Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider

Transcription

1 Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider

2 A Managed Print Service or MPS, has become the primary vehicle that business has used to control its cost of print. This white paper is aimed at senior management and procurement teams of medium to large organisations, who are looking to manage their output more effectively. It identifies areas to consider when looking for a Managed Print Services provider. Clearly Define Your Requirements The typical business objectives of adopting a Managed Print Service can include; Reducing the overall cost of print Making users more efficient Consolidation of print into a single contract Making the cost of print transparent Reducing the environmental footprint Reducing the amount of paper used Automating paper based processes Providing a consistent service level for print Increase document security Control of current environment Achieving a single point of contact Accountability and control Insource/outsource CRD capabilities There are many MPS service providers on the market and many interpretations of what is actually a Managed Print Service. This document identifies some of the key considerations that an organisation should make when investing in a Managed Print Service and the areas of capability a provider could be asked to demonstrate as part of an evaluation exercise. Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 02

3 MPS Total Cost of Ownership When choosing an MPS provider it is important that there are a set of clear commercial guidelines in place. Commercial areas to consider when choosing an MPS provider include; Will the provider commit to a clear set of commercial principles designed to ensure the on-going value for money? Does the provider offer a number of billing options? Does the provider recommend purchase or lease of assets? If lease is there a recommended term? Are impressions counted at the device or via the server? How is the per impression charge made up? How does the provider accommodate changing needs on a per site basis? Can billing be broken down by site, location or department? How does the provider intend to drive down costs? How does the provider measure costs? Does the provider provide Continual Improvement? How does the provider incentive itself to reduce costs? Assessment and Planning The MPS provider should have a robust methodology for assessing the current print infrastructure and designing the future state. The provider should be able to meet the following requirements; Provide evidence of experience in this space Include in their solution a comprehensive assessment A methodology for determining optimal device placement A methodology for determining device sharing ratios Have in-depth project management experience in MPS Have a proven assessment model to work efficiently with the client organisation Have a robust risk management approach. Have a proven fact based toolset to perform the assessment Provide a recommendations report following the assessment The assessment should include the calculation of a business case and/or a robust baseline cost calculation against which provider performance can be contractually agreed. Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 03

4 Implementation and Transition The MPS provider will need to transform the existing infrastructure into a future Managed Print Service state. Typical areas to consider when evaluating a potential MPS provider are whether they; Conduct some form of due diligence prior to contract completion Include implementation and transition support and be able to explain their involvement Have a proven method for transition which should include change management for areas such as training, installation, and the removal of existing devices Evidence its capabilities for training, installation, removal and disposal of existing devices Establish a site by site transition plan Define its project management structure for both pre and post implementation Provide its project dependencies on the client Demonstrate its flexibility around working hours Have a quality system with regards to projects Provide evidence of the amount of project effort included Have appropriate governance in place for the project Have a communications plan in place Are prepared to identify those elements subcontracted and prove the effectiveness of a subcontractor model Service Management Consider carefully the provider s approach to supplying a proactive solution that can evolve over time. Typical areas to evaluate are; What is the provider s strategy to improve customer satisfaction over the course of the contract? How will the provider deliver continual improvements throughout the life of the contract? Does the provider have robust escalation processes? Does the provider s solution offer comprehensive monthly reports to include incidents by device? Does the provider offer key performance metrics to manage and measure performance against SLA? Does the provider supply a dedicated single point of accountability for the service? Does the provider s organisation have the capacity to deliver the total service? How will the provider control creepage of the service? What methods does the provider use for problem and change management? What service credits arrangement will the provider agree to? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 04

5 Support and Helpdesk An effective MPS should provide proactive monitoring and management of the output infrastructure. When choosing an MPS provider the following elements should be considered; Does the capability to proactively monitor and manage existing assets exist? What toolsets are to be used for device monitoring and management? Can the provider effectively manage issues or failures on managed devices and evidence this effectiveness? How does the provider proactively manage and record incidents and problems? Will the provider explain the dependencies on the client for their monitoring and management system? Does the provider s solution proactively notify users when a device is unavailable and then made available? Does the provider s monitoring and management system work within the constraints of the clients IT infrastructure and is any information transmitted outside the client s firewall secure? Can the provider supply an efficient helpdesk to helpdesk service model and do they have a proven methodology to enable this? Does the provider s solution reduce the workload of the client s helpdesk and reduce the overall number of device fault calls and associated downtime? How does the provider propose to track the movement of devices between sites? Maintenance of Devices When choosing an MPS provider it is essential that it has the capability to provide the necessary maintenance services. Any provider should have; An effective field service organisation to provide field based support to cover your organisation s geography The ability to provide both on-site and field base services Field service staff that have proven technical credentials and experience Evidence and detail that any 3rd party dependencies are an effective model Evidence and detail that its logistics support model will be effective In addition, the following questions should be answered; Will the provider place spare parts and consumables on the client site? Does the provider supply proactive consumables management and can they provide evidence of how this works for the devices in the solution? Can the provider supply enhanced service levels? Does the provider expect the end user to replace spare parts under the service provision? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 05

