Category: Managed Print Services

Printers are one of the most overlooked devices when it comes to cybersecurity. While people know to secure their computers––protecting them with firewalls and anti-virus software––they will overlook one of the most connected devices in their office, their printer.

With the continuous advancements in technology, printers now have a vast array of features, including connectivity to the cloud and to your mobile devices. They have become the hub for many offices, keeping remote teams connected and ensuring productivity doesn’t dip. Since all these devices are connected to your printer, not securing it could have devastating effects on your company.

Securing your printer is a necessity that shouldn’t be forgotten about. Cybercriminals know that it’s the last place you’ll look––and so it’s the first place they’re going to try to break in through. 

The Dangers of Unsecured Printers

If a cybercriminal manages to get through your printer’s security (or lack thereof) then your company could be in big trouble! A team of experts at CyberNews devised an experiment to test just how lax people are with their printers’ security. As it turns out––extremely! They were able to hack almost 28,000 printers (CyberNews, 2020). But they could have targeted even more of those printers.

There were approximately 500,000 printers available to them as targets (CyberNews, 2020). Yet even after releasing this report and trying to encourage safer printing practices, companies didn’t seem to take it seriously enough.

Companies big and small are affected by cyberattacks, with cybercriminals able to sneak in through unchecked and unlocked printers. From there, they can crawl through to other devices––like a spider weaving its web. These attacks then become super costly for companies! A report released in 2022 by Statista said that 71% of companies around the world were affected by a ransomware attack (Statista, 2022).

With ransomware on the rise year-over-year since 2021 (Verizon, 2022), it’s time to start fighting back and securing all the possible routes for a cyberattack––including your printer!  

How to Best Secure Your Printer

There are several steps you can take to ensure your printer is as secure as possible.

1. We recommend first choosing a printer that comes with pre-installed security features: There are many options available on the market, but some stand out among the rest. Be sure to do your research and find the printer that will work best for your team that also comes with the latest in security features.

    

2. Update your printer as soon as firmware patches are released: It might be tempting to put off your printer’s updates but trust us when we say it’s best to get the update out of the way. Most patches come with fixes to possible security vulnerabilities. As soon as you see an update, it is best deal with this right away. If you really don’t have time for it in that moment, be sure to set up a reminder to check back and install it, or you can work with external MPS experts like SmartPrint to manage this for you.
3. Create a strong password: Printer passwords are often overlooked (or just not known about!) But they will offer your printer and all the devices connected to it that extra layer of protection. Try choosing a phrasal format password that includes both numbers and special characters in it.
4. Check with experts that you’re doing everything right: Whether it’s your IT team or external experts (such as our team!), be sure that you double-check with security experts. You might think that you’ve installed everything correctly and left nothing to chance, but all it takes is one small mistake to unleash a wave of catastrophe for your team. Experts will be able to go one step further and can ensure that your printer’s security features and device configurations have all been updated and properly locked down. 

Pairing these tips with other layers of added protection (such as follow-me printing) will keep your private data safe. Be sure to include printer security measures in your future briefings about cybersecurity and teach your team how to spot the subtle red flags that something could be wrong.

Want to learn more about how your team can update their printer security and outsource the firmware updates to your printer fleet? Reach out today to speak with our print experts. We can help you protect your data and teach you how to better secure your devices.

The incredible powers of AI continue to elevate workflows to new heights. Document classification engines are the latest in innovative technology
that serve to make tasks easier. This AI driven tech can automatically classify documents based on your organization’s existing data needs. It helps to eliminate the tedium of manually sorting through documents one by one and will free up more time for your team to work on engaging tasks.

So how does document classification work and what are the benefits to you and your team? 

What is Document Classification?

Document classification is when you assign documents into one or more specific categories. This can make it easier for your team to locate files later, by searching them based on their class tag or by using a filter system. Documents can be sorted into things such as pictures, invoices, saved emails, scans, videos, or other categories of text documents. They can be given specific tags, sorting them by project as well as document type.

Classifying your documents can make it easier for you to sort through information. If you need to access an important text document or review past invoices, having documents properly sorted and classified will make it faster for you and your team to find them. 

