The Importance of Change Management in Managed Print Services
Introducing a comprehensive managed print services (MPS) solution into an organisation can help reduce its environmental impact, cut costs and improve efficiency. However, an MPS implementation can be a mammoth undertaking, both from a technical and a logistical perspective.
As a result, it's easy to forget to ensure that end-users are fully informed, understand the advantages and support the introduction of the new infrastructure of output devices.
By simply dropping MPS into the office environment without clear communication or incentives, employees sometimes try to bypass this change, turning to illicit printing devices rather than embracing these systems.
It's important to remember that we are creatures of habit and that MPS introduces changes into the daily routines of employees. Removing a number of printers, which are often seen as personal productivity devices, from the office can lead to feelings of resentment and a sense the company doesn't care about the personal working environment. Thus, these devices are not given up easily, unless people understand the overarching benefits for themselves and their organisations.
Furthermore, the average employee doesn't see printing as a particularly costly activity, but research shows it can account for an average of 2% to 3% of a company's revenue – quickly spiraling into huge sums of money for a large organisation. It is these sorts of benefits that need to be communicated to the workforce if an MPS implementation is to be widely adopted.
Doc has made the point many times that an effective MPS strategy must include buy in from the end users, so educating and informing the workforce is critical. This article makes that point effectively. Seems no matter where you do business, many of the basics remain the same.