HP has unveiled a managed print program built for companies with hybrid workforces in a time of ongoing uncertainty.
The company announced the new offering, which it’s piloting in the U.S., U.K., and Germany at present and expects to roll out broadly next spring, during its online Reinvent conference today.
As its name implies, HP Managed Print Flex aims to help end users adjust print outlays flexibly as business conditions in nonstop flux since the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year continue to change unpredictably.
“Customers don’t have to worry if they’re printing more than they originally planned. The plan will automatically adjust month to month to ensure they get the best pricing based upon their actual volume printed,” says Paul Birkett, HP’s head of commercial software solutions. “You are always playing the right price.”
The program also offers a mix of hardware options ranging from 60 page per minute A3 multifunction printers suited for group use in offices to OfficeJet Pro printers for home-based workers. HP Roam mobile print technology is included as well.
“The ability to work everywhere is now a necessity, not a luxury, to keep businesses running,” Birkett observes.
In addition, subscribers get proactive auto-replenishment of consumables; access to offsite break-fix services with a two-hour call back guarantee and next business day onsite support for issues that can’t be addresses remotely; and an HP Wolf Security pack, expected to reach market late this year or early in 2022, designed to ensure that endpoints are safely configured.
“People are connecting from home beyond the safety of the corporate network, and this makes things significantly higher risk,” Birkett notes.
Information about all of a customer’s devices is consolidated in an analytics dashboard and billed under single contract with a one-year commitment and automatic renewal.
“You’ve got the flexibility to cancel the contract, but you’ve also got the confidence that the contract will continue as long as you need it,” Birkett says.
Pricing is identical for all types of printing. “In this plan, a page is a page,” Birkett says. “Plans don’t differentiate between mono and color printing, meaning businesses no longer need to worry about whether users are printing more color than they originally budgeted for.”
Partners can use Managed Print Flex to add predictable recurring revenue and profit, according to HP, and to accelerate their transition from a transactional, hardware-focused reseller business model to a more durable services-led future. “As you start to sell services based around maintenance and supplies, it becomes much easier for the business to then adapt to other services in the cloud,” Birkett says, citing print management and cloud printing as examples.
For the moment, HP says, its similarly structured Flexworker managed print service for work-from-home teams will remain available as a distinct offering. “It is our intention that Flexworker will eventually roll into Managed Print Flex,” Birkett says.
The worldwide managed print market will expand at a nearly 5% CAGR through 2025 to $6.28 billion, according to Technavio.
Elsewhere at Reinvent today, HP introduced a new customer intelligence platform for members of its Amplify partner program.
