Managed Print Partner vs. Managed Print Vendor: What’s The Difference?

On the blog, you often hear us talking about managed print partners. That term may have been surprising the first time you heard it: after all, aren’t managed print vendors the people you normally deal with?

A great managed print partner is committed to being more than a vendor. What exactly that “more than” looks like can differ partner-to-partner, but it usually boils down to a few specific things that we care about enormously in our business. Read on to learn the difference between a managed print partner (like us!) and a vendor.

An MPS Does More Than Vend

Need a new printer? Great. There are plenty of places you can go for that like your neighborhood office supply store, an online retailer or a managed print vendor can all get you one. 

But a managed print partner does more than sell products. They’ll work with you to ensure you’ve got the perfect services, strategies, and devices that work best for your company. Whether it’s an HP printer or a Xerox MFP, they’re dedicated to making the right decisions for YOU—not just make a sale.

Think you can just pick up any old printer and have it work in your office? Think again. A law firm is going to have different needs than an architect’s workshop where they’ll need to print oversized renderings and blueprints regularly.

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A managed print partner will assess your current fleet, your team’s print habits, your software, and even your office security needs to make sure they recommend the print solution that works best.

Partners Think Strategically

What’s your IT strategy? Whether you’re focused on reducing expenditures, upping efficiency or making your security airtight, a managed print partner can develop a print management approach that works for your needs.

If your top goal is to increase security, for example, you’ll need a managed print partner who understands the security risks that can hide in a printer. They can help you choose the most secure devices, but they can also help you implement printing processes that help keep your employees’ data safe.

The same thing applies if you’re interested in reducing costs: a managed print partner can crunch the numbers for you to see how much they can save you on print and what you can then use that extra revenue for.

This strategic mindset is what makes managed print partners more valuable than managed print vendors to your department’s print success.

Partners Stay For The Long-Term

After a long day of work, nobody wants to send out another tech support professional to fix a printer jam. You really don’t want to remind them that you need another supply of toner after Karen printed out 100 pictures of her new labradoodle puppy. Luckily, a managed print partner can proactively order and supply toner for you. Now you can take that off your plate too.

A print management service builds partnerships that are based on great customer service. In fact, at imageOne, 78 percent of our customers say that our exemplary customer service and reliability are the top reasons they love us.  We see this customer service and care as the primary thing that makes us a top provider of managed print solutions.

Learn more about what imageOne and a managed print solution can do for your team. Book a casual, 15-minute chat with one of our friendly reps today. We’ll even send you a $50 Amazon card as a small thanks.

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