Managed printing in the government

Ravikant Sharma, Research Manager-Consulting Group at IDC India, talked about managed print services in the government sector. He started by stating that cost reduction was the major driver here. Outsourcing is related to cost reduction and efficiency as organizations want to achieve a high degree of competitiveness.

“90% of printing costs are burdened costs. Only 10% of the infrastructure cost is constant. This kind of outsourcing services have not been considered to be essential by organizations, especially those in the government sector. The government spends 6-12% of its OPEX on printing. A lot can be saved and improved upon by using the outsourcing model to reduce cost and enhance productivity and efficiency,” he said.

He gave the example of one organization that was spending $1 million on managing its printing setup. MPS can free IT resources, reduce inventory and bring down the cost of document management. It can be a social cause as it helps in reducing carbon emissions by 60%, which is vital for the government thanks to its focus on green initiatives. It improves information sharing across agencies. It also improves security, compliance and response.

“Organizations should implement MPS for ongoing optimization, lifecycle management and environmental goals. The goal should be to manage cost,” he said.