Managed print for your office
Every office has to decide how it will print, copy and scan.
With a managed print service, one supplier looks after the devices, supplies and upkeep. These notes cover what to think about so that it suits the way your office works. They draw on the government's own buying arrangements for public bodies and on the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
What a service can include
The Crown Commercial Service runs a buying agreement that public bodies use for printing. It covers multifunctional devices, which print, copy and scan in one machine. It also covers consumables, maintenance and support, and print management software that tracks printing and helps cut waste.
Under that agreement, buyers can buy the devices or lease them. They can take the whole package from one supplier or buy parts of it separately. Any office can use the same list to decide what it wants to include.
Start with what you print
A clear picture of your printing makes the rest easier. The public sector agreement includes independent audits of print volumes and of the devices already in place. It can help with replacing or reducing the number of devices, and with printing less.
A smaller office can do a simpler version. Count the machines, note roughly how much each one prints, and ask staff what they use them for.
What to put in the agreement
The government's earlier print agreement (RM6174, which ended in September 2025) came with a set of contract schedules. Their headings make a useful checklist for any buyer.
- Service levels.
- Security, and how the supplier processes your data.
- Business continuity and disaster recovery.
- Exit management, for when the contract ends.
That agreement also had a schedule on the Cyber Essentials scheme. Cyber Essentials is the government's recommended minimum standard of cyber security. Some organisations ask suppliers to hold it before they can bid for work.
Printing less, wasting less
The current agreement (RM6361) includes software to monitor printing and reduce waste. It also includes digital workflow tools that sort and combine documents, such as hybrid mail, to help reduce waste. Its suppliers have committed to follow the government's policy on carbon reduction plans.
When a device leaves your office
Printers and copiers hold data inside them. The NCSC notes that several gigabytes of sensitive documents have been recovered from old photocopiers and printers.
The NCSC advises wiping storage before any device leaves your control. That includes when it is returned for repair, sold or thrown away. Pressing delete is not enough. It is worth agreeing in the contract who wipes each device at the end of a lease, and how you will know it has been done.
For day-to-day security, the NCSC's guide for small organisations has steps, many of which take as little as five minutes. It says that half of small businesses have a cyber incident each year.