An Education In Managed Print Solutions At The Marist School

We delivered a solution to The Marist School that was reliable, cost effective, and ultimately reduced print wastage to less than 1% of total print volume.

Managed Print Solutions

Managed Print Case Study: The Marist School

 

An Education in Managed Print Solutions at The Marist School

The Marist School Independent Catholic Day School is a renowned centre of excellence for teaching and education in Berkshire. At a time when school budgets are being squeezed and time is so precious, having an efficient use of resources is imperative. Yet their amalgamation of outdated printing services meant that their IT support team were constantly challenged with helpdesk requests, printing downtime was becoming a major inconvenience for staff and costs were high and unmanageable.

At U.K. Office Systems, we believe that printing facilities should make teachers’ lives easier – not harder; that by reducing the costs associated with print wastage, schools will have more money to spend on the things that matter. So, we delivered a solution to The Marist School that was reliable, cost effective, and ultimately reduced print wastage to less than 1% of total print volume.  

Here’s what happened:

Problems with Existing Printing Facilities

When we first met with The Marist School, we identified several problems:

  •       Existing hardware consisted of many brands of predominantly desktop, unsupported Wax technology printers across the school.
  •       Printers were unreliable, demanding constant support from their onsite IT support team, taking them away from core IT tasks.
  •       Only one Multi-Functional colour device was available with limited access and expensive to maintain.
  •       High amount of print wastage and unnecessary colour printing.
  •       A need for increased document security for confidence in printing staff and pupil data.

 

The Managed Print Solution

The school was looking for a cost-effective and controllable solution with first class service and support. This is what we delivered:

  •       9 Multifunctional devices strategically located across the school campus.
  •       Pro-active support from the Premier Managed Technologies team, to identify potential issues before they arise plus reactive support from our locally based technical support team.
  •     PaperCut MF Software managing all printers to track and control print usage. This provides visibility of who is printing what but also allows the school to put controls in place to encourage double sided printing or limit user behaviour.
  •       Find-me printing through PaperCut means that users have to log-in to release their printing, increasing security and reducing paper wastage. 

The Results of a Managed Print Solution

The changes to the printing facilities at The Marist School have had some incredible results, including:

  •       Colour printing reduced from 50% of total pages to 15%.
  •       Print wastage reduced to less than 1% of total print volume.
  •       Reduced printing and print wastage have reduced teaching costs, relieving pressure on school budgets.
  •       Teachers are more satisfied, with less time dealing with broken printers and more time to teach!
  •       Visibility of printer usage means staff can manage their own costs and budget for their printing, encouraging a ‘think before you print strategy’.
  •       Less IT calls logged for printing issues due to the pro-active maintenance provided by the Premier Managed Technologies team.

School Principal Karl McCloskey summarised the impact of these changes perfectly, explaining, “In times when School budgets are being challenged and significantly compressed, efficiencies and cost saving measures are being actively sought across all areas of the school. This engagement with Premier Managed Technologies for a Managed Print Solution has enabled the Marist to achieve print output targets, reduce wastage and consequently drive down overheads in this area and exercise greater financial control of projected costs by determining print costs in advance.”

Printing Downtime Was A Major Source Of Inconvenience For Teaching Staff, Along With Inconsistencies With Varied Functionalities And Locations Of Equipment.
John Philipott 
School Bursar