Should My School District Implement a Print Management Program

By: Lee Pietrowski

As everyone knows School Districts in Illinois are facing financial difficulties. With the consumer price index only being .01 school districts are finding it impossible to balance a budget with increasing state mandated programs with no additional revenues from the state. School Districts are struggling to find ways to cut budgets to balance the sheets. This usually means that they cut programs, staff, sports, music and extra curricular programs.

One area that school districts always overlook is their printing costs. These costs are usually overlooked because school districts have to print. It is a necessity. Most of the school districts that I have visited do not know how many prints per year the district is doing or for that manner how many laser and ink jet printers they have district wide. This creates an issue of control for both hardware and supplies. Some districts will give a school an annual spending budget and at the end of the year if there is money left most principals will meet with staff to see how to spend it. If this money is used to buy a printer or 2 this does not create an immediate problem but the question I have is who is responsible for maintaining this equipment in the future? Usually it falls on the district. This is called operational money and either way the district is going to pay for it.

This is where a print management program works for school districts. It will standardize printers with equipment that has a low cost per print (an operational cost) just because someone buys a cheap printer does not mean it is cost effective.

• A print management program will eliminate the need for high hourly paid IT technicians to fix units that need roller replacements, imaging kits, and cleared paper jams as all of this is done by the print management company which frees up IT’s time to work on important issues such as the network and software programs.
• A print management program will give you instant data on how many prints are being done district wide and unit wide. You will have important information whether the so called printer is actually needed in an area.
• A print management program will provide your district with a single invoice for all parts, labor and supplies with a cost per print. This will eliminate processing several invoices monthly for different items for the printers from different vendors along with multiple check processing.
• With the implementation of a Print Management Program a school district can look at a cost savings of about 20 – 30% annually. Below are a few questions to ask yourself to see if this program is needed in your district.

Do you know the annual print volume in your district and the annual cost of all supplies associated with your printers?

Is my IT staff short handed whereas they are needed more in servicing our network and software programs instead of fixing printers?

Would you like to save 20 – 30% annually on your districts printing costs?