The Stages of Managed Print Services, 2007. The Model Still Works.

Back in the olden days, 2007 or so, I came up with three stages of managed print services.  This model was designed for my MPS practice, not necessarily for the industry, and I used it to help explain the MpS procedure to clients and co-workers.  In less than five minutes, the prospect had a basic idea of the stages, procedures, and expectations of our program.

As time went by, every OEM, MPS dealership, and software provider had their version of the MpS process. 

HP had a similar idea but the one from Photizo matched and improved upon my vision of the stages.  Photizo even came up with a more detailed approach reaching into a Fourth stage.

I'm not saying this is the ONLY managed print services model, it was mine.  There are just as many MPS models as there are definitions. All of them are good, each has shortcomings.

Ideally, I was trying to design a process that could be applied to more that managed print services like workflow solutions and business process optimization.  I figured every opportunity can be broken down into three stages, Control, Optimize, Enhance.

That makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, many of the models ended up being pure marketing as deliverables rarely matched the original plan.  Like most innovations in the industry, we first argue “it will never work for me…” then jump on the bandwagon. We then focus on price, commoditize the service into a box and accelerate the race to the bottom, dumbing down the concept and cutting pricing.

MPS became little more than automatic supplies delivery and on-site service, billed per usage.  Managed print services devolved into “managed toner delivery, at the lowest price…”

Regardless, today the industry seeks out pivot points with many players getting into managed services - something I've been a proponent of for a decade.

Naturally, because I was building an MPS practice inside a VAR, I was looking for a way to ease copier dealers into the IT realm, to include IT salespeople in the MPS equation, and fold managing output devices, business processes, and IT assets in one agreement. 

MpS deserved a screen in the N.O.C. Managed services was the future and MPS was the way to get there. 

The MPS Model.

The primeval MpS path circa 2007, went like this:

• Control the existing fleet of output devices through assessment, costs analysis, and supplies and services management.   Later in my journey, I would embed the DCA into the managed services IT probe process.
• Optimize through retirement, replacement, or redeploy paper-based devices.  Establishing upgrade protocols and managing existing vendor agreements.
• Enhance the business processes by implementing digital document management and entry-level workflow management.
• BPO Implement detailed workflow solutions.

The last stage, BPO, was a bit ahead of its time - more visionary, but something I knew we could pull off.  Although the model is linear it was not strictly sequential.  After the assessment stage, multiple paths are followed simultaneously; cost reductions are gained, and rightsizing would run parallel to the digital workflow project in accounting or out in shipping. 

What happened?

We didn’t live up to the full definition of managed print services.  Sure, we sold managed print contracts like crazy installing data collection agents and delivering toner automatically.

But MpS stopped there – frozen inside the xerographic process.  We didn’t expand our new relationship with the IT department – we were happy replacing competitors’ devices(A4) with ours and adding one or two copiers(A3).  MpS engagements remained stalled in S1 and S2 - proactively delivering supplies, dispatching service technicians, and billing per usage on all contracted devices.   

Additionally, we maintained the copier/printer/software silos with strict policies driven by old-school compensation plans.  The status quo ruled the landscape.

MPS Promises in The Dark.

What could have been would not be - the idea of combining printers/copiers with workstations and servers under a managed IT services contract seemed logical, at least from the customers' viewpoint. 

Instead of moving from hardware to software to pure services, we decided to put MpS in a box, shrink wrap it, slap on an SKU, and sell it out the back of our cars.  We crushed the value out of the services, selling "30% reduction in cost", proposing third-party cartridges as the best way to "provide value".  

It was a simple sale, "Today, you're paying $1,000.00 each month on your copiers and printers.  This includes lease, service, and toner costs.  If you sign with me, today, I can upgrade your printers and copiers for $700.00 a month.  How does that look?"  Sound familiar?  MPS settled into a spreadsheet-sell, Ben Franklin would be proud.  

Our prospects ate it up and we didn’t want to upset the sales cycle by introducing more sales variables like helpdesk, backup disaster recovery, hosting email, unified communication, etc. Like every great salesperson before us, we took the path of least resistance.

The above model was valid back in 2010 and aged well.

Today's prospects are smarter, and they print less.  Most understand that paper slows any process - you know this - paper-based workflow is slower than digital workflow.  A point driven home during the fear of Covid released us from the cubes; we are more productive miles away from a copier. 

MPS isn't dead, it is evolving.  The model still holds – but there is more to come.