Award winning University selects Toshiba Managed Print Services, ranked number one on the National Education Printer Agreement 2.
Solent has been a university since July 2005, but it has a long and complex educational history. Incorporated as an independent higher education institution in 1989, the University’s origins can be traced back to a private School of Art founded in 1855. Mergers between Southampton College of Art, the College of Technology and the College of Nautical Studies at Warsash laid the foundations for what is now Solent University.
Since becoming a university, Solent has helped over fifty thousand students from all walks of life to make the most of their potential. Guided by four Vice-Chancellors in turn, the University has changed dramatically over the past ten years – from campus improvements to the latest state-of-the-art facilities.
Reviewing to downsize
Responding to changes in printing trends and with an increase in the move towards online platforms, Solent University looked to review print usage across their estate with a view to reducing their printer fleet without compromising the needs of students, lecturers and back-office staff. Justin Dalton, Project Coordinator Corporate Project Management Office spoke about changing demands, “Like any educational establishment the pandemic has accelerated our evolution towards digital learning, with a significant drop in the amount of physical materials required. There will always be a requirement for printing, but the scanning and integration capabilities of our MFPs have become more critical as we expand our file systems and access to OneDrive.”
The University had not thoroughly reviewed their current print contract for a number of years, so when the lease was due for renewal it was the ideal opportunity for a fresh approach. Justin continued, “We wanted a proper audit of each of the devices across all the campuses to see where we could downgrade, move or replace. We were looking to reduce costs but up-scale on technology. The MFPs that we were using had really poor scanning functionality and we wanted cutting-edge products that would be a fit for the demands of the University.”
A framework for ease
As a member of the NEPA2 Framework, the University reviewed the top suppliers in the Managed Print Services category for the reassurance of both performance and position in the market, selecting to engage with Toshiba who were ranked as number one. David Seymour, Business Development Manager at Toshiba talked about the importance of NEPA2 for educational facilities, “Having a structure in place, provides its members with a compliant framework for the provision of print equipment and gives them the peace of mind that they will be working with organisations that have the right credentials and are committed to delivering the best service possible. At Toshiba we supply solutions that offer excellent value in both quality and price and are proud of our top supplier status in three categories associated with print solutions.”
The Toshiba team looked at volumes, locations and technology requirements and was able to put forward a proposal to the University for a rationalisation of the estate by about 40%, facilitating considerable cost saving across the five main sites. With no obligation for a formal tender process the contract was direct awarded to Toshiba through NEPA2.
A sleek transition
Working closely with the University IT department, Toshiba was able to transition the entire campus in just one day. Justin commented on the process, “From a project management perspective, this is one of the first technology refreshes that I have been involved with and the Toshiba team put me at ease from the start. They were efficient, honest and transparent, and dealt with all the teams’ queries and questions promptly and effectively. They worked really hard to get everything up and running as quickly as possible, despite some of the challenges that were given to them through our security protocols.”
“No-one even noticed that it had happened from an implementation perspective, it was seamless, I am told for project management that this is unheard of.” Solent University now have state-of-the-art Toshiba MFPs, with sleek design, intuitive menu options, fast scanning functionality, combined with the latest PaperCut software for fully customisable reporting of the Universities printing usage.
