GAO reports leading IT practices include Improve Print Management

[#1]

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) July, 2011 report on Green Information Technology identified and recommends 8 leading Green IT practices currently used by both government entities and private sector organizations.  The findings are relevant not just to government agencies --- but to the private sector as well.  The GAO recommendations are based on a thorough, year-long audit and research from myriad sources and provide compelling strategies for organizations to both reduce costs and improve Green IT practices.

One of the leading cost-saving Green IT recommendations from the report is to:

“Implement print management actions beyond duplex printing.  Using responses obtained from its 2009 survey of federal employees, an IT provider estimated that the federal government spends about $1.3 billion annually on employee printing, and about one-third of that total, or about $440.4 million per year, is spent on unnecessary printing.  The survey indicated that 89 percent of federal employees report that their agencies do not have formal printing policies in place – for example, according to federal employees, just 20 percent of agencies have restrictions on color printing; only 11 percent of agencies have policies dictating when to print or not to print; and only 5 percent of agencies require personal password codes to print.  The survey further noted that 69 percent of federal employees believe that their agencies’ documentation processes could realistically be converted from paper to digital trails.  In the non-federal sector, Hewlett-Packard implemented managed print services that reportedly allowed a customer to reduce the number of printers by 47 percent globally, cut per-page print

costs by up to 90 percent, and save more than $3 million in 2 years in the United States alone.”

My question to you --- do you know the true cost of your imaging and printing environment.  If you haven’t implemented Managed Print Services (MPS) I doubt you do.  Here’s why you should at least investigate what MPS can do for your organization --- you can’t control or improve costs you don’t understand.  MPS has helped our customers to reduce costs, reduce security risks, improve environmental sustainability, and, improve business results through document workflow improvements.

Interested in learning more?

» Download the brochure to learn more about HP Managed Print Services.

» Read case studies