Quocirca Report Elevates Strategic Business Advantages of Independent MPS
‘Rethinking MPS: The independent approach’ showcases how independent providers will reshape the Managed Print Services market
Manchester, UK – 15 November 2011 – The emergence of independent managed print services (MPS) provides organisations with access to best-of-breed hardware, software solutions and multivendor support and service according to Quocirca in a report “Rethinking MPS: The independent approach” available for free download.
The report authored by senior analyst at Quocirca, Louella Fernandes, reveals that as the MPS market evolves beyond the exclusive domain of large enterprises, independent providers promise to widen the penetration of MPS to midmarket organisations that are looking for flexible, enterprise-class MPS capabilities.
M2, the UK’s leading independent managed print IT services company, and Supplies Team Solution commissioned the paper for an independent view of the MPS market to showcase the benefits independent vendors can provide to a business. These include independent, diverse and comprehensive expertise, reduced and predictable costs, improved service quality, reduced IT burden, enhanced productivity and security and reduced environmental impact.
Fernandes commented, “IT departments struggle with print management challenges – providing reliable print services that meet organisational expectations while containing operational costs. IT staff frequently need to integrate diverse, multivendor print environments across disparate, geographically dispersed user groups. This is compounded by the need to ensure the availability of anytime, anywhere printing to address the needs of today’s dispersed workforce of mobile or remote workers.”
Quocirca research shows that this has prompted many businesses to move to a managed print service to ensure more efficient and effective print infrastructure operation and management– from the office to the print room.
Fernandes continues, “The market landscape for MPS providers has never been more competitive –or more complex. Seeking to differentiate their services and boost customer satisfaction, emerging MPS providers are taking a ‘best-of-breed’ vendor-agnostic approach. By retaining the flexibility to add devices from multiple vendors, independent MPS providers have the freedom to innovate with the latest technology and introduce new capabilities, without being dependent on any single incumbent printer or copier supplier.”
The report shows that spiralling costs, compliance concerns and sustainability initiatives are pushing many organisations to review the management of their print infrastructure. The choice of provider will depend on the MPS maturity roadmap for each organisation. Those that wish to avoid a rip-and-replace approach and are looking to leverage existing investments in a mixed device fleet should consider an independent MPS provider.
John Taylor, CEO, M2 said, “This report showcases the need for independent MPS players in the market to support the mid-to-large corporate market. Businesses looking into MPS should review independent providers as OEMs tend to be very product-centric; advising companies to throw away existing devices even if they’ve only just been replaced. Plus flexibility in pricing isn’t always available. They will also push the brand they are working for which is not always the right product.”
Taylor concluded, “An independent, fully assessed and customised MPS solution is the most cost-effective ways for organisations to get the more out of their print environment. Cost savings, comprehensive expertise, impressive service quality, reduced IT burden enhanced productive and security are all benefits we can provide businesses.”
To download the whitepaper or learn more about M2’s independent MPS approach click here.
About Quocirca
Quocirca is a primary research and analysis company specialising in the business impact of information technology and communications (ITC). With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth insights into the views of buyers and influencers in large, mid-sized and small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-world practitioners with first-hand experience of ITC delivery who continuously research and track the industry and its real usage in the markets. Through researching perceptions, Quocirca uncovers the real hurdles to technology adoption – the personal and political aspects of an organisation’s environment and the pressures of the need for demonstrable business value in any implementation. This capability to uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market enables Quocirca to provide advice on the realities of technology adoption, not the promises.
Quocirca works with global and local providers of ITC products and services to help them deliver on the promise that ITC holds for business. Quocirca’s clients include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, O2, T-Mobile, HP, Xerox, EMC, Symantec and Cisco, along with other large and medium-sized vendors, service providers and more specialist firms.
Details of Quocirca’s work and the services it offers can be found at http://www.quocirca.com
About M2
M2 is a leading UK independent managed print IT services company. Offering a proactively managed ranged of office print strategies, infrastructures and document processes, M2 helps organisations’ reduce office print costs, waste and risk. Through an audit and assessment process, M2 provides organisations’ with a customised best practice solution that benefits from the company’s vendor agnostic approach. The company’s professional account management teams helps secure sustained benefits and provides a continuous improvement programme.
M2 operates the four leading hardware brands including Xerox, HP, Canon & Ricoh, as well as the leading software providers such as Equitrac, Safecom and Uniflow. M2 provides all its own expert resources including engineering break-fix services to IT consultancy and support services. M2 provides a national UK service and specialises in the mid to large corporate market. Customers include Atkins, LSBU, Kings, Manchester Airport, Moorcrofts, Westwood College and Shoosmiths. For more information visit www.m2.uk.com.
About Supplies Team Solutions
Vasanta Group is the largest wholesaler and distributor of electronic office supplies and associated office products in the UK and Ireland and is widely acknowledged to be the market leader in its field. Trading as ‘VOW’, ‘Supplies Team Solutions’ and ‘ISA Retail’, Vasanta distributes products by way of serving dedicated channels via its distribution network in Leicestershire, Yorkshire and Dublin.
This distribution network ensures that Vasanta is not only the lowest cost provider in its sector, but always provides high levels of customer service. The group has turnover in the region of £500 million and employs approximately 1,400 people across the UK and Ireland. Established in 1970, Supplies Team Solutions has enjoyed a unique and significant position in the UK office products market. The business began life as a provider of electronic office products when the electronic office was still in its infancy.
Supplies Team Solutions has grown significantly and is now delivering industry-leading end-to-end office product procurement solutions to some of the most demanding clients in the UK and ROI. In 2009 Supplies Team Solutions and M2 formed a strategic partnership to facilitate the provision of Managed Print Solutions across the public and corporate arenas throughout the UK. This partnership is underpinned by a formal multiyear outsourcing contract of all M2’s consumable fulfilment worth in excess of +£40m with leading unique service aspects, service levels and integrated systems between both organisations. For more information visit http://www.supplies-team.co.uk/.
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