We are rapidly seeing the emergence of a new norm in Australian workplaces, as we start to gain clarity of what ‘going to work’ will look like in an ongoing and post pandemic environment. While the impact of COVID-19 on businesses is still far from over, many organisations are starting to confirm that hybrid working and remote roles are here to stay, even after the ‘corona’ dust has settled.
For that reason, IT managers are now needing to put more permanent systems in place. This is particularly the case as they come to the realisation that managing their organisation’s technology infrastructure, to accommodate for remote participants, is no longer a temporary feat.
It is for this reason, that Managed Print Services (MPS) providers have evolved to cater to the hybrid workplace, by providing solutions that minimise the burden on IT professionals to manage remote devices. Utilising integrated home and office print services not only ensures that remote devices are protected through a zero trust security system, but it also opens up employees to cloud collaboration systems which allow for cloud print management, and digital workflow automation.
In essence, this means that organisations are minimising the amount of responsibility they place on remote workers to keep confidential data from being breached and accessed, but it also means that remote workers are able to better collaborate with other colleagues through the cloud.
The other added benefit of MPS is that it’s smart. Metaphorically speaking, it has a brain at the core which continuously monitors, observes, and reports intelligent data that allows IT managers to make calculated decisions about how their document solutions are managed. This capability provides great visibility on usage, and simplifies the math behind spending, output, maintenance and total cost. This is particularly necessary, when there are multiple devices across various locations, connected to one central system, as it takes the guesswork out of workplace monitoring.
Case Example: How MPS can help
A hybrid accounting firm of 30 staff, with essential employees remaining in the office, and non-essential employees working from home. As we know, accounting is a very security-heavy industry, meaning that employees need to ensure confidential documents are protected at all times. This not only includes preventing digital documents from being breached, but also includes physical documentation that has been printed.
Since the beginning of COVID-19, the majority of all non-essential employees have been provided with home multi-function devices, to ensure that their workflow isn’t impacted, and that they remain productive. However, the IT manager at the accounting firm does not have the capacity to individually visit each home on a regular basis to ensure that devices are properly maintained and are up-to-date with the latest firmware.
They employ an MPS provider to do this for them, supplying consumables and if required service and to also monitor the use of each remote device to keep track of running expenses on all devices owned by the company. Employees are now also able to easily print and scan documents to each other, despite working from home, as well as save and access them in collaborative workspaces through the cloud. This gives the IT manager peace of mind that documents are secure, that devices are not prone to malware attacks, and that they get a good understanding of the costs associated with running multiple devices from both home and office locations, to make adjustments accordingly.
IT staff also can’t overlook the need for secure document solutions, which take into consideration not only the protection of digital files, but also ensuring that physical files are disposed of correctly. This is especially the case for those who aren’t in the office to shred confidential information. Many MPS providers have now expanded their services to document disposal which includes organising home collection to correctly dispose of any confidential paperwork. This means the IT manager at the accounting firm above example, can ensure his employees are appropriately disposing off any client and company information correctly.
How can a managed print service help your business?
As the future of hybrid working becomes clearer, and the need for security (zero trust) and document management becomes even more important, organisations need to take into consideration the burden of remote device management, and the process of monitoring usage and spend. Through MPS, a company ensures greater document security, ease of maintenance across all devices and a more effective total cost of ownership for its suite of devices.
Get started with a free print assessment to find out how an MPS solution can benefit your business, or contact Brother for a consultation.