The economy, Brexit, enforced transformation, a distributed workforce, and the need to meet sustainability targets will all continue to put pressure on business finance. In response, financial leaders need to become adept at finding new ways to go further than just balancing the books. 

All businesses are investigating smarter ways to manage company finances. Key among these are discovering better ways to finance purchases. Previously, organisations have moved large capital investments, such as industrial equipment and vehicles to leasing arrangements.

More recently, larger items of technology and software have transitioned to ‘as a service’ models. Therefore, moving these purchases to monthly operational expenses to lessen the strain on cash flow, avoid depreciation, and gain more flexibility. But in the face of even stricter trading conditions, finance leads need to look even further. Creating more efficient purchasing. So the financial benefits of DaaS are a logical next step to moving more IT spend to OpEx.

Why are the financial benefits of DaaS so relevant now?

With the abrupt move to mass remote working caused by the global pandemic. Many organisations had to scramble to meet the needs of an exclusively remote workforce. Now, as business leaders look to the future, new financial decisions need to be made in respect of supporting remote workers. 

With a workforce choosing to opt for a more blended way of working, businesses can reduce their reliance on traditional, and often expensive, office space. Rationalising the number of office locations and their size will create a significant opportunity.

Yet, finance leaders must not overlook the need to make sure that their remote workers can maximise their productivity, feel supported, and remain motivated. The key to this is ensuring that they have the right personal technology – devices optimised for an agile way of working, that are reliable, familiar, and robust. Equally, as with other business purchasing, devices can be an operational expense rather than a capital investment.

Research by Gartner shows that the financial benefits of DaaS have made this purchasing category one of the fastest-growing, with spending during 2020 almost doubling worldwide to $1.2bn. In 2021, it is predicted this figure will reach $1.9bn; and  $2.5bn in 2022.

Furthermore, analyst firm IDC says 40% of businesses are expecting, or have already begun discussions to move IT purchasing to a DaaS per-user, per-month subscription model.

The six financial benefits of DaaS

Finance leaders need to understand the six financial benefits of DaaS. These are;

• Move unpredictable device CapEx spend into predictable, sustainable payments and give a greater return on investment
• Monitored usage and reporting will make sure you only pay for what you actually use
• Regular refresh cycle ensures optimum asset management, never going past warranty
• Manage effective purchasing of devices in a rapidly changing and volatile marketplace by moving to a managed service model
• Ensures your employees always have the latest device technology to optimise productivity and performance
• Removes the time and cost of device management from your IT team.

“DaaS responds to increased demand and caters to customers’ preference for elastic, pay-as-you-go consumption models.” 

Sid Naq, Research Vice President, Gartner

DaaS and Microsoft Surface

The financial benefits of DaaS are many. But which devices should you buy? Choosing the right manufacturer is also critical to its overall success.

The Microsoft Surface for Business range is designed and tailored specifically for commercial organisations. Listening to the evolving needs of business users means there is a Surface device for every user in your organisation. From the Surface Laptop Go which provides a lightweight, yet robust solution for remote workers to the more agile Surface Go 2 which doubles as both a laptop and tablet in one, yet still provides the full power of Windows 10.

From a finance perspective, the versatility provided by a wide range of high performing devices, all designed to suit different work styles and needs, helps to remove the need for multiple vendors. Enabling one provider to service the needs of the whole organisation.

Also, the subscription-based Office 365 is the system of choice for many organisations. So aligning the device technology to the same vendor together on a common subscription-based ‘as a service’ managed model makes financial sense.

Microsoft Surface as a Service from Ricoh

Selecting the right partner to provide and fulfil the DaaS subscription is as essential as the devices themselves. Following new innovation in the Microsoft and Ricoh partnership, Microsoft Surface is now available as a comprehensive DaaS subscription model from Ricoh.

Microsoft partnered with Ricoh because of its strong history in the IT services sector. Demonstrating expertise in being able to propose the right people-centric solutions for customers. Also, with its finance arm, Ricoh Capital customers benefit from being able to bundle an entire IT transformation solution, which incorporates DaaS, into a financial model of cost per user, per month.

“Ricoh has the reach and level of service to take customers on a transformation journey from the top down. It understands the drive and proposition for transformation and Microsoft is looking for partners that see this vision.”

Tom Cripps, Microsoft

The Microsoft Surface and Ricoh partnership will enable organisations to pursue their workplace transformation strategies in a cost-efficient, sustainable, and streamlined way. Enabling organisations to achieve their goals whilst also realise the financial benefits of DaaS.

Read our Executive White Paper

To learn more about the financial benefits of DaaS and how this model of purchasing makes more meaningful cost-efficient sense for business, read our Executive White Paper. 

About Ricoh UK

Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services, enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation. Leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communication services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.

For further information, please visit www.ricoh.co.uk

The post Six financial benefits of DaaS appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.

Remote and agile working is here to stay. No matter what the future holds, it’s safe to say the workplace as we knew it has changed forever. Yes, many workers will return to the workplace. But it is unlikely that a large percentage will work exclusively in an office location. More likely, a majority of people will want to maintain a hybrid working style, primarily as they enjoy the flexibility and work-life balance provided by remote working. But with a large proportion of your people working in this way, will this create challenges for your business?

Read our Executive White Paper to learn more.

Remote workers frustrated and undermined by poor device technology

Recent research by Ricoh has discovered that 78% of managers and 53% of employees who are remote working will have experienced technology concerns. Which, in turn, has led to a lack of productivity, frustrations, and unhappiness. Interestingly, managers, in particular, seem to have struggled with the technology demands of a home working set-up. Perhaps this is due to a long history and familiarity of a traditional office environment. Or a reflection of a lesser affinity or experience with technology than their younger counterparts.

