A number of Ricoh dealers have joined the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA) through the Ricoh ChaMPS program this year. This special initiative lets Ricoh Family Group (RFG) dealers join the MPSA for a significant reduction off the regular corporate membership. Channel members who've recently signed on with MPSA under the Ricoh ChaMPS program include A&B Business, Electro Imaging Systems, Meridian Imaging Solutions and Smart Technologies.

Meridian Imaging Sees Trend Towards More Customized MPS

One of the new members, Meridian Imaging Solutions, has offered printer service and supplies for over 15 years. In this brief interview, Managed Print Specialist Tara Ingels offers some background on how Meridian has approached the MPS model for its customers.

Meridian has offered managed print services for several years, however over the past two years, we have become more focused than ever on best practices and partnering approaches with our customers. We developed our first true "managed print services" program in 2005, using CarbonSix to perform assessments of customer's print environments.

That approach evolved into us investing in our own fleet monitoring application (PrintFleet and now FM Audit) to provide a true cost-per-print approach and to provide automation of printing for the customers. These tools have equipped us with a powerful way to provide rapid assessments, pro-active fleet monitoring and management and on-demand reporting for account reviews.

MPS is booming not only throughout the industry, but also within our customer base, and organizations within every niche. It is no longer perceived as a concept, but more so a necessity, as every company has had to take a closer look at their operating expenses and make unprecedented cuts to their bottom line. It's our goal to establish long-term relationships with our customers and to implement and develop a strategic managed print approach unique to each individual account.

Developing MPS as a Profession and a Business Model

"Meridian's evolution as an MPS provider offers an example for other office technology companies that want to take that path. We look forward to their participation in the MPSA to help us develop managed print services as a profession and as a business model," said MPSA President, Joe Barganier.

"Our membership with MPSA is really about growing and developing our MPS approach and strategy on an ongoing basis," said Ingels. "Printing and copying are moving targets, and we know that MPS is also a rapidly growing trend. We want to make sure we continue to offer the best service, recommendations, and partnering approaches to our customers, and MPSA will help us do that. Being a member isn't just about short-term benefits and enhancements to our program, is about staying informed so that we know how to create long-term partnerships with our customers so that they trust we are experts within their organization."