For a small business, optimizing your printer fleet might just mean upgrading one multi-function machine.
But medium-sized businesses face a few more complications. According to Gartner, a ‘mid-sized enterprise’ is any company with between $50 and $1 billion in revenue, and/or 100 to 1000 employees.
You’re likely dealing with multiple departments, satellite offices, and the headaches of a multi-cloud IT environment.
When you make that jump from small to medium, printing gets messy, and fast. Optimizing your fleet is a balancing act between productivity, cost, and security. You need a setup that’s big enough for your scale but simple enough to manage without a massive dedicated team.
Consolidate and “right-size” your fleet
The first step is figuring out exactly how many printers you need. Medium-sized businesses often suffer from “printer sprawl,” where too many underutilized machines drive up maintenance costs. You should assess your actual usage patterns and move toward multifunction devices (MFDs).
If you’re still using single-function desk printers, it’s time to upgrade. Choose models that match your team’s real demands – this consolidation reduces unnecessary machines, cuts operational costs, and makes management much easier for your IT staff and sysadmins.
Win-win!
Invest in quality print management software
You need instant visibility over your entire network to manage it effectively. Without quality software, a lot of medium-sized businesses have no real way of knowing how much they’re printing, or how much a given user or department is printing, let alone stuff like load-balancing and job queuing to maximize network efficiency.
Print management software synced with your Active Directory lets you monitor activity in real time. Once you have this visibility, you can set print quotas and encourage double-sided printing. These simple changes can lead to a 50% reduction in paper costs almost immediately.
It’s the best way to gain control over your business printing expenses.
Roll out secure print release
With dozens or potentially hundreds of staff printing, not only do your printers represent a huge cost sink – they’re also a security risk. That’s why we always recommend medium-businesses implement secure print release.
With secure print release, jobs have to be physically ‘released’ in person at the MFD where users can authenticate using swipe cards, passwords, or PINs. This stops sensitive documents from sitting unclaimed in a paper tray where anyone can see them, and strengthens your print security.
Standardize your procurement process
As a medium-sized business, you’ve probably accrued a number of printers and MFDs over the years. Different models. Different brands. Different operating systems.
Using multiple printer brands leads to higher costs for toner and paper, and creates fragmented maintenance contracts that are hard to track. We recommend standardizing your fleet to one or two brands to simplify your support systems.
Standardization is cheaper and less hassle for your procurement team, and usually lets you leverage bulk purchasing discounts and consolidate maintenance under one provider. This reduces downtime and ensures your IT team isn’t wasting time on various driver issues.
Move your print network to the cloud
Large, dispersed workforces really need cloud print to operate effectively, so if you haven’t moved your print network to the cloud, now’s a good time.
By integrating cloud printing solutions either in a private or public cloud environment, your remote and hybrid workers can print securely from anywhere, on any device.
Just make sure your mobile device management (MDM) systems include policies for secure print access from BYOD or company-issued devices to ensure they don’t become a vulnerability.
Cloud printing is a logical fit for businesses that already use the cloud for document storage.
Automate for long-term efficiency
Most medium-sized business run through a pretty linear evolution when it comes to printing. They start with ad-hoc desk printers, then move to a more centralized model.
Next comes print management software, followed by cloud and BYOD printing.
The final phase of optimization is a fully integrated, automated environment. You can start by setting up automated backups and group synchronization. Automating account creation and consumable procurement saves your team both time and money.
When your infrastructure is synced from top to bottom, you’ll know you’ve fully optimized your fleet. This proactive management prevents budget overruns and ensures a seamless experience for all staff. It transforms your printing from a hidden expense into a measurable asset.
At this stage, you can start to look at things like AI and automation: setting automated backups, group synchronization, account creation, consumable procurement, server deployment, user account balances, the works.
When all that’s running smoothly, you’ll know you’ve fully optimized your printer fleet.
The transition to a managed print environment is a journey that pays for itself through reduced waste and heightened security. By standardizing your hardware and moving administration to the cloud, you’ll gain the visibility needed to make smarter procurement decisions. This strategic shift ensures your business remains scalable and secure as your team continues to grow.
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