Executive summaryColour printing is often a forgotten function or taken for granted in organisations, whether machines are purchased outright or, as is increasingly the case, leased on a price per page basis.
The way in which lease contracts are designed encourages organisations to agree on a printing price model for a number of years – typically three to five – and then forget about it.
But does this tell the whole story? Nearly half of companies – 44 percent – do not know how much they pay for colour printing. The same proportion say they would be very interested in reducing the cost of colour printing if they could.
These responses come from a study conducted among Computing’s audience of IT decision makers, which reveals a high degree of opacity of the real costs of printing, despite such contracts.
Businesses often find that the real total cost of ownership of colour printing devices varies widely from the cost per page they thought they had nailed down in the contract.
The survey also highlights a rumbling dissatisfaction with the status quo, even in organisations that buy their own printers and copiers and arrange for maintenance and replenishment of consumables.
This paper argues that the printing model which many organisations have adopted – large, highly specified departmental laser printer/copiers shared among many users – results in unnecessary expense and environmental damage.
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