When people in the technology industry talk about Digital Transformation, most of us think about grand and trendy topics like cryptocurrency, big data, process automation, or artificial intelligence. They don’t think about basic, un-sexy technologies like printing. But not unlike many other technologies that have been around for a while and people take for granted, printing represents a significant expense to most organizations. Printing has also become a hot topic in security discussions because of the risk that printers potentially represent in organizations where printers are not kept up to date, or where the security vulnerabilities of printers are not fully comprehended.
While many organizations have changed their print strategies, and leveraged technology to change user behavior and dramatically reduce print volumes, many have not done so, and continue to move further away from a paperless office rather than closer. Printed business documents remain a critical component of normal work processes for a large number of companies.
Printing devices and printing consumables like ink, toner, and paper are constantly changing to improve print quality, lower costs, strengthen security, and enhance capabilities. IT professionals may also consider printing to be outside of the realm of digital transformation, as they focus their attention on more “interesting” technologies. Meanwhile, print continues to be the “red-headed stepchild” of most IT departments despite being a huge cost center and a major risk factor for hacking and ransomware attacks.
Digital Transformation is another one of those loosely defined ideas, kind of like “the Cloud”. No one seems to have the exact same definition for it. One thing for sure is that Digital Transformation means more than just implementing the latest and greatest technological widget. It involves documenting and understanding your internal processes and taking the steps to make improvements to workflows and define your Core Values in a way that promotes fundamental positive change and adds value to your interactions with customers, partners, suppliers, and internal and external stakeholders.
Every organization has a unique team of people behind it, and like snowflakes no two organizations are exactly alike. So each step of the Digital Transformation process, and the overall process will be unique to your company and whatever discrete parts of the business are impacted by Digital Transformation. When it comes to Digital Transformation and print, consider the following benefits and how they add value:
Printing-centric business processes that utilize a print-then-distribute model are inherently inefficient and time intensive. Many if not most of these types of business processes can be re-engineered to take advantage of distribute-then-print workflows that can cut hours, days, and dollars out of the existing process.
New printing inks and printing technologies are cutting color printing costs down to the point where they are the same cost as black and white prints. In the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, low-cost color printing has been shown to reduce change orders stemming from misread engineering drawings. If color output is the same price, and it can save thousands of dollars if not more in unnecessary charges due to mistakes, why wouldn’t you do it?
Businesses that leverage Managed Print Services can save 25% or 30% versus an unmanaged print fleet. When those savings are shared with your customers, then you are adding significant financial value through the Digital Transformation process.
Printers have been exposed as a potential source of security risk in the past several years. In particular, the healthcare industry has been victimized by hackers looking for high-value patient data and/or an opportunity to launch a ransomware attack. If your print fleet is out of date, upgrading your print devices to newer technology that comprehends today’s latest security risks is another way you can add value to your customer’s bottom line as well as your own.
To learn more about how you can harness the benefits of Digital Transformation to your advantage, and to your customers’ advantage, please click here to speak with an EBS Digital Transformation specialist.