The Principal Financial Group

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the Principal Financial group HP Managed Print Services deliver savings, improve print management

“The Principal now has a comprehensive understanding of our cost of printing with MFPs across the enterprise. We’ve taken significant steps to actively manage that cost. We also realize there’s still more we can do. That’s why we’ve chosen to work with HP.” —Jan Blessum, assistant director of IT, The Principal Financial Group

HP customer case study: HP MPS solution improves print management, optimizes with HP MFPs Industry: Financial services

Objective: Improve efficiency of print services Approach: The Principal Financial Group centralized responsibility for PC print services using HP Managed Print Services and MFPs improvements: • Automated toner reordering through HP Web Jetadmin software • Simplification of printer administration using HP Universal Print Driver Business benefits: • Cost savings of more than $1.3 million from printer optimization • $172,000 savings in paper costs in 2008-09 through use of duplex printing • Footprint reduction of 38% • Improved uptime • Reduced power consumption resulting from device consolidation, use of sleep mode • Better understanding of print costs

When The Principal Financial Group decided to centralize responsibility for PC print services, Jan Blessum, the assistant director of IT who became the service owner for PC print, realized it was time to make some significant changes. “We had way too many small workgroup and personal printers, an extremely high printer-toemployee ratio, and service from our vendor was far below the standard we wanted,” she acknowledges. And without a centralized approach, it was impossible for the company to get a true picture of its costs and printer use.

The Principal set out to identify and implement a comprehensive solution. It chose a Managed Print Services (MPS) solution from HP. HP print expertise delivers Three years into its MPS contract, the company had achieved real improvements. Its printerto-employee ratio was trimmed nearly in half, savings of some $1.3 million from printer optimization was realized, and paper- and energy-saving measures were implemented to provide both environmental and savings benefits. Based on those successes, it renewed the HP contract, negotiating even deeper savings in its cost per page going forward. “We were originally drawn to HP because it offered a comprehensive support model to increase efficiency and improve service,” Blessum notes. “That outcome was delivered.”

“Print service traditionally was not considered a critical service before. But that has changed. The MFPs are being used to help people automate their business processes, and they count on them heavily.” —Jan Blessum, assistant director of IT, The Principal Financial Group

It all started with a detailed assessment of usage, combined with a plan to consolidate and optimize devices. Employees from each of the company’s business units were surveyed and consulted about their printer, copier and fax machine use. Then Blessum, her team, and the HP team designed a plan to replace many of the older devices with HP multifunction printers (MFPs) that combine all those capabilities in a single device, with higher print speeds. The plan was customized by floor and department to deliver finishing capabilities and color output where needed.

CUSTOMER SOLUTION AT A GLANCE Primary applications Office printing, copying, scanning, faxing

Primary software • HP Web Jetadmin • HP Universal Print Driver

HP Services Primary hardware • HP Managed Print Services • HP LaserJet 9050 MFP • HP Color LaserJet CM6040 MFP • HP LaserJet 4345 MFP • HP Color LaserJet CM4730 MFP

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Among the HP devices on which The Principal standardized are the HP LaserJet 9050 MFP, a high-volume black-and-white unit with output speeds up to 50 pages per minute (ppm); the HP Color LaserJet CM6040 MFP, a high-volume color unit with output speeds up to 40 ppm; HP LaserJet 4345 MFP, a medium-volume black-and-white unit; and HP Color LaserJet CM4730 MFP, a mediumsized color unit. Blessum says the company initially had an overall printer-to-employee ratio of 1:6.5. After replacing more than half of the company’s “workgroup” printers—many of which were actually personal printers located on individual desktops—the company has improved that ratio to 1:11, reducing the footprint of printers by 38%. And after some interim exemptions are retired or removed, the ratio will eventually reach nearly 1:12, which is in the range of Industry Best Practice. “The printer consolidation was a culture shift,” Blessum explains. “Employees had become accustomed to a personal printer just for them. We explained that we were switching to shared MFPs that would provide greater capability and higher speeds.” Blessum and her staff continued toward the goal of streamlined print management. Now employees have adjusted to the objective of higher capability MFPs nearby as a shared device. MFPs are typically located within 30 feet of all the employees they serve. A year after the initial optimization, Blessum’s team surveyed users. “We found that everybody leverages the new devices and features they have now—things like scan-to-email, faxing, and the greater power they have at the desktop,” she says. A new print management model Under the Managed Print Services agreement, The Principal pays a single monthly bill. It incorporates lease payments for the HP MFP devices deployed as part of the MPS agreement, service, on-site support, and a “click charge” per page printed or copied.

