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Executive Debrief
Printer Fleet Management goals
For a successful Printer Fleet Management implementation, you need to fully understand your objectives for your fleet program. In doing so, your implementation and ongoing operations should always be aligned with your program objects. Possible objectives
for the Print Services provider may include:
Increase per customer printers under management Reduce operational costs on a per unit (printer/page) basis Reduce SLA response and/or service times Reduce the number of support or service calls Manage Service Technicians more cost effectively Reduce consumables or supplies inventory Customer retention Implementation of Best Practices
You should focus your rollout schedule or your implementation of specific features to coincide with your key objectives.
If you would like more information concerning Printer Fleet Management implementation please
contact us.
Interesting Facts
US Printer Service & Supply Revenue
% split of total revenue generated by printers and printer-based MFPs:
Service &Maintenance kits: 7%
Hardware 19%
Supplies 78%
Higher volume machines have a larger service component than lower volume machines. As devices become more expensive & complex, service requirements increase.
Reference: InfoTrends, June 2007
Grant's Tech Tip
Database Storage Capacity specs
For 1000 printers with a year of archived data, we estimate the required storage capacity to be:
1) 690 MB of user space in the database
2) 1100 MB of Oracle system space in the database
3) Each database export is 380 MB or 58 MB compressed. You may keep as many compressed backups as desired.
In addition, printerRx uses a couple GB for incidental files.
COMPUTER SIZING
Based on the above, as a minimum we would recommend for 1000 devices:
- 3 GHz dual core
- 2 or 3 SATA disk drives
- 2 Gb RAM
- >10Gb Gb disk
For more answers to your questions refer to:
PrinterRx Support portal
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Who's killing your MSP service? Technician alert!
In our last newsletter
we presented some best practice pointers from the field on Pre-Sale Pricing Process for Printer Fleet Management. So, now you're kicking out faster &
consistent sales proposals. But are you leaking those hard earned profits through your service network?
Your customers are on a per page contract and you have a slate of Service Vendors & Technicians you can send out to fix & maintain the fleet of devices
you have under contract. How can you be assured you are deploying technicians optimally and not losing margin?
The following are the top TEN questions you would like answered before sending out a service technician for a break/fix:
10 Which technicians are the fastest to close service tickets?
9 Which technicians take the longest to close service tickets?
8 Which technicians consistently cost you more in parts?
7 How many trips on average does each technician make per ticket?
6 What is a technician's average initial response time? Is it effecting your SLA?
5 Does your Service Vendor send its technicians in a parts vehicle?
4 Is a specific printer experiencing an excessive number of service calls?
3 Should the printer be replaced? What is its TCO as compared to the fleet average?
2 What is your cost per Vendor comparison?
1 What is your cost per Technician comparison?
Answers to the above questions requires MSP business processes to be streamlined and revamped. Instead of selling your fleet management
software as a value-add to your customer, consider it an integral part of your managed print services deliverable. After all, your customer does not care about how many trips the
technician make, all he requires is access to appropriate, reliable devices at the right price. Your fleet management tool should provide answers to the above questions,
so you can make optimal decisions on who you should send on the next break-fix. In addition, if you have at hand the history of service to the printers, a schedule of the next maintenance service call,
and consumables level status, imagine your cost savings by efficient scheduling of your technicians!
If you had answers to the above questions, image your savings in servicing your per page clients!
A Smooth Transition - Implementing your Fleet Strategy
So you know what printers you have, and you've developed a comprehensive printer fleet strategy. How do you implement the strategy
with the minimal amount of disruption to your corporation?
A smooth printer fleet optimization process includes:
- A partnership with your MSP vendor or in-house project manager
- A well thought out implementation plan
- A phased approach with existing devices being replaced individually versus en masse. You may phase in new devices in many different ways: by department or work group, by age, by model, by location,
and so forth. The method you choose depends upon your specific corporate printing requirements, printer fleet age, size, number of different types of manufacturers & modules, utilization,
and ultimately your Print Strategy. For example, if you have a relatively new fleet, you may decide to swap out problem or expensive printers
first; Or if you have too many models and are holding too much inventory in consumables, you may decide to swap out by model. The important consideration is to have a plan &
execute it in an orderly manner.
- New devices should be setup on the network & tested in a testing location prior to placing in a production environment.
No device should be put into production without all options tested, available and functional.
- If possible, roll out devices into production during off hours, and never during peak production times. Your plan should have identified those time periods.
- Any roll out should minimize employee disruption. Ensure that all components
of each device are rolled out simultaneously. Do not switch over unless all print drivers and the ability for the end user to access the device are in place.
- Ensure the end user has required training information on the new devices, utilization procedures, which devices are at his disposal, and help desk procedures.
This training should be developed prior to the roll out of any device. Training is a process and not an event. To reinforce training, a laminated
"how to" sheet on the device and corporate help desk procedures should be located near or attached to each device.
A successful printer strategy implementation is highly dependent upon end user acceptance.
User acceptance results from a positive experience & accessible information. Planning is the most important component of a successful printer fleet strategy implementation.
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