Printers & Copiers for Business | Ricoh Canada

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4 Keys to a Successful Printer Upgrade
MoreThanPrint
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4 Keys to a Successful Printer Upgrade
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Business research giant Gartner recently
published its Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends
for 2020, and not surprisingly the report puts
hyperautomation at the top of its list.
4 Keys to a Successful Printer Upgrade
While automation isnt new, hyperautomation
increases the speed of systems integration. In
the case of a printer upgrade, hyperautomation
means combining features and functions of
multifunction printers with secured data storage,
workflow management, remote intelligence and
supportand thats just the short list.
Goal setting
Get stakeholder buy-in
When people in traditional office environments
start thinking beyond basic printing and scanning
functions, and consider the advantages of dynamic
cloud-connectivity, they realize how many
opportunities they have for improving workflow,
data storage and retrieval, content management,
and remote access.
Plan for the best
Successful upgrades to intelligent print
solutions follow four steps for maximizing the
benefits of digital document management.
Together, they help you set a clear course, gain
and maintain internal support, plan for the best
outcomes, and maintain transparency for a
satisfying transition.
Communicate!
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1. Goal setting
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Determine your goals for remote access and
productivity Remote access drives productivity by
eliminating obstacles that slow or stop the flow
of information. When you estimate needs for print
and scan volume, you can make informed decisions
about required device specifications. For
example, when you know printing volume and
purpose, you can select equipment that supports
everyones productivity by providing access when
people need it from wherever they need it, with
the features they want, including converting
scanned files to text, routing documents directly
to secured storage applications, and a host of
other productivity tools.
A companys digital journey is its path to the
future.
Moving to the cloud is fundamental to any growth
strategy because no other resource is as flexible
and scalable as a cloud-based platform for the
intelligent devices in your operational
infrastructure.
But how will you measure success?
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1. Goal setting
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Meet protection and compliance requirements Today
s connected work environments make information
protection an ongoing priority. Protection should
include a layered approach that starts at the
device level and expands to include protection
for the network, your server, and applications.
Set workflow automation goals As a significant
contributor to cost savings, workflow automation
eliminates redundant tasks and frees up employees
to engage in more rewarding, productive
activities. Answers to the following questions
about workflow automation goals will get you off
to a good start
Cloud-based protection and compliance provides a
standardized and consistent
user experience across intelligent devices,
regardless of location. As a result, standardized
authentication codes, access keys, and remote
password protection provide the most flexible and
secured access to documents stored in the cloud.

• Which manual operations eat up valuable time?
• Which document-based processes need streamlining?
• Which financial controls (usage, waste,
  estimating) need tightening?
• Which processes are exposing the greatest
  security risks?

Asking the right questions has a way of raising
concerns from the people you ask, and those
concerns are invaluable because they lead to
insights about what you really need from a
cloud-enabled print solution.
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1. Goal setting
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Dont forget about the future While understanding
current needs is essential, successful upgrades
also account for future business planning needs,
which questions like these help you measure

• Approximately how many new employees will need
  access to printing, scanning, and related cloud
  applications?
• How are needs for remote access likely to change
  over time?
• What role will digital transformation play in
  changing my future print requirements?

