Printing costs. With an average company spending an estimated $500 per year, per employee on the creation of printed documents, that simple statement underlies one of the most common ongoing challenges for small and medium sized businesses.

Recent years have witnessed a flood of new printing products – beyond mere consumables, hardware and software, to financing packages and Cost Per Page (CPP) contracts that aim to reduce hard-to-swallow capital drain and make budget planning straightforward.

‘Where to start?’ reflects Hill D’Souza, partner at PrinterLogix, the Mississauga Ontario based company that focuses on providing streamlined HP managed print solutions for the SMB sector.

‘In my ten years in the industry, the customer demand for managed print services has never been more than today. And it’s easy to see why,’ says D’Souza. ‘Navigating the available options and products available for SMB print environments, and then matching the right products to your environment can be a time-consuming challenge.’

But the main driver of this growing interest comes from somewhere closer to every CFO’s heart, believes D’Souza. ‘Customers now know scale and potential impact an effective printer fleet management solution can have on business performance and the bottom line,’ he says. ‘A well-planned and managed printer fleet saves businesses a lot of money, it’s as simple as that. It’s the difference between a good year and a great one.’

The key is in understanding what the business needs. Smaller environments can often benefit from all-in-one or multifunction printers that save space as well as money compared to single function printers. ‘Single function printers can actually over-deliver in areas and performance that aren’t always a requirement of a particular business,’ adds D’Souza. ‘The first thing we do with customers is a comprehensive assessment of their print environment, which includes a needs analysis. Every print solution should be tailored to an organization like a good suit.’

Basic tools such as those that manage consumables, ensuring items like toner and paper don’t run dry and compromise productivity at important times, are an obvious but important addition. A step further provides easy-to-use network administration tools that control who can access and use certain print resources. ‘Not every 50-page document needs to be printed in colour on premium stock,’ D’Souza comments. ‘One thing we always encourage is duplex printing as standard. We find that organizations often overlook duplexing, and they’re shocked when they discover this simple change often produces savings of between 30-50 per cent.’

‘Businesses are always going to need to print, and printing costs money,’ concludes D’Souza. ‘The flip side of the coin is that by implementing a successful printer fleet strategy is going to reduce or eliminate major areas of unnecessary expense.’