Dam IT policies. - Printers

Phido · 29th February 2012, 10:49 AM

New policy. No printers for individuals.

Great, I've been lobbying for a printer for months. as the only printer we have is on the floor above and it have to run up and down a fire exit. It often breaks down and is the one the office staff use to run millions of copies off (education environment). I print out peoples CV's, offers, complaints, client information generally sensitive stuff and I've had issues where this stuff is left on the floor of the print room or other people have taken them.

I got so fed up I went to office works and bought a $37 brother laser printer. Works fine, compact, 250 page holder, I am allowed to buy new toner for it (oddly at $60 a pop) through work.

Really when will this stuff end. I am currently involved with a project to fit out a lecture room with new technology but our policies only allow us to by ancient projectors not made any more. There is no policy on the globe type, so we can choose 3 or 4 not manufacturered projectors..

I can see I am going to end up bypassing these innane and stupid policies and purchase items out of my pocket or out of my budget.

Linkin · 29th February 2012, 10:58 AM

~~Telstra~~ Corporate Bastardry?

Fresh79 · 29th February 2012, 11:02 AM

What sort of printer is upstairs? You can usually set user codes so your docs only print once you have entered a password into the printer to avoid people having a read through your print outs before you get to them.

Combatants · 29th February 2012, 11:04 AM

-copier tech here-

i recommend this policy to EVERY business out there.
an individual NEVER needs there own printer. Mind you going up stairs for a print is WAY over the top.
we give quotes for the amount of machines needed so they each dont wear down to fast and bla bla bla.
ie had an office of 150 ppl on one floor, it has 1 copier in each corner plus 2 near the centre.
Each person has a max of about 20 metres to walk to get there print and by the time it takes 99% of the time its there waiting for them. Or in the case of using the new security software it gets put into the spool and they release it at which ever printer they want

/end rant

brad81 · 29th February 2012, 11:07 AM

Stop printing

Think of the ~~children~~ trees!

Oppressa · 29th February 2012, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Combatants

-copier tech here-

i recommend this policy to EVERY business out there.
an individual NEVER needs there own printer. Mind you going up stairs for a print is WAY over the top.
we give quotes for the amount of machines needed so they each dont wear down to fast and bla bla bla.
ie had an office of 150 ppl on one floor, it has 1 copier in each corner plus 2 near the centre.
Each person has a max of about 20 metres to walk to get there print and by the time it takes 99% of the time its there waiting for them. Or in the case of using the new security software it gets put into the spool and they release it at which ever printer they want

/end rant

Network manager here

Constant battle between the people who don't want to leave their desk vs shared printer or copier that is much more capable, reduces financial and environmental impact and produces better results. Implemented properly, a single better machine shared by multiple users is a better plan. Add follow-me-printing and it improves the situation even more.

fR33z3 · 29th February 2012, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phido

bought a $37 brother laser printer.....buy new toner for it (oddly at $60 a pop)

This is one reason the policy exists.

mshagg · 29th February 2012, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phido

I can see I am going to end up bypassing these innane and stupid policies and purchase items out of my pocket or out of my budget.

Do you stop to think why IT implement these policies? Generally speaking, they dont do it for fun

Rubberband · 29th February 2012, 11:21 AM

Instead of bypassing the policy, did you ask anyone?

Confidential printing *can* be a way around the policy but as people said, printer ignorance isn't likely to fly as a reasonable excuse when you get busted.

That Brother wasn't a great buy either

Combatants · 29th February 2012, 11:24 AM

Buy a Toshiba/Sharp Fixed

RyoSaeba · 29th February 2012, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phido

New policy. No printers for individuals.

That's a great policy. Save on money, maintenance, time wasted on drivers etc etc etc. Every company should have a policy like that. When you said you've been lobbying for a new printer for months, how did you go about it? Did you put forward a proper business case? How many people will this printer service?

And also with the fit out, why have they put in a policy on the projector that's no longer made? What's the rationale? Have you put forward a proposal to update this policy with research and reasoning?

MR CHILLED · 29th February 2012, 11:32 AM

If they do not consider workplace efficiencies and security as priority areas, then you have no hope.

Phido · 29th February 2012, 11:47 AM

I agree, no one needs a printer in every office.

However its a complete mess.

We get paper ordered in palettes and go through it in a few weeks. We have 2 medium volume printers that are over worked (2 different types). 5 manager have printers in there room (unshared). Managers don't care because they have own printers and pull rank with admin staff for bulk stuff. I am a middle manager but acting as upper manager. None of my 15 staff can print on this floor. Its an educational environment so our paper demands are huge. Everyone is printing 50-200 copies of everything. Which often means individual documents (letters, HR, etc) are lost in the masses of print.

