The MPS company looked at the benefits of cloud for local authorities.
Annodata’s recent research discovered that “while local authorities are moving to the cloud, the print estate is largely being left behind when it comes to cloud adoption”, and that only six percent of councils have employed cloud-based printing, which means that they are being left behind in terms of productivity and efficiency. The information came from a Freedom of Information request sent to 79 local authorities in England.
Rod Tonna-Barthet, Chief Executive Officer at Annodata, commented: “Cloud has a great deal to offer the UK’s public sector due its ability to improve efficiencies, drive cost savings and increase flexibility. Although there seems to be a mounting interest amongst councils in the cloud delivery model for certain aspects of the IT estate, the findings reveal that there are still great strides to be made when it comes to migrating the print estates over to a cloud-based environment.
“The printed page is, undoubtedly, still an integral element for the day-to-day functions of England’s councils, but with inefficient printer estates, that often consist of many different devices, these organisations may very well be leaving themselves open to a deficiency in cost-savings and productivity.”
He further commented that: “Local authorities stand to gain a lot from cloud-based print solutions as they offer the opportunity to control costs by incorporating new efficiencies that ease the burden on the IT department. Additionally, considering that no one really knows what the next year will bring, investing in agile and flexible technology solutions is critical in preventing exacerbated problems further down the line.
“To this end, cloud-based managed print services, which can scale both up and down in line with business demands, allow organisations to remain agile, unencumbered by unnecessary print resources and freed of the time needed to manage them. Print is one of the functions that benefits the most when hosted in the cloud and this is reflected by the fact that organisations that successfully move their print to the cloud routinely report cost savings.
“But when selecting a provider, it’s important for local authorities to choose a partner that best reflects their interests and who is invested in their processes, infrastructure and support network and importantly has a demonstrable track record of delivering these services. With the correct cloud print provider, a simple yet essential process can be migrated to a future-proofed and scalable platform, which will enable local governments to streamline their operations.”