Who Designs Your Print Policy: Copier or IT Folks?

I am a proponent of Print Policies:

“A Print Policy is the documented outline of procedures, illustrating the organization’s current output-related decision-making processes. This policy is endorsed at the highest level of executive management, contains milestones, and supports the organization’s business goals.”

I've seen implementations streamline work processes, enforce SLA's and reduce costs by millions.

I'm a believer.

It's obvious the best Print Policies are created when working with outside experts.

But who?

On one side stands the copier/printer specialists, mavens of the printed document, leasing, and deal crafting.

Residing across the hall, masters of storage, operating systems, PC's, mobile devices, and even printers, hang their shingle.

That leaves you,  the "IT Guy" responsible for endpoints, Windows upgrades, and those pesky copiers and printers, stuck in the middle - again.

Should you place a call to your IT VAR or copier dealer? Yes.

"The fewer prints you generate,  the less they get paid - simple math."

Long ago, I felt the most qualified managers of output devices came from the office printing/copier side.  In some cases, this is still true.

Here's the rub: a copier dealer, indeed, any business surviving or thriving on the number of prints you generate, cannot in good conscience, help you manage away the mystery and reduce output.

Why would a copier/printer company train salespeople to reduce revenue?  It's an obvious question. One you should ask those "MpS" providers still promising "30% savings".

My recommendation is to work with the group that doesn't survive on your print volume.

No matter who you choose, your partner in Print Policy development should:

Be neutral about printers
The first qualification is to regard each printer as an end-point inside life cycle services. Sure, printers can be dirty and require physical intervention.  Yes, they jam and run out of toner right before a big print project. And yes, as much as 60% of help desk calls are print related.  Yet successful management of assets originates from a position of neutrality.

Neutrality - your output devices represent zero revenue and hold no negative emotional attachment to either contributing party.

Have a holistic view
Your provider must consider the entire output and input fleet, including copiers, printers, print servers, print queues, label printers, fax machines, fax servers, scanners, and yes, even dual monitors.

Endpoints are the beginning; every vendor, provider, and partner relationship is to be documented, holding all accountable.

Once the points and processes are determined - from assessment to retirement - everything is diagramed.

The result is a large flowchart.  Imagine.

Think of your Print Policy as the Vanguard for your IT Policy
As the decision and support process for print and copy fall into the IT realm, covering output devices, conducting end-user assessments, and documenting workflow can be labor intensive.

A Print Policy requires time, expertise, and an end-user interface.  But when the process is complete, establishing the same for a comprehensive IT Policy is easier.

Utilizing the process of generating a Print Policy can be replicated in determining your organization's entire IT policy.

Don't waste the opportunity.

There are more considerations, but these three are significant. If you're interested in a deeper understanding, reach out to me, at greg@grwalters.com.

"Why join the Navy when you can be a Pirate?"

-Steve Jobs

Local band.  Eau Claire, Wi.  Good Stuff.

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Why You Need a Print Policy

...with Print Policy design and execution...

There's a movement, on the provider, not the customer side, pushing the relevancy of print metrics to your business analytics.  For instance, some are twisting print volumes and the number of devices into relevant, actionable information.  As if knowing how many color prints were duplexed between Monday and Thursday, in July of 2013, has any impact on EBITDA.

In an even more ludicrous folly, experts in the industry are aligning usage figures with business intelligence (BI).  

Wait, what?

For providers of managed print services, knowing the turbulent usage patterns will help manage the decrease in print.

But end-users don't care all that much and CIOs care even less. 

I put forth this idea: before entertaining the idea of 'business intelligence' based on print history, consider a Print Policy.

Every organization looking to optimize or manage the costs associated with creating, moving, and presenting information in the form of a document, should first invest in developing a strategic Print Policy.

The Policy should:

1. Document all internal processes associated with the support of information in the form of documents
2. Put in place  practices that support the organization's mission
3. Carry the approval of Executive/C-Level leadership
4. Be a 'living document'

Developing an internal Print Policy is daunting requiring input and support from multiple layers and departments.  Seeking assistance from outside the organization is a good idea. Yet trusting a firm that sells devices intent on printing, seems counter-intuitive.

I recommend working with your IT firm.  If your IT partner is a big-box, commodity-based entity or lacks basic expertise in the print and copy niche, feel free to reach out to me and I will try to connect you with a good match.

Stay tuned - the next post will be, "Who to work with when designing your Print Policy: The Copier/Printer/Imaging or IT folks?"

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Designing a Print Policy Supporting the Organization’s Goals and Mission Statement. Step One: Who are you?

2015

The definition of a Print Policy

“A Print Policy is the documented outline of procedures, illustrating the organization’s current output-related decision-making processes. This policy is endorsed at the highest level of executive management, contains milestones, and supports the organization’s business goals.”

Step One
A majority of organizations do not put in place a formal Print Policy. The process is complicated but the payoff is worth the effort. The first step with most projects of significance is the most important. So what should you do when starting a Print Policy project?

Every journey begins with a step. In designing a print policy, the first step is understanding who you are, what you do, and why you do it. “Knew” thy self.

Why does your organization exist?
This is not a trivial step. Building a program that supports the goals of the organization, adds to the relevancy of the project in a universal manner. This is important. As end users begin to hear about change, they will ask, “Why?”. Once your project goals match the organization’s, presenting the ‘why’ is easier and understood by all.

For example, if your mission includes, “…improve the health of the community….” crafting a message to explain how your print program improves the “…health of the community…” is clarifying.

All you need is a few people around the table, a clean whiteboard, and the company’s mission statement. That’s all. Started by asking, “How is this print project going to help us show we are contributing to the health of the community?”

Don’t overthink. Give it 40 minutes and settle upon a project value proposition statement. The statement is your talisman, a touchstone in the project. As the project progresses and questions arise, reflect back to the statement for guidance.

This exercise results in a most important deliverable — in a word relevance.

Your IT project is not thought of as a top-down, IT-driven set of corporate rules. But rather a goal the entire organization can aspire to achieve, with the help of IT.

Today’s turbulent business conditions present an opportunity for IT.

The right set of circumstances exists for IT to contribute to the health of the company and establish relevance with a concise and relevant Print Policy.

It all starts with "Who Are You..."

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Don't Buy Another Printer, Copier, Toner, or Managed Print Services Unless You Have One of These.

"Roll the Dice"

I often describe the office print environment in one word, "overcapacity".

Even as manufacturers (Ricoh, Xerox, Canon) start to make smaller footprint devices - it wasn't that long ago when copier reps would mock those little devices - businesses have more print and copy capacity than they need.

It is like the Tragedy of the Commons.

My point: we've been over-purchasing (or over-sold) print devices for decades and it's because the decision process has been unmanaged.

Well, that's not one hundred percent accurate - copier acquisition, printer procurement, supplies fulfillment, and service request procedures have, for the most part, been managed - they've just been managed by VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS.

Not customers.

Think about it -

• Who tells you the lease buyout figure?  
• Who determines the "best" device for your needs?  
• Who conducts the 'agnostic' assessment?  
• Who interfaces almost daily with your end-users? To you they are end-users, to the vendors, they represent 1,500 images a month.

Expecting your copier, printer, or toner supplier to build a program that supports your cost reduction program is like expecting the wolf not to eat the rabbit.

It is worse than you think.  It usually is.