How a Managed Print Assessment Works — And What You Should Expect

What Is a Managed Print Assessment?

A managed print assessment is a structured review of the equipment, costs, service history, supplies, workflows, and user experience associated with an organization's printers and copiers. Its purpose is to identify where the current environment is working, where it is creating avoidable cost or downtime, and what should happen next.

That next step may be to repair a machine, retain it, move it under a service plan, add monitoring, standardize several devices, change a workflow, consolidate underused equipment, or replace a device that is no longer reliable or supportable. A credible assessment does not begin with the assumption that everything must be replaced.

For organizations with multiple devices, recurring toner purchases, inconsistent settings, or frequent service problems, an assessment creates the baseline needed to design a practical managed print services program. It can also reveal that a smaller intervention—such as a service plan, driver cleanup, or scan configuration—may solve the immediate problem without a fleet-wide change.

Information to Prepare Before the Assessment

A provider can still begin with limited information, but the following records make the assessment more accurate and reduce the number of assumptions.

• Current device list: printers, copiers, multifunction devices, label printers, and specialty equipment.
• Meter readings and usage reports: black-and-white, color, scanning, and departmental volume where available.
• Service history: recent repair invoices, repeat failures, unresolved complaints, and average downtime.
• Supply purchases: toner, drums, maintenance kits, waste containers, and emergency orders.
• Lease and service agreements: payment terms, included volume, escalators, renewal language, and end-of-term obligations.
• User complaints: slow printing, poor quality, color restrictions, scan failures, driver problems, or confusing workflows.
• Network and security requirements: authentication, address books, secure print, email platform, document retention, and compliance needs.
• Upcoming changes: office moves, growth, downsizing, mergers, remote work, software migrations, or operating-system upgrades.

Repair, Retain, Monitor, Consolidate, or Replace?

Every device should be evaluated independently. A seven-year-old copier may still be reliable and inexpensive to operate, while a newer desktop printer may be generating high toner cost and recurring support calls.

• Retain: the device remains reliable, supportable, appropriately sized, and economical.
• Repair: a specific failure can be corrected at a reasonable cost without creating excessive future risk.
• Monitor: the device is working, but usage, supplies, or service history should be tracked before making a larger decision.
• Move: the device is useful but assigned to the wrong department, volume, or workflow.
• Consolidate: multiple lightly used devices can be reduced without harming access or productivity.
• Replace: reliability, parts availability, security support, workflow limitations, or operating cost make continued use difficult to justify.
• Retire: the device is unnecessary, unsupported, insecure, or too expensive to keep active.

Our Upgrade vs. Keep guide provides a more detailed framework for comparing repair cost, reliability, security, and workflow impact before replacing equipment.

What the Assessment Deliverable Should Include

The value of the assessment is not the device list. It is the quality and transparency of the recommendations that follow.

• Fleet inventory: every device, location, age, meter, ownership status, and primary use.
• Current-state findings: volume, cost, reliability, service, supply, workflow, and security observations.
• Device-by-device recommendation: retain, repair, monitor, move, consolidate, replace, or retire.
• Priority levels: immediate risks, near-term improvements, and optional longer-term changes.
• Financial assumptions: volumes, rates, equipment terms, service inclusions, and estimated support costs.
• Implementation plan: sequencing, installation, driver deployment, user communication, testing, and transition support.
• Service model: response expectations, parts, supplies, monitoring, reporting, escalation, and account ownership.
• Exceptions and limitations: what is not included, which assumptions need confirmation, and what could change the recommendation.

A decision-maker should be able to read the report and understand why each recommendation was made—even if the organization chooses not to move forward with that provider.

When a Managed Print Assessment Is Worth Doing

An assessment is especially useful when an organization is experiencing one or more of the following:

• Several printers or copiers are supported through different vendors, agreements, or supply sources.
• Toner is frequently ordered manually, arrives late, or accumulates in storage.
• Repair calls are recurring, but no one has a complete view of service history or downtime.
• Employees rely on workarounds because scanning, drivers, address books, or finishing options are inconsistent.
• The organization is preparing for a move, merger, expansion, consolidation, or technology migration.
• Leases are approaching renewal and the organization needs an independent view before signing another agreement.
• Leadership wants predictable costs but does not know the true current cost of printing.
• Security, compliance, firmware, or data-retention concerns are increasing.
• The organization suspects it has too many devices—or too few devices in the wrong places.

A small office may only need a focused device and workflow review. A multi-location organization may need a full fleet inventory, contract analysis, usage reporting, and implementation plan. The assessment should scale to the actual problem.