# Print management software and managed print services compared for IT leaders

Source: https://managedprinterservices.com/managed-print-services-vs-print-management/
Last updated: 2026-10-21
Operated by Global Document Solutions, ABN 89 567 852 183, Unit 1/8 Glasson Dr, Bethania QLD 4205. Phone 1300 873 460.

## Print management software vs managed print servicesMPS vs print management

Find out whether your 5 or more offices need print software, or somebody else owning the printers entirely.

### What print management services means

Print management services is the umbrella term for anything that controls or looks after office printing.

Managed print services (MPS) is one kind, where a provider supplies and looks after the printers under one agreement.

On the terminology
On its own, print management usually means software that sets print policies and records usage.

Managed print services means a commercial agreement for specified printers and support responsibilities.

Some suppliers use the labels differently.

Plain definitions of MFP and other quote terms are in the glossary.

Ask what responsibility moves, which sites are included and which charges fall outside the scope.

Last updated 21 October 2026.

### Which kinds of print management does a group with several offices meet?

Two kinds come up when a group reviews its printing.

Each of the 2 kinds moves a different responsibility.

- Print management software sets print rules, holds jobs for release and records print usage.
- Managed print services, or MPS, is the kind where a provider supplies and services the printers, then bills for them.

An MPS provider places the printing devices at each office under one agreement.

All 3 plans here cover toner and parts, plus labour and servicing.

Software can run inside an MPS agreement, as an optional extra priced in the quote.

Across several offices, MPS ends in one invoice, plus a report per site.

Choose by asking which responsibility your print environment needs moved to somebody else.

### The two options solve different problems in a print environment

A software decision changes controls.

A managed agreement changes the procurement and service boundary.

Print management software
Use software for control and visibility

Print management software such as PaperCut applies print rules and quotas across selected users or groups.

It can hold jobs for secure release and record print activity.

It can also produce usage reporting for IT and business owners.

User authentication at the printer is set in the software, then applied to chosen devices.

Duplex printing and colour rules in the software can reduce waste at every site.

Staff keep their usual workflow until a held job reaches the release step.

Those rules work best written down as an office printing policy for every site.

It does not itself choose printers, procure replacements or decide how service will be provided.

Managed print agreement

#### Use an agreement for supply and service scope

The review starts with each office, its work and its printer requirements.

The proposed devices are supplied under the managed agreement.

You get support and toner, plus reporting and the exit terms, settled in one go.

Printer choices across the print infrastructure then move to the provider.

Each of the 3 standard plans is tailored to your fleet.

### Do your controls need software or a managed agreement?

Start with the responsibility that needs to change across your offices.

Rules and visibility point to print management software.

Printer procurement and service decisions point to a managed agreement.

If both matter, write both into one site specific scope before approval.

If renewals set the timing, see which printer agreement ends first.

See what belongs inside a managed print scope

### Compare software with a managed agreement

Tell us the print problem. We say which fix it needs.

Print management is software that controls printing, while managed print services hand the printers and their upkeep to one supplier.

### Use the problem to choose the commercial path

Answer these questions with IT, with finance and with the people supporting each office.

Unsure which problem is yours? Let the seven tap print check name it.

Question 1

#### Are rules and visibility the only gaps?

Software may be the direct answer when printer procurement and service are already settled.

List the controls IT needs before reviewing products.

- Rules for colour, for duplex and for allowed printers
- Quotas by person, team or cost centre
- Secure release for held documents
- Tracking and usage reporting

The product, the licence, the configuration and the administration remain separate decisions for your IT team.

See how a managed release queue changes the print path.

Question 2

Are printer and service decisions also unresolved?

A managed agreement becomes relevant when the proposed printers and service responsibilities need one accountable scope.

Review page counts, colour needs, document sizes, finishing, plus critical workflows at each office.

Those printing needs set the device and the plan proposed for each office.

An MPS provider should name the print solution it proposes at every address.

The proposal should show each machine with its monthly figure.

It should also identify the support process for every included location.

See how Canberra offices can record controls and supplied printers together.

Question 3

#### Do people need to collect prints at another site?

Only when staff move between offices.

According to Global Document Solutions, PaperCut release is an optional extra.

The requirement belongs in the scope, not assumed from the words managed print.

Ask which sites, which users and which printers are included.

Record any software subscription, setup or professional services cost in the quote.

No software choice should be treated as a compliance outcome by itself.

Secure printing across sites needs each included printer enrolled in the same release queue.

Check the security features of each proposed printer as well as the software.

Question 4

Can finance review the proposal site by site?

Start with a cost review for every office before you commit.

Record the current printer, known costs, current agreement dates and required work.

Each location then has a machine and a monthly cost you can compare.

According to Global Document Solutions, excess page rates are stated in the quote and are normally the same at every site.

Decide on what somebody will put in writing, not on a savings promise.

### Not sure which responsibility needs to move

Send the sites and the problem. We will separate the software question from the managed scope.

From $160 + GST a month per printer.

Standard plans, tailored to your fleet. Excess page rates are stated in your quote and are normally the same at every location.

Paper, staples and pages above your agreed volume sit outside that figure.