Inferior technology has also been an issue with many employees raising issues with poor communication, collaboration, and process. 66% of remote working managers and 42% of employees state that they are struggling with procedures such as reporting and administration. 

So, employee technology has a vital part to play in a hybrid workplace to ensure future business success. It will also play a crucial role in the experience for your employees, their contentment with the organisation, and, potentially their job satisfaction. 

Why Microsoft Surface as a Service could be the best solution

The starting point to address these challenges is reviewing the technology itself. You need to equip your people with devices that are efficient, flexible, powerful, and agile. Allowing you to adapt to every type of role and function across your remote workforce. Your IT team will require a proven supplier who can provide a range of devices that adhere to a common standard across all device types and software ensuring ease of operation, security, and support organisation-wide.

A proven solution for business

Designed for the modern workplace and loved by employees due to the number of elegant, light, and high-performance options Microsoft Surface as a Service delivers. From the sublime Surface Pro X with its sleek 2-in-1 design to the ever-popular Surface Laptop 3 with its two screen size options and outstanding performance. Whatever the needs of the business or its employees, Microsoft has a Surface for all situations or usages. And in every case, you can be confident you are supplying your people with a robust, secure, and reliable device.

Secondly, you need to consider the communication and collaboration requirements of the business. Software, tools, and systems that work seamlessly and support productivity, efficiency, and simplicity of use.

Powerful cloud software and productivity apps

Again, Microsoft Surface as a Service is hard to beat in this respect. With their powerful Office 365, Cloud architecture as the productivity backbone for many organisations, coupled with the flexibility and agility of the Surface range, remote workers are provided with an optimum solution. Plus the inclusion of apps including Office, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint makes remote collaboration easy, helping your people work together, anywhere.

Finally, and very much of equal importance is employee experience. For those workers who choose to work remotely, their device is in essence, their new office experience. Historically your organisation has invested heavily to create highly desirable office spaces, meeting rooms, and comfortable breakout areas. Now, with a high proportion of employees actively choosing to work remotely. Businesses need to apply a similar focus to the quality and performance of the device technology, software, and connectivity that they provide to these workers.

Devices that perform and inspire

Support your people with Microsoft Surface-as-a-Service and provide them with devices that not only work but inspire. Remote working now enables employees to work how and when they like. Whether that’s in the kitchen, the lounge, or the cafe. So give them a device that can adapt to their work style, has excellent battery life and is thoughtfully designed. Surface Laptop Go, and Surface Pro 7 are versatile and powerful business-orientated devices which provide a great user experience.

Microsoft Surface-as-a-Service also makes financial sense

We know device technology is going to play a pivotal role in the future, in terms of productivity and experience. And we also know that Microsoft Surface, coupled with 365, provides a desirable, reliable, and dependable platform for businesses. The question now is, how should this technology be procured when cash flow and expenditure is challenging for many businesses?

CapEx vs OpEx

Typically devices are purchased outright by businesses. A lumpy capital investment (CapEx) that sits on the balance sheet and depreciates over time. This style of purchasing is now outdated and not fit for today’s agile economy. As in many other areas of purchasing. It is more beneficially active to finance as an operating expense (OpEx). Which only requires a monthly fee for the items purchased, does not depreciate, and provides far greater flexibility and agility during the agreement.

Outsourcing as a managed service

Beyond the operational process of purchasing, there are also issues of maintenance and support. For IT devices, these responsibilities currently fall to the IT department who are already massively busy maintaining the IT operations and infrastructure of the organisation. Managing numerous IT devices and support calls are not necessarily their speciality. And quite frankly, something that they would rather avoid if possible.

Flexibility to scale

Device as a Service, or to use its acronym, DaaS, is a far more appropriate way for businesses to manage their device fleet. Software is now purchased as a service (SaaS), the same will now apply to  IT and devices that your organisation require. Buying on demand, as a monthly fee and scaled to the number of users you have is a far more efficient purchasing method. So, outsourcing the supply and day-to-day management of devices is a far smarter, more modern way to purchase for your organisation.

Microsoft Surface-as-a-Service benefits

Buying Microsoft Surface and 365 ‘as a service’ from Ricoh will solve the many challenges that your organisation is struggling to overcome. It will enhance the employee experience, improve security, increase productivity, and save your organisation money. Microsoft Surface as a Service makes business sense.

• Improve employee experience by providing better tools for the job and a faster response to IT software and hardware requests
• Familiarity with Office 365, plus the latest updates, will mean users can work from anywhere and collaborate easily through the use of Microsoft Teams
• A continuous replacement programme will maintain the latest advanced equipment. Meaning employees can work faster and be more productive, resulting in them achieving more and improving their overall wellbeing
• New devices also ensure that the latest accessibility solutions are available, helping to create more inclusivity through technology
• Protect employees from cyber attacks with the latest built-in, cloud-powered security
• End of life management procedures ensure full data protection and GDPR compliance 

Read our Executive White Paper

To learn more about DaaS and the business reasons behind moving to this model of purchasing,  read our Executive White Paper. 

About Ricoh UK:

Ricoh is empowering digital workplaces using innovative technologies and services enabling individuals to work smarter. For more than 80 years, Ricoh has been driving innovation and is a leading provider of document management solutions, IT services, communication services, commercial and industrial printing, digital cameras, and industrial systems.

For further information, please visit www.ricoh.co.uk

The post Device as a Service (DaaS) makes sense. But Microsoft Surface as a Service makes better business sense appeared first on Insights - Empowering Digital Workplaces.