How To Re-Evaluate Your Company’s Printing Needs In A Post-Pandemic World

Most companies are now returning to work at their office or are abiding by a hybrid work model. Certain questions your company may be asking are, “How will our printing needs differ now that employees are working in the office again as opposed to working remotely?” or “If we did not need to print when we weren’t in the office, why will we need to print when we’re back in the office?”

These questions demand a need for a proper reassessment of your print needs and goals. While most companies working remotely have adapted to a cloud-based document workflow, chances are they also have unused shared printing devices and personal desktop printers to consider replacing or getting rid of.

At LDI, our prospects and customers have been concerned with optimizing their print workflow now that their offices are reopening. Our Managed Print division works with customers to perform a managed print assessment that assesses their current print infrastructure to recommend viable print solutions moving forward.

This article will define a print assessment and how your company can reassess its printing needs post-pandemic. This article will also cover two main factors to consider when reassessing your printing needs. By the end of this article, you will have a better idea of how your company can reassess its printing needs to optimize its print workflow and infrastructure.

What Is A Print Assessment & How Can You Re-Assess Your Printing Needs?

A print assessment involves performing a thorough review of your current print environment. This review can help you determine which print equipment and supplies are right for your company.

Assessments can range from basic online assessments to fill in-person workflow assessments.

Either your internal print management team or hired managed print provider can perform one for you. Performing a print assessment will help optimize your company’s print workflow from the onset.

Try monitoring your company’s printing devices for at least three months once your company returns to work at your office. An assessment can take place many times during the return to work model. This way, your company’s print device usage can be tracked at different intervals as the return to work model becomes more stable.

This time can help your internal print management team or managed print provider best assess your employees’ printing needs now. Once a thorough assessment takes place, a future state of print requirements can be determined.

2 Key Factors To Help Determine Your Printing Needs

Your company’s printing needs have likely changed from the start of the pandemic to now. Let’s examine the following factors before making any decisions about your printing environment.

1. Device Usage

Understanding the usage of your office’s printing devices can help your company determine how many devices are necessary, which types of devices can be leased or purchased, and where they will be placed in your office.

Assessing your device usage can be achieved through installing a data collection agent (DCA). A data collection agent is a software application that monitors and collects information as it pertains to your network printing devices.

The agent can provide a current read on your company’s monthly usage.

2. Print Behavior

Your company’s print behavior includes how often people are printing, are they printing in color or black and white, who is often using the printer, which applications an employee is using to print.

Print behavior can be monitored through analytical print applications that track user print behavior, what they printed, when, which application they printed from.

At the end of the day, printers don’t print, people print. The information you receive about your company’s print behavior can help reduce waste of printing supplies, downsize printing equipment, contribute to an eco-friendly print environment, and cut costs by being more vigilant about how much you are spending on supplies, equipment, and applications.

Getting a better grasp on the people printing and their motives behind each print job can help your company navigate how much your print infrastructure requires moving forward.

Ready To Re-Assess Your Printing Needs?

Reassessing your printing needs now that your company is returning back to work at your office doesn’t have to be complicated.

By getting a good understanding of your current print behavior and device usage, your company will determine what is needed moving forward. 

When working with our customers, we ask definitive questions like, “Does your company depend on shared devices, personal printers, or both?”, “Do you want employees to be able to print in color on each printing device?”

Questions like these help us better understand your current print infrastructure before performing a print assessment.

A print assessment and effective monitoring of your printing devices will mitigate any confusion regarding your printing needs. A print assessment can help mitigate a range of print-related concerns about waste of supplies, overspending for supplies or print services, working with an outdated printing device, and more.

LDI’s Printuitive is an application that helps clients consider the printing devices being used, their print consumables, and operating costs.

Learn more from an LDI representative about getting a print assessment today through a one-on-one consultation.

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