Document Classification Makes Collaboration Easier

Classifying your documents is more important than you might think!

One McKinsey report estimated that workers spend almost 20% of their time tracking down internal information (McKinsey). That’s time that could be used for role specific tasks or collaborative projects, which employees find to be more engaging on average. In fact, 58% of respondents during a Deloitte study cited being happiest when collaborating (Deloitte). Collaborative tasks can decrease turnover rates and increase your employees’ overall satisfaction.

Improving your document classification system can thus give back time to employees for collaborating and create a more welcoming work environment. So how can you improve your current document classification processes? In the past, it was all done manually. But with the help of AI technology, these tasks now take less time and can be done with minimal human intervention. 

How AI Document Classification Engine Helps Teams like Yours 

With AI, the process of classifying documents is simplified. Different applications will have their own ways of classifying documents. This can be done through image classification, where specific objects on scanned documents will be identified as being like others and grouped together. AI models can also be trained by first manually selecting and inputting instructions for specific document types. Then all your team has to do is to upload your documents and let the AI do the rest.

Creating an easy-to-use searchable record system can help your team reduce the time your team is spending looking for important information. The McKinsey study found that time spent searching could be decreased by as much as 35% (McKinsey). With new AI technology, that number is projected to get better and better!

Want to learn more about how AI can simplify document searching for your team? Our team is happy to answer all of your questions. Reach out today to start improving your workflows!

Managing your print fleet has never been easier with the latest in predictive managed print services. With new cloud print tools, your printer fleet can be monitored from everywhere at any time. If your MPS provider has advanced predictive service capabilities these tools allow your MPS provider the ability to take a proactive approach to managing your devices. Cloud-based MPS can now predict with better accuracy when your toner is running out or when your devices need service. Not only will this alleviate stress for your team, but it will also remove interruptions to your workflow. So how does predictive managed print work? 

How Predictive Managed Print Works

Using AI, Big Date and the cloud, predictive managed print tools will learn your print fleet’s history and that of other similar models. It will then calculate and predict when you’ll need new supplies, monitor your system for any possible errors or malfunctions tapping into sensors in the equipment, and your MPS partner can deal with the issue as soon as possible to repair or update a device prior to your users experiencing downtime. This will not only save your team time but also money! 

Saving Money with Predictive Managed Print

Without managed print, your team is left to guess when they should stock up on supplies. You run the risk of buying too much ink or toner for your print needs, which could cause both excessive waste, loss of money and dollars wrapped up in supplies inventory. Not only that, but your team could wait too long before placing their order. This would set you back on deadlines and completing important tasks. With predictive managed print, your team could be reducing costs by 30% – 50%, all while optimizing your printing practices to ensure better productivity.

Predictive managed print will:

• Efficiently alert your provider to any device errors
• Reduce costs for supplies
• Increase your team’s productivity
• Effectively manage your print supplies inventory or just in time shipments
• Eliminate print-related workplace interruptions

These cloud-based tools will enable predictive support for service and supplies increasing uptime to help your team work smarter and faster. 

Alleviate Stress for Your IT Team

IT teams are currently facing unprecedented levels of stress. These teams are having to stay up to date on all the security and functionalities of not only an entire office but now all the home networks attached to them as well. The last thing you’ll want to do is pull your IT team away from important security related tasks to manage a malfunctioning printer. Predictive managed print can keep this from happening!

If you have an MPS partner using predictive managed print tools they will help your team stay ahead of the game by using their alert systems to intervene before there is an issue whenever a device needs maintenance or supplies support. This proactive approach will keep your print flowing and your IT team free to focus on more pressing tasks.

SmartPrint uses predictive MPS tools and services to support our customers with all their print needs. Our team believes that approaching print from a predictive and proactive stance will help our clients see greater efficiency gains and lower costs. Reach out today to learn more about how managed print can benefit your team!

Sometimes what looks like savings can turn into a hassle. If you are running aftermarket supplies in your print devices, reach out to see how we can help to convert you to OEM. We typically find that we can help our clients make the change to OEM without impacting the total cost of ownership and the monthly operational cost to run the print environment. If you are currently running OEM supplies and are thinking about trying aftermarket supplies to try and save some money, there may be a better way to save! Reach out to talk to one of our MPS experts.

