Managed Print Contract
Red Flags

1.  The price looks almost too good to be true

Let’s start with the obvious one. If one provider is dramatically cheaper than everyone else, it’s worth asking why.

A lower headline price isn’t necessarily a bad thing as providers have different cost structures and there may be perfectly legitimate reasons for a significant difference between quotes.

The important thing is to understand exactly what the price includes. Does it cover all labour and parts? What about consumables? Are there additional delivery charges? What kind of helpdesk support is included? Is there a minimum monthly volume commitment? Are there separate charges for workflow software, installation or network configuration?

The cheapest quote isn’t necessarily the cheapest overall over the lifetime of the contract, so it’s important to look beyond the price per page and understand the total cost of ownership.

2. You’re being asked to commit to volumes you don’t actually print

Some contracts include minimum monthly or annual print volumes.

That can be perfectly reasonable where the pricing has been structured around an agreed level of usage that’s based on audit data. The problem arises when the commitment bears little resemblance to what your organisation actually prints.

If your contract says you’ll pay for 500,000 pages a year but your organisation only produces 350,000, you’re effectively paying for print that never happens.

Your historic and current print data should form part of the conversation and should be thoroughly assessed.

If a provider can’t explain how the proposed volumes have been calculated, ask.

And if your organisation’s printing habits are changing, with trends pointing to these volumes moving up or down, make sure the contract gives you enough flexibility to reflect that.

 

3. The contract is full of “from” prices

“From £X per month.”

“Prices starting at Xp per page.”

“Devices from £X.”

These phrases should prompt another question: what will I actually pay?

A contract should make the commercial model understandable and should never be vague. You shouldn’t need to decode a pricing structure to work out what the service is going to cost your organisation.

Ask for a complete breakdown of the charges, including the things that aren’t immediately obvious from the initial proposal.

If the provider is reluctant to provide that level of transparency before you sign, that’s worth paying attention to.

 

4. Annual price increases are buried in the small print

A contract can look competitive when you sign it and become considerably less competitive a few years later if prices begin to ratchet up.

Annual price increases are common in long-term service agreements, particularly given changing labour, logistics, equipment costs especially in times of high inflation. It’s worth being aware of much it can increase by and how that increase is calculated.

Look carefully at the wording around annual reviews. Is there a fixed percentage? Is it linked to inflation? Is there a cap? Does it apply to every part of the contract or only certain charges?

A seemingly small annual percentage increase can make a significant difference over a five-year agreement. It’s worth understanding the future price, not just what that price is today.

 

5. The contract makes it difficult to leave

Long-term agreements exist for a reason, particularly where equipment has been financed or installed as part of the service.

But there’s a difference between a reasonable multi-year commitment and a contract that makes it unnecessarily difficult to change provider.

Look at the termination clauses carefully. What happens if the service isn’t meeting expectations? What happens if your organisation changes significantly? What happens if you close an office, acquire another business or move to a different working model?

You don’t need to assume that you’ll want to leave. You simply need to understand what happens if circumstances change.

Over a three-, four- or five-year contract, they probably will so it’s good to plan ahead.

 

6. The hardware is being chosen before taking the time to understand your requirements

This is one of the biggest warning signs. If the conversation starts with a list of printer models rather than questions about your organisation, something may be off.

A good print solution should start with understanding how your people work. How much are you printing? Where? In colour or monochrome? What types of documents are being produced? Which locations have the greatest demand? Are there security requirements? Are people working remotely? Are certain devices critical to particular departments?

That’s why a thorough, site-based print audit is so important. It should go beyond counting devices and recording model numbers. A proper audit should map where devices are located, who uses them, what they’re used for, how much they print and where there are gaps, duplication or unnecessary cost. Crucially, it should also look beyond the current state and consider what the print environment needs to look like in the future. That gives you a roadmap for rationalising the fleet, improving efficiency and making sure any investment supports how your organisation is likely to work over the coming years.

A good print assessment should look at:

• Device location and utilisation
• Print volumes by device/user/location
• Colour vs mono usage
• Device age and reliability
• Cost per device
• Consumable usage
• Security requirements
• User and departmental requirements
• Workflow requirements
• Future changes to the organisation

Only once those questions have been answered does it make sense to start talking about hardware.

If you’ve been presented with a fleet of devices before anyone has properly assessed your environment, ask why.

