I.T. Cost Saving PitfallsCost Saving Mistake #3 - Wasting Money By Trying To Pinch Pennies On Toner.Posted 01/10/08 Trying
to stretch the office consumables budget is something I would
imagine every office manager from time to time has thought
about. But what some office managers fail to consider is that
when it comes to their network printer or multifunction
printer/fax machine there are often factors much more important
than the cost of the ink.In this true story of an IT cost savings plan gone wrong a customer did some quick math and found out they could buy a new multifunction printer for roughly the same cost of a new pack of ink for their exiting machine. Again, as is starting to be the trend in these stories, the office manager acted without consulting her computer service company and bought the new printer herself from a local office supply store. Once the new printer was purchased the office manager got back on the right track and called her support company and asked them to come out and get it installed. The next day, as scheduled, the technician reported onsite to get the job started. Within a few minutes of the project the technician notified the office manager that the new printer would require new software on each of her 12 office computers that had to use that printer for faxing. The office manager approved and the work began. However as most of the computer systems in the office had a few years on them the speed of the software install was nothing to write home about. The exact time to load the software appears to have averaged 45 minutes per system. When the smoke cleared, each client PC had had its software updated, and the printer was set up and tested on the network, the labor bill had hit 12 hours and came in at about $1000. Though such expenditures are often justified and necessary for the good of the office, buying a new printer for the wrong reason, such as to save a few dollars on the cost of a replacement toner, is never a good idea. However in this story, as in our past posts, the office manager acted unilaterally without consulting her long time computer service company. Once that mistake was made, it could be said "the die was cast" and all involved had few options but to move forward with the project. To help protect your next IT cost cutting plan be sure to
contact your local tech support staff and make sure you
understand the entire picture behind what might otherwise seem
like a simple cost IT savings move.
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