HP OEM supplies provide the confidence you can rely on for everyday printing. HP is committed to the environment by using recycled materials in new cartridges and offering a free recycling program from one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. Supplies also meet eco-label emission criteria to help maintain air quality. Trust is also provided from the packaging to the chips to use supplies that protect your printer and your data. Lastly, peace of mind is provided in knowing that you are using HP OEM supplies.

Creating a work strategy that will enable your hybrid team with printing, scanning, and workflows is now easier than ever before! There are several devices and software tools on the market that can ready your team to work more collaboratively, wherever they may be. The hybrid work model doesn’t mean eliminating your current work processes––rather, it means your team has the chance to review and reorganize together to meet the needs of everyone.

Did you know that paper-based processes are still just as important as ever? Almost 80% of people working from home say they’re printing the same or more (HP). This means that you’ll need to set up effective printing, scanning, and workflow processes that will keep your team connected. Combining both digital and paper-based work will give all members of your team the flexibility they need to work more productively. 

Mobile Printing and Scanning is Necessary for Hybrid Teams

Having a printer and scanner that can receive mobile print jobs and digital documents will increase the productivity and teamwork of everyone in your office. With more and more team members working remotely, it’s essential that your printer can receive mobile documents. You don’t want to be stuck waiting on a team member to bring a paper document into the office.

While having home office printers can keep your teammates on track and organized with their own day-to-day tasks, it shouldn’t be the only way documents are passed between your team. This can be a serious bottleneck for your company. Instead, choose devices that allow for cloud and mobile printing and scanning. This will make handing off documents between your team much easier and keep everyone working productively!

To better equip your workspaces with more secure, efficient, and productive print you should consider getting the support of a managed print service team. Not only will this help your team better perform their tasks, but it will also save your team money and give you detailed insights into the print needs of your hybrid team. 

Digitization Brings Hybrid Teams Together

Worried that information will get lost in the shuffle of papers? Consider automating business workflows and digitally transforming your business! One study found that 88% of organizations are already using cloud infrastructure in some form (HP). Connecting to the cloud can make the passing of documents between your hybrid team faster and more secure. Physical documents could get lost or forgotten between offices. But with scan-to-cloud apps on smartphones and advancements being made in workflow automation, digitization has become easier than ever.

Equipping your hybrid team with workflow automation will help to simplify tasks, decrease stress, and more effectively pass documents between remote work offices and your main office. Digital workflows and workflow automation take the more menial burdensome tasks off your team members’ plates and help them focus on more engaging and collaborative work.

Creating processes by which your team can better collaborate between offices is especially important! Employees will work 15% faster and work through more challenging tasks up to 64% longer when they’re collaborating (Deloitte). Digitizing and automating simpler workflows will make collaboration easier for your teams. Each of your team members will be able to access the necessary documents for a project wherever they are. All the while, workflow automation will be working in the background on more mundane tasks, freeing up your team’s time to work together. Now that’s working smarter!

Keep your hybrid team engaged in their work and collaborating by equipping them with the right print, scan, and workflow processes. Reach out today to let one of our experts optimize your business processes to better meet the needs of your hybrid team!

Sometimes what looks like savings can turn into a hassle. If you are running aftermarket supplies in your print devices, reach out to see how we can help to convert you to OEM. We typically find that we can help our clients make the change to OEM without impacting the total cost of ownership and the monthly operational cost to run the print environment. If you are currently running OEM supplies and are thinking about trying aftermarket supplies to try and save some money, there may be a better way to save! Reach out to talk to one of our MPS experts.

HP OEM supplies provide the confidence you can rely on for everyday printing. HP is committed to the environment by using recycled materials in new cartridges and offering a free recycling program from one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. Supplies also meet eco-label emission criteria to help maintain air quality. Trust is also provided from the packaging to the chips to use supplies that protect your printer and your data. Lastly, peace of mind is provided in knowing that you are using HP OEM supplies.

