A mere 16pc of Irish organisations know their true costs of printing, a new survey by managed services specialist Hibernia Evros Technology Group suggests.
“It is estimated that printing, consumables and document-related activities cost up to 3pc of a company’s revenues,” said John Courage, head of Managed Print Services, Hibernia Evros Technology Group.
“Companies are aware that printing can be a black hole, but this survey suggests that they have little idea of just how much they are spending.”
Besides the cost of consumables being a concern to companies, the main issues regarding print facilities are maintenance, wasted prints and the management of consumables, the survey also found, with 45pc of organisations surveyed considering managed print services (MPS) to cut costs.
What are managed print services?
In addition, the survey revealed confusion in the market about what exactly are MPS.
“We would define it as a fully proactive service that automatically manages and monitors all aspects of a company’s printing, including consumables,” said Courage.
Half of larger organisations (more than 250 employees) do not have a managed print service, Courage said, citing more of the survey’s findings. Only a third of companies with more than 50 output devices have a managed print services agreement in place.
“This is surprising, as it can be reasonably argued that these are the types of organisations with most to gain,” he said.
The survey finds that the main consideration in selecting a managed print services provider is trust in their delivery to execute, from installation to ongoing management.
“This implies that respondents recognise the savings to be made with MPS but also recognise the importance of printing to their organisation with a slight nervousness at handing responsibility to a third party,” Courage said.
Photo: Printing can cost up to 3pc of a company’s revenues, John Courage, head of Managed Print Services, Hibernia Evros Technology Group, has said
