The Price of Print: Managed Services versus Per Copy Pricing

Beautiful Woman Cutting Costs

If you are trying to cut your print costs, you have probably considered print management or another managed service to help you with that endeavor. But, do you know the difference between print management and cost-per-copy? Although similar—you pay a certain cost per page that you output—there are differences and depending on your specific business needs and budget, one might better than the other.

Cost-Per-Copy Printing

Cost-per-copy (CPC) is part of your maintenance agreement, and it means that you only pay for the pages you print. Although this type of agreement means we handle any copier breaks if they occur, it does not include supplies, such as toner or paper.

It is different than print management in that there is no accompanying strategy to help you maximize your device use and streamline your spending. With CPC, once your average monthly print volume is established, we provide you the right equipment and then the cost per copy that you make. Your contract will cover a specific number of color and black-and-white copies per month with overage fees.

Print Management Services

Print management is broader and more encompassing than CPC. With print management, we will evaluate your entire fleet of print equipment and create an overarching strategy. This comprehensive plan will cover equipment, print volume, print rules and more. The first step of completing the assessment will set you up for future success and cost savings. For example, reducing the number of desktop jet printers and replacing them with a centrally located multifunction printer will streamline your fleet and your spending.

With print management, we will still allocate a number of pages printed per month—color and black-and-white. But, we will also monitor your supplies and send what you need when you need it so that you don’t have to track it. With supply monitoring included, you never have to worry about running out of toner. We will also monitor and manage the maintenance of your print devices.

So, although they are similar, cost-per-copy and print management both have strengths and weaknesses. If you need help determining which is the best option for your company, contact us today.