“We were originally drawn to HP because it offered a comprehensive support model to increase efficiency and improve service. That outcome was delivered.” —Jan Blessum, assistant director of IT, The Principal Financial Group

The company also has a dedicated on-site account manager from HP at its headquarters. That person reports each month on the company’s MFP usage, and manages a special portal that hosts the HP MFPs, alerts the support team when a printer or MFP goes offline, maintains a current inventory and “click” count, and provides statistics on service and supplies. As a result, Blessum’s team now has excellent insight into how the company is using its print resources. “We get a holistic view of our MFP usage and expenses,” she notes. “It’s all in one place. We can use that information to accurately assign costs based on usage of each device. And we can automate management of the devices for greater efficiency.” The Principal deployed the HP Universal Print Driver—a single print driver that works with any HP device, in place of specialized drivers for each device. That saves Blessum’s in-house support staff time that would otherwise be spent on updating and troubleshooting driver issues, and reduces complexity. It also has used HP Web Jetadmin software to manage devices, such as setting duplex printing as the default print mode. That has led to amazing results: duplex printing has increased from under 13% of all pages printed in 2008 to more than

31.4% today exceeding Industry Best Practice. The change saved the company $172,000 in paper costs from 2008-09, and further savings are forecast. At the outset of the MPS negotiation, a clear objective for Blessum’s staff was managing the growth of color printing and copying. Based on the needs assessment, color-capable devices were deployed in areas where they’re specifically needed. With this strategic approach, color usage is appropriate and growth is controlled. The company’s color output is now at 7%, well within or below industry averages. Higher expectations Today The Principal’s users enjoy greater capabilities accessible from their desktops—and perhaps as a result, have grown more dependent on the quality of print service. “Print service traditionally was not considered a critical service before,” notes Blessum. “But that has changed. The MFPs are being used to help people automate their business processes, and they count on them heavily.” One of the company’s concerns prior to the MPS agreement was inadequate service. HP has successfully met service level agreements across the entire fleet.

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To ensure that devices are constantly ready with necessary supplies, the company uses HP Web Jetadmin software to automatically order toner as needed. “We originally set the threshold for ordering a new cartridge when the remaining toner reached 15%,” Blessum notes. But the process has proven so efficient, she has lowered the target to 5%. Toner cartridges are returned to HP for recycling after being completely emptied. That’s just one of several features in HP MPS designed to improve environmental stewardship. Defaulting to duplex printing is another. And MFPs are set to go into sleep mode after an extended period of inactivity, which helps reduce energy consumption and costs.

“We get a holistic view of our MFP usage and expenses. It’s all in one place. We can use that information to accurately assign costs based on usage of each device. And we can automate management of the devices for greater efficiency.” —Jan Blessum, assistant director of IT, The Principal Financial Group

Blessum’s staff is continuing to fine-tune device deployment across the company. One goal is to retire more of the smaller printers that were granted special exemptions in the initial round of device optimization. Her team also responds to changes in the company’s structure and print needs.

To learn more, visit www.hp.com Contact the HP Reference2Win Program, 866-REF-3734 for more information © 2010 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. 4AA3-1540ENW, September 2010

A quarterly report from HP identifies the most- and least-used devices in the company. That enables her staff to redeploy resources where they’re most needed, and to further optimize where printers are under utilized. Looking ahead, Blessum hopes to control print growth by encouraging people to use electronic workflows whenever possible. That includes increasing the use of the scan-to-email capability for document distribution and archiving and encouraging employees not to print unnecessarily. The company has added digital sending software to streamline workflow processes; one early success slashed a workflow process from five days to two. “The Principal now has a comprehensive understanding of our cost of printing with MFPs across the enterprise. We’ve taken significant steps to actively manage that cost,” Blessum notes. “We also realize there’s still more we can do. That’s why we’ve chosen to work with HP.”