Harrow College has its printing needs all mapped out thanks to a five-year fully managed print solution from XMA.
The ability to avoid unwelcome and costly surprises can be a useful asset for departments who must deal with constantly changing IT needs. It was certainly a consideration for Anton Saverimuthu, Harrow College’s technical services manager, when he investigated how to upgrade the college’s printing solution.
The college was using a mixture of old and new printers to support the printing needs of its staff and students across two campuses but Mr Saverimuthu wanted to introduce a much more standardised printing solution. He, therefore, opted for a fully managed print solution from XMA after finding the company could fit the right solution to his needs – and that printing costs could be spread over a five-year plan.
He said: “We now have a fully managed solution and XMA bill us a fixed price for our printing needs every quarter. It is based on our historical printing figures, what types of prints we use and how many. We have a five-year plan but after every year we assess and can adjust our payments accordingly.
“The fact our pricing is on a five year contract, based on a quarterly payment for the number of prints we do per quarter, means we have a very clear picture of our costs which is very useful for us. There was also no initial capital outlay required for the replacement hardware or software.”
Harrow College now has around 110 HP printers with printers installed in each classroom. They include 70 new HP 2055dn and two new HP 3525n printers. The solution is based on around 1.83 million prints per year.
The College wanted to retain the PaperCut print management solution, and the data available through it enabled XMA to plan the print solution refresh more effectively. The fully managed service option also includes remote monitoring via Jet Advice and a four hour response break fix support. The deal also gives Harrow College the opportunity to benefit from fortnightly preventative maintenance visits although this will not kick in until the printers need a greater level of maintenance.
The implementation of the solution went very well. There were a lot of printers replaced at two different campuses but everything happened smoothly and the result has matched up with our plans.
A consolidated approach
Mr Saverimuthu said: “Our project intended to get rid of some of our older printers and replace them as well as keep some of the more recent ones. We had different makes and models, a situation which was not ideal, especially as we also were reliant on different consumables. For example, up until this point we had been forced to buy toner from different companies, which could be difficult to keep track of.
“We knew if we standardised on one or two printer models it would make it easier to manage the whole system and enable us to run a much more effective print solution. We could drastically reduce the number of different consumables we had to use. At the same time, I knew I didn’t have too much money available and couldn’t just replace all the printers outright.”
The right solution
Mr Saverimuthu found XMA could provide the answer. He said: “We managed to reduce our solution by around 30 printers all together, keeping some of our existing printers as well as buying new ones. All our consumables are now provided by XMA and come via an automated ordering system as and when we need them.
“I was pleased the company could offer all HP printers, which was what I wanted. What’s more, the cost of the new printers was also worked out within the five year deal so that minimised our initial outlay too and made the whole project much easier.”
Good value as well as good price Mr Saverimuthu added: “Price played a part but it was not the only factor. XMA were competitive but not the cheapest. What was more important to me was that what they could offer exactly fitted with my plans and they had a value-add.”
Another factor in using XMA for Harrow College’s print solution was the reputation the company has built up in the education industry. Mr Saverimuthu said: “HP described XMA as one of its major print resellers and that played a part. We knew they had successfully offered this type of managed service to others in similar positions within our industry which gave me confidence in them.
