The Real Cost of Printers

Do you buy on price?

We have all done it and as we know that can be a mistake. We often focus on price when really attention should be paid to cost.

In business this view is often reinforced by short termism. How often have we heard these or even used these same old arguments?

"I need to reduce my expenditure this financial year"

"That comes out of another departments budget"

"If it breaks I will just buy a new one"

I have been thinking about this a lot recently as our old washing machine finally gave up the ghost. We started our research and went online to see what was available and of course I was tempted by price, they even had washing machines for less than ￡200.

In the end though we spent just over ￡600.

Why?

Well it wasn't about the ability to wash our clothes, they can all do that, it was about how this machine can save us time and money elsewhere when the cheaper models could not.

The one we chose has a massive load capacity, so instead of doing 7 washes a week we do 5, think of the reduced electricity and water costs and the time saved.

It comes with lots of cool features and has clever insides meaning it uses less energy than cheaper models.

It comes with a five year next day at home warranty, so if the machine does break down I don't have the hassle and expense of taking our washing to the laundry like I have been on and off over the past few months.

So by paying more we end up paying less and when it comes to the Real Cost of managing printer fleets this has never been more true.

Independent analysts continue to agree that for every ￡1 spent on printer hardware a further ￡7 is spent running, supporting and administering them. Doesn't it make sense then to look at your printer fleet in the same way as my washing machine?

Isn't it worth spending more on a solution if it can remove your internal costs and liberate resources allowing your colleagues to instead focus on what your business is all about?

To do this you will need to take a wider view; not necessarily focusing on the here and now; thinking about how one departments decisions impact upon another and understanding how expensive and what a waste of energy it is to expect your own staff to manage and support your printers.

Its not always easy to take the wider view but if you did maybe you wouldn't be under so much pressure to reduce your expenditure this year?

If you would like to learn more why not contact me directly at [email protected]