Most printers have one or more of the following print software solutions: a Print MIS, a web-to-print, and potentially a prepress automation tool. If you think about the business of print, these three tools facilitate order entry, order management/costing/scheduling, and file prep, the CORE workflows in the business of print. 

Do you have a designated leader/expert within your organization for each of these software technologies? When we engage with printers around their Print MIS, after we hear about how much they hate their Print MIS and their Print MIS vendor, we ask the question, “Who is your Print MIS administrator?” After a long pause, there is usually an explanation about someone who is no longer with the company but whose role as the Print MIS administrator was never replaced. Do you know why you hate your Print MIS? One of the main reasons is that nobody knows how it actually works or is held responsible for being the expert.

Do you have an individual in your company who is designated as your internal expert for your Print MIS? For very large companies, this might be a 100% dedicated role, but for smaller companies this will be one of many “hats” this person wears. The important part is making that designation, setting the expectations of what that means, and assuring that the vendor knows who your go-to person is for their solution deployed in your organization.