PRINT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
using a just in time method, they’ll never gonna run out of stock. With the traditional method, as soon as that light comes on, they’ll have to ring up to restock and potentially have to wait around for the consumables to turn up before they can resume. “With automated print management software, resellers can supply consumables just in time. That works for both parties because the customer will have minimal disruption, and resellers don’t send their working capital out too early.” To the Cloud The drive for data has, in many ways, been synonymous with the increase in Cloud technologies; one of the more pressing issues in the print market. Cloud adoption is driving the modernisation of print infrastructure, and cloud-based print management software is currently in high demand, as Davies says: “This demand aligns with the general shift of businesses moving their data and applications away from traditional on- premise servers to the cloud. “We are seeing heightened awareness and understanding of the benefits of shifting to cloud-based print. These include easier administration, enhanced security, better alignment with broader company cloud-first policies and, of course, reduced costs. If customers don’t have a cloud print solution now, they are certainly looking for one.” Cloud-based print management software can offer greater flexibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness than traditional on-premise solutions. Businesses can manage their printing activities from anywhere, using any device with an internet connection. This feature is particularly useful in today’s remote work environment, where employees need to access company resources from anywhere. Remote working is a point Naser picked up on, adding that “with the rise of remote work and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, mobile printing has become increasingly important.” Pearce agreed, adding that resellers needed to be clear on whether they were offering a
requirements, the more profit you will make. “For instance, to get a printer metre reading for a fleet of printers we’d have to individually call hundreds of customers and ask for it. When you automate that to software, it obviously reduces the effort it takes to do that from a reseller end. From the customer perspective, when you’re looking at the end users, using print queue management software allows them to track who’s printing, what they’ve been printing, where they printed it and massively reduce wastage.” In time gone by, one of the key selling points for print management software was the control that could be imposed with its use, as Steve Peace, group head of marketing at Kyocera pointed out. “I think the biggest difference really is that in the past the key USP of this software was to stop people printing, limit the amount of pages people can print, and stop printing in colour. Ironically we’re now trying to offer a gateway to enable print. “The total cost of ownership for printing has never been cheaper, so the focus has moved on to energy saving, and power management. I think data is a big thing, if resellers are clever with the data, they can prove where their customers gain value from their products. “Moving forward, rather than stopping people from printing, the data should be used to understand how users are printing, how secure is the print? Is there a copy left on the device? As security becomes more important, businesses will be able to detect whether there are any GDPR implications, turning secure printing into a USP.” “With this automation, resellers will be saving customers an awful lot of time,” said Silvester. “But also they will be improving their customer satisfaction with these efficiencies. “If resellers set up consumable replenishment
Ian Silvester director of product management and customer care EKM Global
ekmglobal.com
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With this
automation, resellers will be saving customers an awful lot of time... But also they will be improving their customer satisfaction with these efficiencies.
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printinthechannel.co.uk
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