Having a managed print expert supporting your business can help you save money and decrease stress for your whole team. Your printer fleet is important for the completion of daily tasks. It’s often the central hub of an office, where all documents flow in and out. If not managed correctly, it can also be a drain on company resources. When team leaders sit down with managed print experts, they can clearly map out the exact costs of their printing. This will help you identify things such as cost-per-page and know who is printing what in your office.

Here’s why you should consider contacting a team of managed print experts!

More Accurately Break Down Your Costs-Per-Page

With printing, there can be many hidden costs that people are unaware of. There are several things to consider when calculating the costs associated with each print. Most importantly is calculating your cost-per-page. This can be done by dividing the cost of the printer cartridge against the page yield. If not done correctly, however, you could accidentally be costing your business an excessive amount of money.

On average, office workers print approximately 8,000 pages per year (Medium). Not knowing how much each one of those pages is costing you could cause over-estimation of supplies needs resulting in excess supplies inventory and waste. Managed print service experts will properly calculate the cost-per-page number for your office and manage your supplies inventory with just-in-time delivery by monitoring your print devices. Not only that, but they can also offer advice on how to reduce these costs altogether! 

Save Money with Managed Print

The cost-per-page calculations are just one of the factors to consider when it comes to your print costs. There are also things such as paper costs, maintenance costs, and the costs of the machines themselves.

Managed print experts can help you discover more about your print fleet and give tips on how to save money on printing expenses. By streamlining your internal processes and reducing excessive waste, energy consumption, and supplies costs, and recommending the correct print equipment for your organization, managed print can reduce your operating costs by 30% (Key Digital).

Knowing and reducing these costs will help alleviate stress for you and your team. And lower costs aren’t the only way that managed print can help decrease stress levels in the office. 

Decrease Stress Levels for Your Team and IT

Print-related concerns make up 23% of all help desk calls (Key Digital), and it’s often up to IT teams to resolve the issues. But IT teams have a ton on their plate and pulling them away from crucial tasks could mean risking the security of your important data. To avoid disaster, consider consulting with managed print experts instead. They can help you work through print concerns and even give tips on how to avoid them in the future.

There are also several ways that managed print experts can automate your processes, freeing up your team from time-consuming tasks. This can include maintenance and ordering of supplies. Instead of fussing around with the printer to troubleshoot a problem or worrying about low supply levels, your team can now focus on more engaging tasks.

Managed print experts have ample experience in reducing print costs and in offering printer advice to teams both big and small. They have the know-how to keep your print flowing and boost the overall productivity of your team.

Looking to speak with a managed print expert? Reach out today to connect with one of our trained managed print professionals. 

Sometimes what looks like savings can turn into a hassle. If you are running aftermarket supplies in your print devices, reach out to see how we can help to convert you to OEM. We typically find that we can help our clients make the change to OEM without impacting the total cost of ownership and the monthly operational cost to run the print environment. If you are currently running OEM supplies and are thinking about trying aftermarket supplies to try and save some money, there may be a better way to save! Reach out to talk to one of our MPS experts.

HP OEM supplies provide the confidence you can rely on for everyday printing. HP is committed to the environment by using recycled materials in new cartridges and offering a free recycling program from one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. Supplies also meet eco-label emission criteria to help maintain air quality. Trust is also provided from the packaging to the chips to use supplies that protect your printer and your data. Lastly, peace of mind is provided in knowing that you are using HP OEM supplies.

The decision to upgrade hardware isn’t always simple. As independent managed print services experts, SmartPrint’s goal is to keep good equipment running for an organization as long as possible, if it makes sense. In some cases, we manage print equipment that is more than a dozen years old. Beyond reducing your expenses, here are some of the reasons to stay current with print hardware.

Four indicators that it may be time to upgrade your printers

         1. Print security

We can’t emphasize the importance of ensuring that you have print security covered off. If your current equipment is not up to speed with the latest security capabilities of leading manufacturers, we recommend looking into upgrading your hardware. Here are some key things to look for to make sure your business is protected.

