Your Mid-Year Office Technology Check-up: 3 Areas to Audit Now

The second half of the year is officially underway. It’s the perfect time for business leaders to look beyond financials and assess the core operational tools that power their teams. Your office technology—especially your print and document environment—is a critical component of your daily workflow. But is it helping or hindering your path to achieving your year-end goals?

An inefficient, insecure, or costly print environment can silently drain resources and stifle growth. Before the end-of-year rush begins, conducting a mid-year technology check-up is a proactive step that can pay significant dividends.

Here are three critical areas every business in Acadiana should audit right now to ensure a productive and profitable second half.

1. The Security & Compliance Audit

Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, and your multifunction printer is a key endpoint on your network. A mid-year check-up is the perfect time to ensure your defenses are still strong.

• Ask These Questions:

  • When was the last time our printers' firmware was updated? Outdated firmware contains unpatched vulnerabilities.

  • Are we using secure "pull printing" to protect sensitive documents from being left unattended?

  • Is all data on our copier hard drives encrypted?

  • Are our "scan to email" and "scan to cloud" functions configured securely to prevent unauthorized access?

A "no" to any of these questions indicates a significant security gap. For businesses in regulated industries like healthcare or law, these gaps can also represent serious compliance risks.

2. The Cost & Waste Audit

It’s easy to lose track of printing costs, but these variable expenses can quickly add up and eat into your profits. A cost audit isn't about cutting corners; it's about eliminating waste.

• Ask These Questions:

  • Do we know our true cost-per-page for each device in our office? (Hint: It’s often much higher for small desktop inkjets).

  • Are we tracking who prints what? Unmonitored printing often leads to unnecessary color prints and waste.

  • Are we using an unreliable online supplier for toner, leading to costly downtime when shipments are delayed?

  • How much are we spending on unexpected, emergency repairs for aging equipment?

Gaining control over these costs through a managed print service can deliver one of the most immediate and impactful ROIs for your business.

3. The Workflow & Efficiency Audit

Your technology should accelerate your business, not slow it down. An inefficient document workflow creates hidden costs in the form of wasted employee time.

• Ask These Questions:

  • How much time does my team spend manually scanning, naming, and filing documents?

  • Does our scanner have modern features like a duplex single-pass feeder (which scans both sides at once) or the ability to scan to searchable PDFs (OCR)?

  • Can our team print easily and securely from mobile devices?

  • Is our current machine appropriately sized for our team's print volume, or is it a constant bottleneck?

Identifying and fixing these bottlenecks gives valuable time back to your employees, allowing them to focus on revenue-generating and mission-critical tasks.

From Audit to Action

Completing this check-up gives you a clear picture of your technological health. The next step is taking action. As your local technology partner, Classic Business Products can help you perform a professional assessment and build a strategy to optimize your security, costs, and workflows for a successful second half and beyond.