Oh, the new printers/copiers are colour medium volume. Outsourced printing are notoriously bad and lose/stuff up numbers and take 2-3 week turn around.

All I want to do is for me and my staff to function. Currently that's not the case. You would have a tough time arguing an IT policy is more important than the core function of a business. I've never lost an argument on this issue yet, although I had to bend the rules to get what I want (ie just before the policy change).

Alfonzo · 29th February 2012, 11:47 AM

From a desktop support perspective...

Enjoy supporting your own PC. We have a similar policy on printers here in this building, only each of our floors is set up with its own copier. I remember back when we started it up, there was one unit manager who tried to circumvent this policy and went and bought his own little inkjet, only to call up and try and get me to look at "this strange printing problem" he's having.

Walked up, saw the actual problem was with his inkjet, said "sorry, out of scope" and walked off. Entirely not my problem.

As for the issue of printing sensitive documents, we have secure print set up as a default setting on everyone's computer.

Rubberband · 29th February 2012, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phido

Its an educational environment...

Previous statement retracted, you're boned. Enjoy your rant

29th February 2012, 11:04 AM	#4
Combatants Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Warrnambool, Vic Posts: 147	-copier tech here- i recommend this policy to EVERY business out there. an individual NEVER needs there own printer. Mind you going up stairs for a print is WAY over the top. we give quotes for the amount of machines needed so they each dont wear down to fast and bla bla bla. ie had an office of 150 ppl on one floor, it has 1 copier in each corner plus 2 near the centre. Each person has a max of about 20 metres to walk to get there print and by the time it takes 99% of the time its there waiting for them. Or in the case of using the new security software it gets put into the spool and they release it at which ever printer they want /end rant __________________ My Rig, CPU: 2500k @ 5ghz (49multi 102.1 baseclock) \| RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: ASUS 6970 DirectCU II SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120gb \| HDD: 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black x2 PSU: Silverstone Strider 750W \| Case: NZXT Phantom White All Hail the Storm Trooper

29th February 2012, 11:07 AM	#5
brad81 Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Nunawading, VIC Posts: 512	Stop printing Think of the ~~children~~ trees! __________________ HTPC: XFX680i-ISH9, XFX9800GT, 8GB DDR2 800mhz, Q6600 @ 3.0, Silverstone 500W, Silverstone FT02, Noctua NH-U12P, WD Raptor 80GB, Auzentech X-Fi Prelude, Z5500 Main: ASUSHD6950, Corsair Vengeance 8GB, i52500k @ 4.1, Noctua NH-U9B SE2, BitFenix Survivor, OCZ Vertex 2 120GB, GA-Z68X-UD3-B3

29th February 2012, 11:24 AM	#10
Combatants Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Warrnambool, Vic Posts: 147	Buy a Toshiba/Sharp Fixed __________________ My Rig, CPU: 2500k @ 5ghz (49multi 102.1 baseclock) \| RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance GPU: ASUS 6970 DirectCU II SSD: OCZ Vertex 3 120gb \| HDD: 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black x2 PSU: Silverstone Strider 750W \| Case: NZXT Phantom White All Hail the Storm Trooper

29th February 2012, 11:32 AM	#12
MR CHILLED D'oh! Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Keep it up! :D Posts: 89,935	If they do not consider workplace efficiencies and security as priority areas, then you have no hope. __________________ Co2 is weightless apparently. Be careful what you vote for. Howard on the economy: ''When the Prime Minister and the Treasurer and others tell you that the Australian economy is doing better than most – they are right,'' Asked how cash payments of baby bonus and school bonus are any different, Opposition Leader tony abbott says 'well look, they just are.'

29th February 2012, 11:47 AM	#14
Alfonzo Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Carindale, BrisVegas Posts: 10,837	From a desktop support perspective... Enjoy supporting your own PC. We have a similar policy on printers here in this building, only each of our floors is set up with its own copier. I remember back when we started it up, there was one unit manager who tried to circumvent this policy and went and bought his own little inkjet, only to call up and try and get me to look at "this strange printing problem" he's having. Walked up, saw the actual problem was with his inkjet, said "sorry, out of scope" and walked off. Entirely not my problem. As for the issue of printing sensitive documents, we have secure print set up as a default setting on everyone's computer. __________________ tweet

29th February 2012, 11:02 AM	#3
Fresh79 Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 7,158	What sort of printer is upstairs? You can usually set user codes so your docs only print once you have entered a password into the printer to avoid people having a read through your print outs before you get to them.