• Print device onboard print security software that can enable the device to protect itself from a cyber attack; for best practice around print security, mid-sized and large enterprise businesses should also implement server-based print security software
• User authentication at the device for print release to protect your data and ensure that confidential documents are not lying around the print device or in the recycling bin
• User authentication to access scan, copy and workflow functions to ensure the print device is physically locked down for security

         2. Intelligent workflow

With new print equipment from leading manufacturers, you can leverage your new print devices to increase efficiency across every department in the organization.

• Automate business processes by integrating print devices to simple yet very powerful workflow software that saves your employees valuable time
• Print from and scan to cloud applications and document management systems
• Enable users to preview and redact information from scans in real time on the print device screen

         3. Print device downtime

If you are experiencing printer downtime that is impacting your users, it’s likely time to look at upgrading the equipment or changing service providers if the equipment is fairly new. Leading print device manufacturers are building equipment that is modular and therefore requires fewer repair intervals and maintenance than the printers of the past. Managed Print Services experts can use software to monitor print equipment and predictively manage the hardware by repairing problems before the device goes down.

• Predictive print device management, a significant % of your print service calls should be completed remotely or completed pro-actively by the service company
• On-site service repair calls should take 10-20 minutes, on average, for a current device
• Your print service provider should be able to deliver a fleet uptime of 99% or higher

         4. Your equipment is underutilized

If your equipment is underutilized it’s likely time to have a print fleet assessment completed by a managed print services expert. If your equipment is outdated, is not feature-rich, or is not configured properly, your users may bypass the device close to them and use another department’s device.

• Average monthly volume varies widely across the fleet of devices and many are underutilized
• Footsteps are expensive, and completing an assessment to bring powerful devices close to the user groups will increase productivity
• Standardize equipment across the organization to increase user adoption and efficiency

If it’s time to make changes in your organization to increase the productivity of your team SmartPrint can provide a no-obligation, free high-level print fleet assessment. Reach out to learn more.

Without central control of your print fleet, security settings are extremely difficult to manage, and entry points for cybercrime are more easily overlooked. It becomes even more complex supporting work-from-home employees and integrating equipment to workflow automation systems.  Your IT team could be focused on configuration settings and authentication rather than working on other valuable IT projects or support. Encryption and authentication can be accomplished universally with an integrated automated security management tool. We’ve had great success with HP Security Manager, ask one of our experts to share best practices in this area.

When SmartPrint engages in an MPS assessment with a prospective client our team has a thorough approach to assess the current state and build a future state that incorporates best practices in several different areas. One of the areas that can make a significant impact but doesn’t always get enough attention is our recommendations for print infrastructure best practices. Many organizations want to tackle print infrastructure changes in future project phases, but we believe it is important to tackle them as part of a full MPS implementation, or MPS partner change. I’ve put together the top 4 print infrastructure changes that are easy to accomplish, but also provide improvements for your users and your IT support team. Keep in mind that each solution below can be managed for you and can be included as part of our SmartPrint 360 program.

    1. Eliminate your print servers 

This is a very simple transition that is frankly a no-brainer. You can easily migrate your existing printer objects to a cloud application that enables you to eliminate all print servers. You can centrally manage all print devices, settings and drivers, and deploy new print devices and updates to the whole organization without building scripts or using GPOs. The solution enables managed direct IP printing that is 100% local to your network so your users will have an always-up print environment, even if internet connectivity goes down.

Benefits

• Up to a 95% reduction in printer-related helpdesk calls
• User convenience with simple self-serve abilities
• Flexibility for mobile users with access to install printers themselves
• Eliminate the costs and time to manage and maintain print servers
• Secure your print environment with a Zero Trust compliant solution that will authenticate all users prior to printing

    2. Implement Print Security Software

First off, I’ll clarify that the print security software that we recommend is HP Security Manager. Clearly, this is a solution that you would implement if you have a fleet of HP print devices. Keep in mind that approximately 70 of mid-market and enterprise businesses in Canada use HP print devices in their businesses. As cyber-criminals increasingly target print infrastructures to gain access to networks, implementing print security software cannot be ignored. HP’s Wolf Security software enables you to lock down your print infrastructure by forcing and automating a security configuration across all of your HP print devices. If a new device is implemented, or an existing device goes offline and reboots, the devices look to the security software for their configuration. This ensures that your configuration policies are always in effect.

