In January 2016, Essex Business Machines were approached by the one of the UK’s largest charities; Age UK. An organisation formed through the merger of Help the Age and Age Concern in 2009, their national influence extends to 520 charity shops that fundraise £47 million a year, and an overall annual income of £160 million.
Due to having replaced their Windows Laptops with Google operated Chrome books. They required a new print solution for the 170 staff based at their Essex offices. This solution would need a connection to Google Drive, and would also have to have the capability for all members of the team to print via Google Cloud Print. The problem was that the incumbent fleet of printing devices were both expensive and unpredictable. They were also unable to connect to the Google Cloud Print platform.
Although Age UK do have in-house IT support in place to deal with help requests, they were simply overwhelmed by the sheer number of devices running across multiple operating systems. To further compound the issue, Age UK also had no insight or control over their existing devices. This meant that they were unable to see how much money was being spent on printing across the organisation, a potentially costly omission.
After a full print audit…
After carrying out a full print audit, we were able to pinpoint the exact issues within the network and begin to establish a solution to them. The first stage was to implement a full managed print service solution that used eight uniform Lexmark devices. This uniformity, combined with the compatibility of Lexmark machines, allowed Age UK to integrate their Chromebooks seamlessly with Google Cloud services. Lexmark are an incredibly flexible manufacturer, making them ideal for this specific task.
Having implemented these changes, Age UK were quick to see significant cost savings across the organisation. There was now also less pressure on the IT resources, as helpdesk requests fell dramatically as a result of the cloud printing solution incorporated. Age UK found that they not only saved in terms of money, but also in time. With staff able to access Google Cloud services, such as Google Drive and Google Cloud Print straight from Lexmark devices. Also giving access cloud print functionality from any location, productivity quickly increased.
And the decision..
The decision we took to select a single manufacturer has also helped Age UK to cut the cost of consumables too. Thanks to more accurate forecasting, there has been less waste and a reduction in unnecessary stockpiling. The ability to store documents in the cloud has also reduced paper usage, again leading to further savings. This combination of benefits has helped Age UK to focus their resources towards improving core business operations and efficiencies. This is something that will certainly benefit them for years to come.
We will be presenting our Age UK case study in more detail. This along with several other successful solutions we have provided, at our Launch Event on the 8th of July. This event will not only give us the chance to exhibit our new office and showroom space. Whilst it gave local businesses an opportunity to see how our solutions have benefited others. Throughout the day, there will be talks, presentations and the opportunity to network. We look forward to seeing everyone on the day, and for more information about either our Age UK solution or the Launch Event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.