The right device is the one that fits the requirement, not necessarily the one the provider happens to have available.

 

7. “Managed” actually means “we’ll fix it when it breaks”

There’s a big difference between maintaining printers and managing a print environment.

If the service you’re being offered is essentially a reactive break-fix arrangement with automatic toner delivery, you’re getting something useful, but it may not really deserve the word “managed”.

A genuinely managed service should involve more than waiting for something to go wrong. You should be able to understand how devices are monitored, how issues are identified, how consumables are managed and how performance is reviewed. It should also be backed by the right support infrastructure, with a clear point of contact when something does go wrong.

A UK-based helpdesk can make a real difference here, providing accessible support during UK working hours and helping to coordinate issues quickly rather than leaving users to navigate a remote or fragmented overseas support process.

There should also be a mechanism for looking at the wider environment over time. Because if the provider is still managing exactly the same fleet in exactly the same way five years later, what exactly is being managed?

 

8. There’s no clear approach to print security

Printers are network-connected devices, and connected devices need to be secured just like any other endpoint.

Your contract should make it clear who is responsible for maintaining the security of the print environment and what that responsibility includes.

That could involve secure print release, user authentication, firmware management, encryption, access controls, device configuration and monitoring.

The precise requirements will depend on your organisation, but the important thing is that security shouldn’t be treated as an optional extra that appears halfway through the conversation.

Ask how print security fits into the wider IT and cybersecurity strategy.

If the answer is vague, keep asking questions.

 

9. The contract doesn’t state what happens if your circumstances change

Your organisation today probably won’t look exactly the same three years from now.

You might open or close offices, increase headcount, reduce your office footprint, introduce more hybrid working or acquire another business.

A rigid print contract can become a problem when the organisation changes around it.

Before signing, understand how easy it is to add or remove devices, move equipment between locations and adjust service levels.

Also ask what happens if your print volumes change significantly. A good contract should recognise that businesses evolve.

You shouldn’t have to keep paying for an environment designed around the organisation you were three years ago simply because the contract says so.

 

10. Nobody can explain what happens at the end

It’s surprisingly easy to focus so heavily on getting a new fleet installed that nobody talks about what happens when the contract finishes.

• Who owns the equipment?
• Is there a residual payment?
• What happens to devices that are being leased?
• What happens to your data? How are devices securely wiped or decommissioned?
• What happens to the software and print management infrastructure?
• And, perhaps most importantly, what happens if you decide not to renew?

These shouldn’t feel like awkward questions. They’re sensible questions to ask before entering into a multi-year commercial relationship.

A provider that is confident in the value of its service shouldn’t be concerned or guarded about explaining the exit process.

A good contract should protect both sides

None of these red flags means you should approach every Managed Print contract expecting to find something wrong.

A well-structured contract benefits both the customer and the provider in a balanced and fair way. It establishes clear responsibilities, sets realistic expectations and provides a framework for delivering the service over several years.

The key is transparency – you should understand what you’re paying for, what you’re committing to, what happens when things go wrong and how the arrangement can adapt as your organisation changes.

You should also be able to see how the service will improve your print environment rather than just maintain it, which is an important distinction.

A Managed Print contract shouldn’t lock you into current requirements. It should give you a framework for continually improving the way your organisation prints which remains flexible over time.

Before you sign, ask better questions

Choosing a Managed Print provider shouldn’t come down to whoever offers the lowest cost per page or the newest-looking printer.

The better questions are:

• What will this actually cost us over the full contract term?
• What are we committing to?
• What happens if our requirements change?
• What does “managed” actually include?
• How will our print environment be monitored and improved?
• Who is responsible for security?
• What happens if we decide to leave?

If a provider can answer those questions clearly and without pages of contractual small print, you’re probably starting from a much stronger position.

What should a good Managed Print contract include?

Something like:

• Clear total cost and pricing structure
• Volumes based on actual print data
• Defined service levels and response times
• Clearly stated inclusions/exclusions
• Print security responsibilities
• Flexibility to add/remove/move devices
• Regular service and fleet reviews
• Clear performance reporting
• Defined termination and exit arrangements
• A mechanism for continuous improvement

At Xeretec, we believe Managed Print should go beyond delivering equipment and locking customers into long-term contracts.

Our assessment-led approach starts with understanding your existing environment, identifying where improvements can be made and building a service around the way your organisation actually works.