what are some good "business' reasons to monitor a network printer?

Habakkuk3_17-19

what's your reason to monitor a network printer?

being from the technical side i can think of numerous reasons why to monitor any network printer.

for one, we now have Solarwinds and it can do this, "because it's there mentality i reckon", but i had a manager make a statement "Give me a good business reason why these should be monitored?" of course, i didn't like being asked that ... i'm a tech not a businessman. oh well...

aynov

When I get asked these kinds of questions, I always try to think of how it will benefit the person asking.  So, here are some reasons I would use:

• Proactive maintenance - this means you will be able to replace components before they totally fail, minimizing downtime of the device.  Specifically, downtime waiting for parts which can take days to weeks to order and receive
• Respond to errors quickly - if the device send traps, you will see them, and be able to act on them, hopefully before end users even have a chance to issue a case
• Upgrades - will can now track usage of the device and its resource usage.  You will be able to justify upgrading or replacing a device based on real statistics.  Going along with that, you would now be able to reject an upgrade based on the usage statistics
• Cost of ownership - hopefully you can track how the printer is being used and see if it is being abused

Obviosuly, you will need to taylor this to the MIBs supported by your printers, but this should help get you started.

Bo