When you go to your printer, do you know if the software is current and up to date? Can you be certain that cybercriminals have not hacked your printer? Most importantly, do you know if you’re getting the best value for your paper, toner and printing supplies?
If you can’t answer these questions confidently, you may not have control over your printers. Even if you have an in-house print manager, it’s not easy to have all the features and support you truly need. In fact, an in-house print manager (usually an entry level position on any IT staff) may be the least effective way to manage your printers.
Let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of employing in-house print management.
No matter how you decide to manage your printing needs, a professional touch is often needed to reach your full potential. Large companies can often afford to run everything in-house and enjoy fantastic print quality. For Fortune 500 organizations, professional print management may offer the highest quality for complicated or large volume printing tasks. Their expertise can include:
However, few businesses can afford to employ more than one person in this role. This individual may be able to offer technical support or design and color matching expertise, but rarely both. If you need access to the best supplies, most advanced printing technologies AND a skilled team that can handle any print job, you will need to make a significant investment.
We know that having access to experienced printer technicians can pay huge dividends in repair costs and lowered downtime. However, we have also seen that using an outsourced or hybrid approach allows you to respond to challenges and circumstances as quickly as with an in-house print management approach. In fact, having access to an outsourced team of skilled, well-trained print professionals can transform and revolutionize your print environment.
Print management companies can help you experience more uptime and fewer expensive breakdowns. With their expert staff, a production printing partner can recommend the best software and hardware to fit your operation style and your industry. As an outside source, they are not tied to any one approach and can help you with a wide variety of technologies.
And with dedicated staff immersed in the evolution of the print industry, a print management company can help keep you in compliance with any regulatory requirements. An outside print management partner can more quickly deploy cutting edge technology as you need it. This can include:
Keeping print management in-house might seem like a safe solution, but if printing is not your core business, it only puts enormous pressure on your staff. In fact, an in-house print management approach might limit your capabilities and slow the growth and evolution of your print capabilities.
Your IT team should spend their time on tasks outside of paper jams, breakdowns and troubleshooting printers. When you hand over printing to a print management company, you can eliminate this burden and channel their energies into tasks that will streamline other operations and increase profitability.
If you’re interested in a hybrid or outsourced approach to print management, talk to the print experts at GFC. We will start your free print assessment with one of our Production Print Business Analysts and design a cost-effective solution just for your business.
