The Mission
• Establish costs associated with existing print / copy / fax environment.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of existing output environment.
• Deploy a first class print / copy / fax infrastructure.
• Create substantial savings to eircom across the print / copy / fax environment.
• Migrate work force seamlessly into new output environment.
• Improve productivity and user satisfaction.
The Solution
• Reduction of the number of hardcopy devices across the organisation.
• Upgrading and standardisation of hardcopy devices.
• Introduction of a centralised multi-function environment.
• Migration towards a culture of workgroup printing.
• Implementation of a remote management strategy.
• Provision of training and education to users.
• Ongoing site management.
The Result
• A 'right-sized' print / copy / fax environment.
• Very high level of user satisfaction.
• Printer related calls to internal help desk eliminated.
• Rapid response to user issues.
• Reduced operational issues and maintenance costs.
• Reduced consumables usage cost.
• Reduced number of vendor relationships to manage.
• Increased reliability and functionality.
The Customer
"eircom employees now enjoy a refreshed and modern document output infrastructure in their place of work. The benefits are clear - enhanced end-user productivity, a baseline for spend, significant cost reductions, a single supplier and a single cost per print. Ergo have removed the burden from us, of maintaining our printers and copiers, leaving us free to focus on further strengthening our position as Ireland’s leading telecommunications provider."
Dermot Martin, Director of eircom Supply Chain Management.
Introduction
eircom is Ireland's leading communications company, providing a comprehensive range of advanced voice, data and internet services. The company, formerly known as Telecom Eireann, was established in 1984 when it became a semi-state company. In July 1999, eircom was floated on the New York, London and Dublin Stock Exchanges. eircom plc was bought by Valentia Telecommunications Ltd in November 2001 and subsequently became eircom Ltd. The company employs in excess of 5,000 staff nationwide, with over 14 sites in Dublin and a further ? sites throughout the rest of the country.
Background
As eircom developed and changed structure over a number of years, a culture of ad hoc, departmental, decentralised purchasing evolved. Whenever a need arose for a new printer, a request would simply come from the relevant department to purchasing. There were no guidelines in place in relation to a recommended manufacturer or printer model. This resulted in printers being purchased without any long term plan or thought for how each purchase would effect the overall print infrastructure. New purchases came from a multitude of vendors, making purchasing of both hardware and supplies, an expensive and complicated process.
The print environment consisted of a high volume of personal printers and some workgroup printers being used by only 5 – 10 users. To add to these problems, output volumes were increasing by 21% year on year. The number of printer related calls to the helpdesk was out of proportion, leaving helpdesk staff with little time to concentrate on core IT issues.
By May 2003, it had become apparent that the print environment in eircom was spiralling out of control. It was recognised that, in order to reverse the situation, eircom would require the help and expertise of a professional third party supplier, who was experienced in such situations and therefore could remove the burden of managing the print environment completely, leaving eircom staff free to focus on their core business. An official request for information was issued and following a complex selection process, Ergo were chosen to carry out an audit of eircoms existing print environment and implement any resulting recommendations. Ergo were selected on the basis of value, customer focus, attention to detail, commitment, technical capability, and their track record in similar large environments.
Albeit Ergo can boast the management of output environments in a myriad of prestigious companies, the challenge which they now faced was not to be underestimated. Not only is eircom the largest Irish company to date to have adopted a managed services approach to its output environment but with over 14 sites in Dublin, accounting for over 5 million per annum, the logistics of the project were enormous.
Over a four week period during the Summer of 2003, Ergo set about reviewing the existing print / copy / fax infrastructure within three pilot sites in terms of device type, number and print volumes per machine, department and location. Ergo reported the total costs associated with these functions across the sites and a series of user discussion groups were held to establish end user needs and requirements.
The Solution
Having completed a comprehensive audit, it was clear that the output environment in eircom was unsatisfactory. As every site had its own issues and printing culture, the solution proposed was rolled out on a site by site basis. However, in each case the new output environment consisted of both rejuvenated existing equipment, as well as new state of the art multifunction output devices. Where possible, equipment was standardised to one manufacturer. Personal printers were removed and users were migrated to a culture of workgroup / departmental printing. Although fewer devices were now in place, functionality available from these was greatly increased. Paper wastage was significantly reduced by ensuring that all devices featured the facility to duplex. All devices were connected to the network so that they could be remotely monitored and managed using webjetadmin.
Equipment which was still useful but did not fit into the new output environment was redeployed to more suitable sites. Any equipment which could not be redeployed was disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.
Paramount to the success of the new output environment in each site was its acceptance by the users. Therefore a major emphasis was placed on ensuring that all users were informed about the changes. Extensive training was carried out and informative signage was deployed around each new device. User education was further enhanced by means of frequent progress updates by email via the company newsletter, as well as tip cards, training and presentations, detailing the functionality of new devices. Pre-implementation, focus groups helped to identify user concerns and future requirements. Post-implementation, a survey was carried out amongst a cross section of the eircom staff in order to establish satisfaction and any problem areas which still exist.
Today
Ergo continue to roll out the new solution on a site by site basis. Already seven eircom sites in Dublin have a print / copy / fax solution professionally managed and supported by Ergo that is right sized for their current requirements, while being scalable for future growth. 70% of eircom staff based in Dublin are currently enjoying the benefits of the latest printing technology without the burden of maintenance and support.
Ergo have full time on site engineers who ensure optimum equipment performance at all times. Already the figures for sites where the new system is in place, prove the success of the project. Over the first quarter of implementation, uptime has been increased to 98%, while the cost of printing per user has been reduced by 28%.
As well as rolling out to new sites, Ergo will continue to manage and develop those already enjoying the new system, with a view to increasing the benefits and cost savings already achieved. This will be done by further increasing user education and by further enhancing and upgrading existing equipment.