6 Output Management Solution In order to provide the necessary controls on the cost of printing an effective Managed Print Service should now contain an output management solution. Important areas to consider for the output management solution are as follows; Does the solution control the flow of documents in a pull print environment? Does the solution require users to register to use the output management solution? Can users assign a delegate to collect their output in a pull print environment? Can the users delete print jobs which are no longer needed at the device? Does the device hold a job for missing resources, while printing other jobs in the queue? Can the user elect to release a print job from one device and have it actually printed at another nearby device? Can a print be released from anywhere within the managed service? Does the solution provide for pull printing at locations alternative to a user s normal office location? Does the solution provide a driver to support the required operating systems? Does the solution support for different infrastructures such as Citrix, whilst providing the same end user experience? Does the solution offer a universal driver to support multiple operating systems and device manufacturer types? Does the solution support mainframe printing? Does the solution work in a virtual desktop environment? Does the solution offer colour access control and how easy is it to use? Can the solution enforce print standards such as duplex printing and mono? Does any part of the solution require the use of 3rd party software or hardware? Will the solution accommodate an agile and mobile working environment? Does the solution enable Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) printing directly from an employee s personal device? How does the solution account for BYOD printing? Can users select jobs to be release via smart phone browser or native app? Does the solution allow for users with multiple identities, i.e. multiple accounts or multiple locations? Does the solution offer secure and auditable printing and scanning? Does the solution support users who have forgotten or mislaid their staff ID card or have a temporary card? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 06

7 Does the solution offer intelligent scan processes and workflows? Does the solution allow the user to change their finishing requirements at the device before releasing the job? Does the provider offer solution software support directly with its own technical resources? What is the provider s relationship with the developer of the solution? Does the solution support common user authentication methods such as LDAP? Does the solution have provision for users to select personal scanning workflows? Device Capabilities When choosing an MPS provider it is important to ensure that their devices have the flexibility and in-built capability to support an organisations evolving needs. Consideration should be given to the following device attributes; Do the devices work in a virtual desktop environment? Do the devices offer scan to file and scan to in a simple to use manner? Do the devices include fax cards? Do the devices integrate with fax server solutions with additional functionality and reporting? How many families of devices is the provider proposing in its solution are the key differences between the families from an end user perspective? Do the proposed devices have a common user interface? Do the devices proposed provide embedded capability for the output management system? Does the embedded capability within the device provide users with the ability to release individual jobs and see the cost of a job on the device before releasing it? Does the device offer intuitive self-help pictorial and text advice to remedy problems on the device? Does the solution offer a remote management capability for devices so the support helpdesk can remotely interact with the device and take over the LCD panel to enable real-time problem resolution? Do the devices provide capability for high resolution single pass double sided colour scanning? Do the devices provide OCR scanning at the device itself? When saving a document as PDF, can the device embed Adobe Reader Extension rights to the document? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 07

8 Workflow and Process Improvements It is very important that the MPS provider has the capability to provide process improvement throughout the life any agreement. Areas to consider when ensuring future proofing of the service are; Can the provider transform current processes in the context of scanning and printing avoidance? Does the provider offer a workflow solution to intelligently extract scanned information e.g. name & DOB from Passport? Does the provider have solutions for specialised applications in accounting? Can the provider offer workflow and routing solutions e.g. scan to location, SharePoint, application? Does the solution allow users to select from personal scanning workflows? Do you need to send to via SMTP or native MS Exchange protocols? Does the solution provide the ability to send a file in highly compressed PDF or PDF/A format? Does the solution provide the ability to send a file in editable format such as MS Word or MS Excel? Does the solution provide the ability to send a file to personal or shared network folder, or FTP site? Does the solution provide the ability to send a file to a document management system or a collaboration solution such MS SharePoint? Does the solution provide the ability to send a file to cloud based document storage system such as GoogleDocs? Does the provider offer solutions for specialised applications in accounting? Is there a requirement for a workflow solution to improve your print output from mainframes? Do you require the provider to help you create multi-channel marketing communications to your customers along with the ability to monitor the response and measure the effectiveness? Do you require the provider to offer greater control of your brand representation through the provision of a template driven ordering system for all corporate materials? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 08

