affairs Western Cape optimise its document output environment

The Department of Water Affairs in the Western Cape has streamlined its document output environment by bringing Itec Cape Town on board as its printing supplier and service provider.

Under terms of the contract, Itec provides printing services for about 200 people working for the department in the Western Cape, spread across three buildings in Cape Town and Worcester. The relationship between Itec and the department started five years ago, when the department was looking for a vendor that would help it manage its printing infrastructure more efficiently and cost-effectively.

Says Pieter Janse van Rensburg, Assistant Director of the Department of Water Affairs in the Western Cape: “When we started the search for a new printing vendor, we were interested not only in the quality of the hardware that it could provide, but also in the level of service delivery that it could offer. I'm not buying a product, but a business printing service.”

After reviewing the options available in the market, the department found that Itec was the printing partner best positioned to address its needs and awarded it a multi-year contract to take on responsibility for its printing needs in its Western Cape offices.

It currently has about 25 Itec printers at three offices, ranging from 28 page-per-minute (ppm) office printers through to high-end units capable of printing 65ppm. The department has also outfitted some of these printers with biometric devices that authenticate users, allowing it to track printer usage throughout its offices.

Itec was able to structure a cost-effective contract that helped the Department to drive down its printing costs, says Janse van Rensburg. At the same time, it offers high service levels, providing rapid turnaround times for support and repairs when one of the machines experiences a fault. This means that Itec isn't simply providing printer hardware to the department, but providing it with a reliable printing service that supports its business needs.

“At Itec, we have seen a major shift in the way that South African businesses and organisations make their printer purchasing decisions,” says Ken Addison, sales manager at Itec. “It's no longer enough to deliver hardware with the right specifications and brand - printer suppliers also need to show that they are able to deliver high service levels and help clients to better manager their printing costs.”

Itec has long positioned itself as a solution provider that works with clients to address their business needs in order to achieve these goals, he concludes.