Office Equipment

You probably lock your phone with a passcode and protect your email with two-factor authentication. But when was the last time you thought about your office printer’s security?

In 2020, researchers at CyberNews hijacked nearly 28,000 printers during an experiment designed to test how exposed networked devices really are. What they discovered was alarming; hundreds of thousands of business printers were left wide open to attack.

For many offices, the printer is the last thing anyone worries about. But by leaving it unsecured, it becomes an entry point for hackers to access sensitive data.

At STPT, we’ve spent more than 35 years helping North Texas businesses protect their office technology. As print vendors and Xerox partners, we know firsthand how overlooked printers are when it comes to cybersecurity.

Margins in the print industry are razor thin. According to IBISWorld, commercial printing revenue has declined at a CAGR of 2.8% to about $76.7 billion over the past five years. That doesn’t mean print is going away, but print shops need to get smarter about the equipment they invest in if they want to stay profitable.

For pay-for-print shops, choosing a production printer can make or break the business model. The right machine can handle a wide range of jobs quickly, keep per-page costs low, and open the door to higher-value services. The wrong one, on the other hand, can eat into margins, slow down turnaround times, or even limit what you can offer your customers.

It’s safe to say most businesses have adopted some form of marketing to help increase leads and brand awareness. 

For example, a common strategy to increase brand awareness is hanging or handing out flyers. Others may take booklets or pamphlets that discuss their products and services to social events. In addition, company employees today still use business cards as a form of advertising.

Regardless of how your business utilizes these materials, the amount of money and time spent on outsourcing these production materials is likely to be higher than if you used a production printer to keep all prints in-house. 

If you work in a nonprofit, you know that every dollar matters. You’re tasked with raising awareness, building community, and inspiring donations. However, you often run on tight budgets and small teams. That means when it comes to printing fundraising mailers, event programs, or donor newsletters, you might feel caught in a tough spot: how do you produce materials that look professional and compelling, without spending more than you can afford?

Many people feel the same. According to Giving USA, total charitable giving in the U.S. reached over $400 billion in 2022. And yet, many nonprofits reported fundraising costs rising at the same time. Printing is a part of that equation, and it can either eat into your budget or help you stretch resources further.

If you’re running a large business, chances are your copier and printer fleet feels a little more like a chaotic traffic jam than a well-orchestrated system. You might have multiple devices across multiple floors or even multiple states, which means IT is constantly fielding supply requests, service calls, and error messages. And let’s be honest, nobody wants their CIO spending Monday morning hunting down why “Printer 12B” is flashing a cryptic error code again.

As a print vendor, we’ve been helping organizations of all sizes tame their printer fleets for over 35 years. As an authorized Xerox partner, we specialize in making large fleets run smoothly, securely, and cost-effectively.

In this guide, we’ll walk through practical steps you can take to optimize your printer fleet—whether that means trimming excess devices, streamlining supplies, or tightening up security.

Table of Contents