Business growth relies heavily on scalability.
Cloud- based services scale to meet projected
growth in a cost-effective way quickly and with
minimal disruption to workflow.
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2. Get key stakeholder buy-in
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No intelligent printing device is an island, so
stakeholder buy-in is essential to a successful
upgrade. Because most departments are familiar
with basic printer functions, most people will
have some idea of the value that an upgrade can
bring.
Intelligent printing devices have advanced so
quickly that some might not have a clear vision
of the advantages, such as cloud- based workflows
and document management.
Departmental needs and interests Listening to
peoples unique document management requirements
always reveals what you need to know to get and
keep buy-in namely, opportunities for taking
full advantage of intelligent device features.
Taking steps to learn about department-specific
needs is therefore a good place to start. What do
people in different departments print, manage,
scan, store, retrieve, and distribute? What are
their needs for process automation and remote
access?
Sometimes, people arent able to put their needs
into words, so you can ask, How would you use
scanning, data capture, document storage,
retrieval, and distribution if you had a system
that could do all of that?
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2. Get key stakeholder buy-in
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Executive sponsorship How does a printer upgrade
align with executive priorities? Productivity
advantages of todays cloud-based devices help
people do more, period. And, they automate usage
monitoring and analytics that drive cost savings.
IT support and maintenance When you assess MFP
needs, IT managers will always raise questions
about maintenance and support, and rightfully so.
Fortunately, todays cloud devices offer
intelligent tools, applications, and services to
remotely support device users and maximize device
uptime. This includes instant access to customer
service, automated updates, alerts and self-help
tools providing you a number of options for
troubleshooting to keep print, scan, copy and fax
processes running smoothly and efficiently.
An upgrade enables organizations to protect,
manage, and connect with information more
efficientlyan advantage that benefits everyone.
An upgrade can also improve customer experience
by enabling employees to be more responsive, with
more current information, in less time.
In addition, by coupling the device with fully
managed, cloud-based applications for your
workflow and content management needs, you can
free up your IT personnel to add more value to
other strategic business initiatives.
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3. Plan for the best
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Plan for E-waste disposal Disposing of electronic
devices, or e-waste, in an environmentally
friendly way is the right thing to do, and in
some states, its the law. Recycling of
end-of-life consumables and supplies reduces
environmental impact. If your state doesnt have
a local program, Ricohs free program for
returning used e-waste such as toner cartridges
and maintenance kits is easy for you to use, and
it operates in accordance with state recycling
laws.
A successful upgrade relies on the plans you make
for several important details waste
disposal, testing, transitioning, communicating,
and managing risk.
Plan for testing Budgeting time for testing is a
smart move that ensures processes run smoothly,
across platforms and sites, for the people who
use them. When testing occurs throughout the
processfrom assessing needs, devising user
scenarios, specifying functionality, syncing with
online services, and accessing protected
documents most people will have the answers they
need by launch time. Because time is money,
frequent testing helps ensure productive,
satisfying launches.
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3. Plan for the best
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Transitioning A rollout isnt an event its a
process The rollout shouldnt be the first time
users see upgrades. Phased rollouts that include
testing in limited environments help you catch
glitches that sometimes remain invisible until
someones specific needs surface. Finding those
glitches before THE rollout is a good thing.
Similarly, a phased approach helps people get
familiar with just a few changes at a time. Plan
for risks Failing to plan is planning to fail,
people often say. On the other hand, planning to
fail can be a wise move if you think about it as
a risk assessment. Knowing what can go wrong
helps you plan for contingencies and meet
challenges before they worsen. Choose your
timing carefully Timing is key. Organizations
must choose their timing carefully to avoid
disruption and downtime. In some cases, you might
move to the cloud during the day to ensure
support coverage. In other cases, you could take
advantage of predictably slow periods of the
week, month, or year
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4. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
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When you keep the following guidelines in mind,
you support a transition that is satisfying for
everyone and enables a faster return on
investment.
Intelligent device evangelists play a central
role in the adoption of new business processes,
managing expectations and maintaining
transparency through frequent communication.
Communicate goals and vision early and
often Communicating the stages and goals of the
upgrade process helps people predict and account
for changes in routinesand it helps remind
everyone of the features, advantages, and
benefits of the changes youre making. And
stakeholders are sure to be on the lookout for
specific plans and milestones.
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4. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
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Give people plenty of notice and time to
adjust Did we mention the importance of
communication? Change is bound to create some
mild anxiety and occasional frustration, but
advanced notice and frequent reminders are simple
ways to engage everyone in the transition while
allowing questions and issues to arise without
the additional stress of unannounced change. The
phased rollout approach we discussed earlier will
also give people time to adjust to new routines
and can help tremendously by eliminating the
pressure to make lots of changes all at once.
Maintain great documentation Process
documentation serves the important goal of
getting and keeping everyone on the same page
during what can be a complex process. Documentatio
n helps you measure progress, and it can be a big
time saver, especially when you can direct people
to it for answers to their frequently asked
questions. Compiling and updating FAQs are
valuable references for people as they gain
familiarity with upgrades. FAQs also minimize the
need for outreach on common issues or recurrent
meetings and communication about common questions.
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4. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
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Dont forget to thank everyone Thanking everyone
for their input, patience, flexibility, and
cooperation helps to preserve positive attitudes
by acknowledging the challenges that come with
innovative change.
The most successful printer upgrades rely on a
collaborative process of assessing needs, meeting
goals, and maintaining transparency.
For more detailed information on managing printer
upgrades, read our white paper More Value More
Quickly from Your Printer Investment.
Download the White Paper
1Alexander Benlian, William J. Kettinger, Ali
Sunyaev, Till J. Winkler Guest Editors (2018)
Special Section The Transformative Value of
Cloud Computing A Decoupling, Platformization,
and Recombination Theoretical Framework, Journal
of Management Information Systems, 353, 719-739,
DOI 10.1080/07421222.2018.1481634