Benefits

• Automated policy management 
• Certificate management for compliance
• Fleet security reporting to show areas of risk
• Most move from 25% security compliance to 97% security compliance just by implementing the tool

    3. Implement simple scan to OneDrive software

Most organizations have their print devices set up to use the scan-to-email function so that users can get scans back to their PCs. I’ll let you in on a little secret, scan-to-email is extremely inefficient, it requires too many steps while also causing your email system storage to increase rapidly. Your current scan-to-email workflow has approximately 13 steps the user must work through to complete a scan. This can be reduced to 3 steps; this is clearly another no-brainer that saves time and confusion for your users.

Benefits

• Reduce the users’ time at the print device by more than 75% per scan
• Stop clogging the email system with multiple versions of large files
• Secure the document environment by not enabling scanned documents to leave your network via a print device

    4. Move your fax service to a cloud-based software as a service

Yes, fax is still a thing. Although fax volumes are coming down in many businesses it is still a required utility for most verticals including healthcare, legal, finance and banking, manufacturing, distribution and construction companies. If you are still using fax lines or fax server software, it’s definitely time to make a change. There’s no question that fax is a service where the volume will slowly dwindle over several years. Making a change to a cloud fax service will simplify the service so that no one will have to deal with it again until it’s time to turn the service off. The fax wind-down has been a very slow burn and who knows when it will become extinct.

Benefits

• Implement a bulletproof cloud fax service that includes support, while increasing security and compliance
• Pay for the actual fax volume you use with a simple monthly subscription, as volume decreases over time so do your costs
• The transition can be seamless to your users
• The solutions can scale to support the large enterprise
• Reduce costs by eliminating fax boards, fax server software licenses and/or analog phone lines

If you would like more information, be sure and reach out. SmartPrint can provide a free print infrastructure assessment and share the potential options for each area mentioned above to see if there is a fit for your organization. 

Without central control of your print fleet, security settings are extremely difficult to manage, and entry points for cybercrime are more easily overlooked. It becomes even more complex supporting work-from-home employees and integrating equipment to workflow automation systems.  Your IT team could be focused on configuration settings and authentication rather than working on other valuable IT projects or support. Encryption and authentication can be accomplished universally with an integrated automated security management tool. We’ve had great success with HP Security Manager, ask one of our experts to share best practices in this area.

Cybersecurity has increased in priority for CIOs for several years and it is still a top 3 priority according to the top industry analysts. There have been several large-scale global cyberattacks that most companies were able to avoid with solid IT security plans and protocols, but there have been some changes in where and how employees work that has increased the number of cyberattacks. Remote and hybrid work can have some significant advantages for companies and employees, although there are potential unforeseen IT issues that could impact an organization.

Given that the hybrid work model will be around for the foreseeable future,  there are some cybersecurity risks to mitigate. With more work from home time, your employees may be more comfortable using their personal devices for work functions which can open more areas for risk. Most employees are quite savvy and are not clicking on links in unknown emails or on ad-filled websites; however, if their work device is used by someone close to them (child, partner etc.) cybersecurity risk is again increased. Employees working from home and connecting to your company’s network with personal devices including tablets, PCs, mobile devices and printers that potentially were not built to support your business’s security plan can pose an additional risk.

Enterprise-level business devices most often have onboard software to fight cybersecurity threats and are configured with business-grade antivirus software and authentication requirements. When personal devices connect to a company’s network there could be dangerous security vulnerabilities that are innocently introduced. In a recent survey, HP found that more than 30% of employees said they have used their personal computer to access the corporate network. 

The move to more hybrid workers in your business will definitely open your business up to more potential security breaches. The number one preventative step is employee cybersecurity training. Letting one of their kids use their business laptop for homework doesn’t seem like a big risk but it could be. We would recommend a cyber security education training program for employees. As much as it is a pain, having forced strong passwords that must be updated quarterly will help, and it’s important to ensure that employees do not use unsecured personal devices to connect to corporate servers and systems.