9 Security Improved data security is essential with the adoption of a Managed Print Service, when selecting a provider the following areas should be considered; Does the solution provide secure print with proximity card authentication? Does the provider have a solution for data loss prevention both standalone and in relation to business process integration? Can jobs be automatically deleted after a set amount of time if they have not been manually released? Can the device receive encrypted jobs? Can devices be locked down for both physical and remote access? Is the faxing PSTN line segregated from the LAN connection? How does a HDD in a device store its contents and how is the data protected from unauthorised access? What type of encryption algorithms are used for HDD encryption? Are there mechanisms in place to protect the HDD from unauthorised access? Is data wiped from a HDD prior to a device leaving site? Is there an option for the client to retain and destroy a HDD in line with their current policies? Does the MPS design provide a secure audit trail from the user, device or group? Does the solution allow configuration of the device panel based on user rights? Is there a requirement to check print, scan, copy or fax documents for restricted keywords? Is there a requirement to check print, scan, copy or fax documents for document structure? Is there a requirement to prevent users printing when restricted keywords or structure identified? Is there a requirement to prevent users scanning when restricted keywords or structure identified? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 09

10 Centralised Print Requirements To support and control the management of printing costs, an effective Managed Print service should provide you with the ability to direct larger, more complex print jobs to a central print facility. Important areas to consider include; Does the proposed output management solution supply users with simple job ticketing? Does the solution allow users to see a preview prior to submitting their job? Do you require the users to receive a quote prior to job submission? Is there a requirement for users to upload multiple jobs? Is there a requirement to convert jobs to PDF? Do you require the facility to upload native files to the central print room? Are you looking to provide a catalogue for regularly requested documents or products? Does the solution provide the ability to incorporate variable data templates so that end users can upload structured data to create variable data documents? Does the solution support the ordering of non-print items? Do you require an authorisation process within the job submission tool? Do you require the ability to upload files from on-line file sharing locations? Does the solution provide users with status updates at different stages of the job? Is there a requirement for the job ticket to include additional finishing options or services that are offered by the central printing facility? Does the solution allow you to apply cost profiles against all jobs submitted e.g. cost for design, print, finishing and delivery options? Do you require an option for credit card payment? Can the solution be configured to incorporate corporate branding? Can the solution offer different products and options to end users dependant on rights assigned to the user group? Does the solution support workflow automation in the central print facility? Will the solution provide print room operators with the ability to carry out production readiness tasks on the print jobs prior to printing? Does the solution provide detailed reports, for example by job, customer, cost code, product or job type? Does the solution allow you to keep an archive of the final proofed PDF s created through the workflow? Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 10

11 Environmental and Social Responsibilities When choosing an MPS provider it is important that it acts in class leading manner. The suggested environmental, ethical and social considerations, areas to consider are as follows; Does the provider hold ISO certification and what parts of their organisation are accredited to this standard? What environmental standards does the provider s equipment meet? Does the provider have an Environmental Management System? How does the provider ensure appropriate standards are maintained for their organisation and supply chain with regards to legal, ethical and social issues. The provider should have an effective re-cycling policy for recovering waste and the management of products at their end of life to minimise waste to landfill. Does the provider demonstrate compliance with its WEEE and RoHS obligations? Does the provider offer a consumables re-cycling scheme? Does the provider support a reduction in packaging and can they demonstrate this? Does the provider have a product management policy to encourage re-use instead of recycling? How energy efficient are the provider s products and solutions? Do the provider s products/solutions reduce waste? Does the provider have a programme of closed loop recycling for its products? Does the provider have a green procurement policy? How does the provider reduce emissions from transport? How does the provider engage on Corporate Social Responsibility? Does the provider support you by engaging in Corporate Social Responsibilities initiatives and activities? Billing and Invoicing The MPS provider should be aiming to make the cost of print transparent and should have a billing model to support the clients need for accounting of costs Does the provider supply multiple billing options? How does the solution fairly attribute costs to the business units/cost centres? Can the provider issue electronic billing? Conclusion We hope you have found this MPS buyers guide useful and wish you great success with your realisation of the benefits a Managed Print Service will deliver to your organisation. Choosing a Managed Print Service Provider I 11

12 Watch our video here to see how you can start the process towards business transformation English Edition Canon Europa N.V., 2016 Canon U.K. Ltd Woodhatch Reigate Surrey RH2 8BF Telephone +44 (0) Website