Managed.IT - issue56

BULLETIN 8 MANAGED.IT 01732 759725 The big switch Switching from laser printing to business inkjet technology could reduce the annual energy consumption of European businesses by 1 billion Kwh, cut costs by € 134 million and reduce CO2 emissions by 409 million kilogrammes, claims Epson. The business inkjet leader claims that energy saved from making the switch would be enough to power 1.2 million electric cars for a year, while the potential carbon saving is equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed by 18 million trees in a year. Phil Sargeant of market intelligence firm IDC said: “Over recent years we have seen the rise of the business inkjet, from manufacturers such as Epson, HP and, to a lesser extent, Canon and Brother. The penetration of inkjets is increasing at almost 2% a year. Now, one in three devices sold into an office environment is a business inkjet. If you look at some markets in Europe, the penetration rate is as high as 40%.” www.epson.co.uk/advantag e- inkjet Cost savings still main driver for MPS Cost savings and reductions in paper use – sometimes characterised as the ‘low hanging fruit’ of managed print services (MPS) – are still there to be harvested, claims the new Managed Print Services Landscape report from Quocirca. The research company’s survey of 300 IT managers in the UK, France, Germany and US highlights growing demand for MPS as IT managers continue to address the inefficiencies and cost of document workflows: n 79% anticipate increasing MPS spend in the next 12 months, with 27% planning a significant increase; n 50% say printing is still very important to their business; n 72% have not fully achieved consumables cost reduction objectives; n 71% have not fully realised environmental impact reduction objectives; n 63% say they are in the optimisation phase of MPS deployment, focused on delivering workflow tools to improve business processes; n 37% say MPS is very important to digital transformation – up from 23% in 2018; and n 84% say embedded MFP apps are useful for integrating paper- digital workflows. Quocirca Research Director Louella Fernandes said: “The fundamental driver of MPS is cost reduction and this has still not been fully realised by the majority of organisations due to their enduring reliance on print.” www.quocirca.com Coronavirus guidance Workplace expert Acas has produced guidance in response to the coronavirus outbreak. This includes tips on what employers should do if the virus spreads widely in the UK or if a business needs to shut down temporarily, as well as advice on sick pay and handling employees who have been quarantined or don’t want to come into work for fear of catching the virus. www.acas.org.uk/coronavirus Spend or save The UK economy is missing out on a vital boost as small-and- medium sized businesses sit on £86 billion of dormant cash in accounts that pay little or no interest, reveals Shawbrook Bank’s inaugural SME Savings Monitor. Its research shows that SMEs hold an average of 57% of their total capital in current or instant-access accounts, rather than fixed-term deals that typically pay higher rates of interest, potentially missing out on £4.2 billion of extra interest every year. Figures from UK Finance show that in the last five years SMEs have increased their cash reserves by £66 billion to £329 billion, with £186.1 billion held in current accounts and £140.9 billion held in deposit accounts. Julian Hynd, Chief Operating Officer at Shawbrook Bank, said: “The amount of money SMEs are keeping in accounts paying little or no interest is indicative of the cautious nature of many firms in the current economic and political climate. While it is prudent for firms to keep some cash within easy reach to cover the daily costs of running a business, having too much money that is earning next to no interest can have an adverse impact on finances.” Navy museum fleet flies under one flag The National Museum of the Royal Navy is set to save at least £35,000 a year on print costs after implementing a managed print service (MPS) from Toshiba TEC across its seven UK sites, including a naval base, museums and ships. Reducing the number of print suppliers from four to one has brought numerous efficiencies including a single print queue (instead of four), a consistent user interface, a uniform set of service level agreements (SLAs) and greater visibility and control of the printing fleet. As part of the MPS, Toshiba TEC supplied 21 colour multi-function printers (MFPs), which are used for a variety of tasks, including back office administrative operations, till reporting, ticketing and the printing of educational materials, brochures, leaflets and posters. The 10 A3 and 11 A4 MFPs are complemented by PaperCut print management software, which, as well as collecting usage data by location and device, so that the National Museum can identify inefficiencies and implement cost recovery and allocation strategies to maximise return on investment, supports pull printing, which allows users to collect print jobs from any MFP on the network. Phil George, Head of IT for the National Museum, was impressed by Toshiba TEC’s competitive cost per copy and the versatility of its carbon neutral print devices. He said: “In the past, we had four different suppliers for our printing facilities, which wasn’t a very efficient or effective way to operate. We wanted to work with a single trusted supplier that would provide customised solutions to meet the needs of each of our departments, which can be very diverse. For instance, one of the MFPs is located on board HMS Warrior and another on board HMS Caroline, while others are used for high volume e-ticketing and brochure printing at reception. Toshiba Tec showed that it could meet all of these requirements, while saving us thousands of pounds a year.” www.toshibatec.co.uk