Confessions of a Reformed IT Guy

I hate printers.

That was my gut reaction when I started in IT almost 13 years ago. Seriously, if you ask just about any IT-type, you’ll get just about every reaction from disinterest to disgust when you mention the words printer, copier, or fax. Now try to get them to listen your pitch on why they need to do more work to discover that side of the business is really screwed up.

When I started in IT, it was to work on computers and networks. The only reason I even remotely cared about anything that printed was for two reasons:

1. My Microsoft and CompTIA certifications required that I at least have a fundamental understanding of how printers interacted with the things I managed, and
2. The end-users I supported wanted to produce paper for some reason (I had no idea why, though).

Needless to say, printers were an after thought. But the first person people called when their printer didn’t work was me. The nice thing about copiers and faxes was that I didn’t need to know a lot about those, and thankfully, because they were always screwed up or broken.

After I left the Marine Corps, I found employment in my first management job. Well, let’s be clear – they called me an Information Technology Manager, but I don’t think the position was initially anything more than a glorified network administrator. I quickly began looking for some programs I could launch or clean-up that would make my mark, and low and behold it seemed that printers were an area my management team could care less about.

After nine months of in-depth research of our expenditures and workflow with my strategic partner (I could call them that because I was a manager now), I realized just how big of an impact document production had on the business as well as how low a priority everyone placed on it (unless it was broken).

After a rather large implementation of what turned out to be one of the first managed print programs of its kind (2001), I quickly saw a return for my efforts. Associates kept coming and thanking me for the new technology, for being considerate of their needs, and for adding this crazy technology they had never seen – scanning! I was the hero, a man of the people – as it were – and management loved the bottom line savings.

Today, managed print services (MPS) programs are gaining notoriety in one form or another. They are still taking on various shapes and sizes, but CIO’s and IT Directors alike have matured and expanded their realm of interest well into the board room.  While we would be mindful to remember that what consumes our attention, MPS is a smaller part to the overarching strategy today’s C-Level focuses upon. IT folks still don’t like printers any more than they used to, but they are more mindful of its place within the business. As such, the crossroads of the programs we offer must ensure we not only meet the strategic vision set in motion by the corner office, but allay the common concerns of the rank-and-file simultaneously. Once you can comprehensively address both sides of that coin, your program stands a much higher chance of long term adoption by your potential clients.

Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken serves on the board of the new Managed Print Services Association, an international industry organization seeking worldwide best practices for the managed print services industry. He is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting with you.