### Benefits of managed print services (MPS) over software alone

Software controls the print workflow.

MPS also takes the printer fleet off your team.

One invoice, with a report per site

Print costs arrive as one bill. Each office still gets its own report.

A cost review before you commit

Each office is costed first, so the print strategy rests on real page counts.

New offices join the same agreement

The monthly figure changes to match. The end date can stay or extend.

Supply management for the print fleet moves to the provider

Toner levels are watched by Global Document Solutions, and you hear when one runs low.

Fleet management for every included office moves with it.

Secure print release by card or code runs on PaperCut, as an optional extra.

Printing without a print server, including for Microsoft 365, is an optional extra, according to Global Document Solutions.

Its setup or subscription cost is in the quote.

### When is software enough?

Do not widen the project when the printer and service arrangements already meet the organisation's needs.

When the gap is a print rule

Software is the direct path when IT only needs controls such as quotas, secure release, tracking or usage reports.

A written requirements list helps prevent a controls project becoming an unnecessary printer project.

Document management, such as scanning into a records system, is a separate project again.

When the site records are incomplete

Do not approve a managed agreement while offices, printers or current terms are missing from the review.

Use the managed print assessment to assemble the site record.

The result should make the software requirement and the commercial scope visible separately.

#### When another location changes the scope

Include every office that IT expects the arrangement to cover.

the Tasmanian details to put into a scope.

Location specific service processes and charges should be confirmed in writing before approval.

A technician generally reaches a capital city office within 4 hours, and a regional town the next business day.

Read that as a process to expect, never as a written service level.

When the quote is not site specific

A general package name does not show which supplied printer or plan is proposed at each office.

See how a site specific managed print quote is assembled.

Ask for the included work, the exclusions and the applicable charges beside each location.

### What Global Document Solutions can quote

The offer here is a managed agreement for printers supplied under that agreement.

Stated plainly
Print management software such as PaperCut can be bought on its own.

If the need is only rules, quotas, release, tracking or reporting, software may be the appropriate path.

If procurement and service responsibilities also need to move, the next step is a site by site cost review.

PaperCut card or code release is an optional extra, with its cost in the quote.

Read who runs this managed print service.

If the boundary remains unclear, send a plain question about the software and service split.

#### What changes under each option

Software and a managed agreement compared across 6 decisions.

| Decision | Print management software | Managed print agreement |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Rules and quotas | Configured in the software | Can be scoped where software is selected |
| Secure release | Available where the selected software supports it | PaperCut card or code release as an optional extra |
| Tracking and usage reports | Produced by the selected software | Included only where the written scope states it |
| Printer procurement | Remains a separate decision | Proposed printers are supplied under the agreement |
| Service responsibility | Remains a separate decision | Recorded for every included printer and site |
| Commercial record | Software licence and implementation terms | Plans, charges, support, exit: one written scope |

Read what a managed print agreement can include.

### Questions IT leaders ask before choosing

#### What is the difference between print management and managed print services?

Print management usually means software for applying rules, for quotas and for secure release.

It can also track activity and produce usage reporting.

The software does not itself choose printers, procure replacements or decide the service arrangement.

Managed print services is a commercial agreement for supplied printers and support responsibilities in its written scope.

For several offices, compare the responsibility that changes, not the label.

#### When is print management software enough?

Software may be enough when IT only needs rules, quotas, secure release, tracking or usage reporting.

Printer procurement, printer replacement and printer service must already have a suitable process outside the software.

Write the required controls, the users, the sites and the printers before selecting a product.

If supply or service responsibility must also change, review a managed agreement site by site.

#### Can PaperCut be included in managed print services?

PaperCut can be added as an optional extra where staff need to collect prints with a card or code.

The written scope should identify the users, the sites and the supplied printers included.

It should also state any software subscription, setup or professional services costs.

The software choice is not a compliance outcome by itself.

#### What should IT ask for before choosing managed print services?

Ask for a site by site cost review before you commit.

The written scope should name every included site, proposed supplied printer and tailored standard plan.

It should record support responsibilities, inclusions, exclusions, other charges and exit terms.

Applicable excess page rates should be stated in the quote, and are normally the same everywhere.

#### Should IT keep running the printers in house?

In house works while IT has the time to source printers and chase repairs at every office.

A managed agreement hands those jobs to one supplier, with one invoice and a report for each site.

Your own network stays with your IT team either way.

#### What is the best print management software for a business with several offices?

The right one depends on what your offices need from it, such as held jobs or reports by site.

Card or code release here runs on PaperCut, an optional extra with its cost stated in the quote.

Printing without a print server, including for Microsoft 365, is a separate optional extra.

#### Can we track printing costs by office?

Yes, by office: one invoice covers every site, with a report for each one.

Splitting costs by department or client is a software question, so ask what reporting your quote includes.

### Which one do your sites need

Name the problem at each office.

### Separate the software need from the managed scope

List the offices and the print problem.

We will use a site by site review to show which responsibilities belong in writing.

Operated by Global Document Solutions, an authorised Kyocera partner.

Keep reading

- Start from the managed print definition
- Review secure release and print controls
- Ask providers for evidence in writing