In the past year, more than 40% of IT Security Professionals have seen evidence of a print device being used as an entry point for an attempted cyberattack. It’s important to ensure that hybrid workers do not use personal print devices that are not equipped to protect against a cyber breach that could expose corporate data that is stored on the print device. Best-in-breed enterprise-level print devices have multiple layers of security including firmware that is updated, configuration best practices and print security software that can self-protect against cyber activity. We would suggest transitioning home office users away from using unsecured personal print devices for print and scan, and instead, using mobile print solutions that can enable employees to send a document to print at the office, or scan a document and route it to a business document management system or workflow with the user’s smartphone, tablet or PC. 

Now that many employees and their devices are out of sight, IT professionals’ ability to stay on top of connected user devices is more complex. When it comes to keeping your business safe, it may be important to educate your employees and ensure they have the tools they need to safely work with printed and digital documents. 

If you are interested in learning more about protecting your business and enabling your hybrid worker the ability to safely print and share documents be sure and contact us…

Without central control of your print fleet, security settings are extremely difficult to manage, and entry points for cybercrime are more easily overlooked. It becomes even more complex supporting work-from-home employees and integrating equipment to workflow automation systems.  Your IT team could be focused on configuration settings and authentication rather than working on other valuable IT projects or support. Encryption and authentication can be accomplished universally with an integrated automated security management tool. We’ve had great success with HP JetAdvantage Security Manager, ask one of our experts to share best practices in this area.

The most successful businesses typically have well-oiled processes
and integrated systems and processes across every department.
Many successful Canadian companies that have focused on optimizing processes across their business systems are the leaders in their specific industry because of their efficiency and the ease of doing business that their customers experience. Most of the business processes in an organization focus on moving digital and paper-based documents through the business to make things happen internally and externally. Well-oiled traditional systems, even when highly integrated, have gaps in business processes that need to be bridged by people (employees). The next level of optimization is embracing digital transformation. The Wikipedia definition of digital transformation is “the adoption of digital technology by an organization to digitize non-digital products, services, or operations. The goal for its implementation is to increase value through innovation, invention, customer experience or efficiency”.

Given that basically, all information that flows through an organization is some type of document (hard copy or soft copy), your managed print services provider should have significant expertise in helping to automate and transform your business processes. 

When looking at the best-in-breed software solutions supporting digital transformation there are purpose-built applications that can automate a manual function like accounts payable data entry, and there are solutions that have an infinite number of processes that can be automated because they have flexible workflow tools that we can build almost any manual document process into an automated process while supporting integration to your existing software systems. Think about the possibilities.

Where is the low-hanging fruit in your business? Look for the following:

• Departments with stacks of paper and filing cabinets 
• Business processes that result in high levels of variation or errors
• Any business process that has manual data entry ie. accounts payable, shipping/distribution
• Business processes that require approvals and audit trails ie. human resources, procurement, payment
• Areas where employees search for documents and have challenges retrieving them in a timely basis ie. contracts management, customer service

Here are a few ideas where departments may enable a quick win:

• Finance & Accounting
  • Integrate to ERP to enable standardized and automate AP processes 
  • Transition paper-based financial reporting and budget approvals to automated workflow with an audit trail
  • Automate and track PO payment approvals
• Operations & Administration
  • Contracts management with review and approval anytime from any device
  • Integrate seamlessly with your CRM to access Contracts, Statements of Work and Non-disclosure
  • Training management
  • Supply chain logistics management
• Human Resources
  • Employee onboarding
  • New hire requests
  • Employee self-service portal
• Manufacturing / Construction
  • Digitally manage compliance and safety documentation processes and audits
  • Construction document management anytime, any device access

If you are a mid-market company that is interested in increasing efficiency to make it easier for your customers to do business with you, or simply to compete in your space through productivity improvements in your business, I recommend talking to your MPS experts who should have the ability to recommend the best solution to enable a quick win that your organization can build from. The leaders that drive their businesses to optimize the flow of information with intelligent workflow technology will be the leaders in their space.

