Will the real Managed Print Services please stand up?
If you have been around for the last decade or so, you have heard the term Managed Print Services or MPS. In fact, every sales rep, account executive, account manager, business development professional or MPS Consultant in the print, copier or MFP space uses the term ad nausium.
So let’s open this topic up for discussion. What is the true meaning of MPS? Is it Printer Fleet Acquisition/Management? Is it MFP Secure Print? Is it Print As A Service (PaaS)? Is it Document Management? Is it Scan to File/Folder/Email? OK...so these are trick questions...the answer is all of the above. That being said, true MPS is a combination of all of these things in whole or in part.
In today’s information technology environment, however, MPS is taking on a much larger role than just managing your organization’s printing needs or creating a more efficient document workflow model. The one thing that should stand out to every business, government or non-profit organization is the need for high security as it relates to their print/scan/copy and, yes, even fax (is that still a “thing”) environment. Your input and output devices are now simply computers which, in most cases, have some connection to the internet. Chances are pretty good that your current document management or print/MFP provider has not addresssed this issue with you. If not, don’t waste too much time. The world is taking cyber security very seriously and cyber threats continue to grow like Kudzu in Georgia. You, your employees, fellow workers and customers/clients deserve and need protection of your/their sensitive information!
If you don’t feel that your provider has your document workflow properly secured, best that you look into which organizations can do the job for you. Chances are that not one single provider can do the whole job, but the good providers will insure you have the right set of software, hardware and network hosting and support partners to get the job done right. Good places to look for those providers are IDC, Gartner and similar market analysts/data organizations.
Good luck and stay safe (and secure)!
You are correct. A focused strategy delivered to a stakeholder will be the best . Hope all is well.
Great example of the evolution of our industry
Ken, sorry for the delayed response. I believe the definition has to be somewhat broad based purely on the variables in play. That being said, the industry does need, however, some culling of what may sometimes be called MPS. A bundled lease/service program is not necessarily Managed Print. Simply financing a fleet under a single program is not necessarily MPS either. On a related note, secure print environments may exist within MPS, but should not be the sole reason for the descriptor. With advances in the industry and new partnerships showing up daily, MPS is becoming more like MDS (Managed Document Services). Maybe that should be the replacement acronym for MPS?
Hello Mark, I published a working definition for MPS when I was the Research VP for Imaging and Print at Gartner. Why do you think there is so much variation? Do you think the definition should be broad or narrow? By the way, I agree with you about people's MPS definitions varying wildly. I'm happy to discuss this or other MPS topics with you or anyone else who's interested.