Contact us if you would like to engage in an informative discussion regarding automated workflow.

HP Capture and Route is a great example of a digital management tool that can automate the ingestion of content from multiple inputs and flow the content right into automated workflows built in an intelligent workflow software solution. We have had a lot of success with this tool as the front end of a fully integrated business workflow system. With our intelligent workflow solutions, we have multiple options of best-in-breed platforms and we ensure that all of the applications are agnostic so if there are changes in your environment your workflows are intact for the future.

Many Canadian organizations are readying their offices for an increased number of workers. It’s very clear from our discussions with clients that professional services organizations are adopting the hybrid work model while focusing on trying to lure more employees back to the office to inspire culture building teamwork. The plan of trying to get workers into the office at least 2-3 days a week, for now, seems to be consistent. Office workers that have embraced working from home have changed their habits around printing hard copy documents, and have moved to working with software tools that support editing and updating documents on their screen and flowing documents through their process in the original digital format. Firms don’t want employees to revert back to printing like they did pre-covid. To support a continued reduction in office printing IT and Administration leaders are interested in moving to a more consolidated fleet of equipment; basically getting printers off of people’s desks and bringing multi-function print equipment closer to the user groups with the power of workflow. The goal is to keep the learned efficiency gains of users working with digital documents while still empowering users with print equipment that is only a few footsteps away. Many organizations have also recognized that the reduced print volume has positively impacted their carbon footprint and want to continue supporting this reduction. We currently have a couple of dozen print consolidation projects running with mid-market and enterprise clients and prospects, and there is demand for more.

Here are some of the benefits of completing an office print device consolidation plan:

• Reduce the number of devices and simplify and reduce monthly MPS billing
• Reduce carbon footprint by using original supplies and implementing Energy Star certified equipment 
• Save real estate space
• Increase end-user productivity by bringing more powerful functionality closer to the user
• With a future state you will have the print equipment and print infrastructure to successfully implement automated workflow solutions to improve further productivity and convenience for users

If your organization is interested in updating and consolidating your print environment to empower your employees, here’s what to expect.

Office print consolidation project stages with high-level details:

1. Print Infrastructure Current State Assessment
   a. Print servers and device driver management
   b. Print security and device firmware management
   c. Print device security configuration automation/reporting capabilities
   d. Scan and fax process, tools and systems 

• Deliverable: future state recommendation with best practices in each area

     2. Current State MPS Financial Assessment 
          a. Fleet age, volume, end of life equipment
          b. SLA data, volume vs service interval correlation

• Deliverable: Current state total cost of ownership report

     3. Site Assessment – as required developed with key stakeholders and IT
         a. Floor print layout with current state equipment and user groups
         b. SME and user discussions
         c. IT team project lead
         d. Software solutions to support productivity improvement opportunities

• Outcome: Device plan for each location/floor/department

    4. Draft and Final plans for implementation

• Outcome Future state plan, business case, budget, and implementation plan to go live that includes hardware, software, and all MPS services with one simple flat monthly fee

An MPS expert can work through this process with your team to ensure a successful future state that supports long term increases in efficiency gains. As a bonus, 95% of the work is completed by an MPS expert with light support from your team. Whether you are an existing  SmartPrint client or an organization looking for help, you’re welcome to reach out for a brief discussion to see if we can be of service.

Sometimes what looks like savings can turn into a hassle. If you are running aftermarket supplies in your print devices, reach out to see how we can help to convert you to OEM. We typically find that we can help our clients make the change to OEM without impacting the total cost of ownership and the monthly operational cost to run the print environment. If you are currently running OEM supplies and are thinking about trying aftermarket supplies to try and save some money, there may be a better way to save! Reach out to talk to one of our MPS experts.

HP OEM supplies provide the confidence you can rely on for everyday printing. HP is committed to the environment by using recycled materials in new cartridges and offering a free recycling program from one of the 100 most sustainable companies in the world. Supplies also meet eco-label emission criteria to help maintain the air quality. Trust is also provided from the packaging to the chips to use supplies that protect your printer and your data. Lastly, peace of mind is provided in knowing that you are using HP OEM supplies.