Case Study
From Frustration to Focus: How Waltons Namibia Transformed IT With Vasion Print
Printing used to be the stress point of my life. Now…it’s just total bliss.
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Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
The Numbers
99%
reduction in print-related IT tickets
58
printers across 14 locations
90%
of IT time recovered for strategic work
The Summary
Waltons Namibia has a wide network of branches across Namibia and relies heavily on printing. But constant printer issues were overwhelming their IT team, with as many as 25 support calls every day. After switching to Vasion Print, everything changed. Print-related tickets dropped by 99%, users regained confidence in IT, and the team could finally focus on bigger projects — like rolling out Microsoft Dynamics AX365 F&O. What started as a solution to a frustrating problem ultimately helped IT take on a more strategic, business-driving role.
The Customer: Waltons Namibia
Waltons Namibia is a leading supplier of office stationery, IT, and cleaning products with 12 branches and 2 warehouses across the country. A division of Bidvest, the company serves both retail and commercial markets and provides copy shop services in all stores.
Industry: Retail and Commercial Supplies
The Challenge
1
Print Support Was Dominating IT's Time
Before Vasion Print, Waltons Namibia relied on a traditional Windows Print Server setup paired with terminal server environments. The system was unreliable, especially when it came to dot-matrix printers used for pre-printed invoice forms. Frequent failures resulted in an average of 25 help desk tickets per day, totaling up to 120 each week. This constant stream of issues drained valuable time, and caused significant productivity losses across the organization.
“Tomorrow morning it would just be gone...it prints as A4 again.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
2
IT’s Reputation Was at Risk
With branches spread across Namibia — some over 800 kilometers from headquarters — Waltons already faced challenges providing IT support. But constant printing problems made things even harder. Instead of being seen as helpful, the IT team was often viewed as a source of frustration.
Staff couldn’t reliably print important documents, such as invoices and quotations, which slowed down sales, impacted customer service, and disrupted daily operations. No matter how hard the IT team worked, the outdated print system kept undermining their credibility.
Staff couldn’t reliably print important documents, such as invoices and quotations, which slowed down sales, impacted customer service, and disrupted daily operations. No matter how hard the IT team worked, the outdated print system kept undermining their credibility.
“I don’t want my users to feel about IT in that way. IT needs to be problem solvers and not problem creators.”
— Bianca Mannetti, IT Manager
3
Low Morale and Missed Opportunities
Behind every support ticket was a delayed task, a missed deadline, or a frustrated employee — and it was the IT team that bore the brunt of it. Led by Bianca Mannetti and Jacques Arangies, Waltons Namibia’s IT staff are highly capable and forward-thinking. But instead of driving innovation or enhancing digital operations, their days were consumed by the same recurring printer malfunctions.
Roughly 90% of the team’s time was spent firefighting — resetting printer configurations, troubleshooting queue errors, or responding to terminal server conflicts. With so much bandwidth dedicated to resolving printer issues, projects like implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 were delayed.
Roughly 90% of the team’s time was spent firefighting — resetting printer configurations, troubleshooting queue errors, or responding to terminal server conflicts. With so much bandwidth dedicated to resolving printer issues, projects like implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 were delayed.
“In the past, we would have about 20 to 25 calls per day... Now I have to find projects to keep them busy.”
— Bianca Mannetti, IT Manager
The Solution
Seamless Transition to Vasion Print
After years of frustration with their existing print infrastructure, Waltons Namibia needed a solution that could deliver immediate relief without adding complexity. Vasion Print offered centralized control without the overhead of traditional print servers, worked seamlessly across their mixed printer fleet, and supported remote deployment. The platform’s intuitive interface, flexible deployment options, and reputation for responsive support made it an easy standout.
Vasion Print made such a good impression, the team didn’t feel the need to shop around. In their eyes, the solution checked every box from day one.
Vasion Print made such a good impression, the team didn’t feel the need to shop around. In their eyes, the solution checked every box from day one.
“Vasion Print really popped out to me because of its simplicity... [and] intuitiveness... it just worked.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
Quick and Effective Rollout
Once Waltons Namibia decided to move forward with Vasion Print, they experienced one of the smoothest IT transitions in recent memory. What could have been a complex, high-risk migration across 14 locations and nearly 60 printers turned out to be remarkably straightforward.
The Vasion support team acted quickly and efficiently, setting up a fully functional test environment that allowed Waltons to validate the solution in a real-world setting before scaling. The test setup was so stable and responsive that it seamlessly became their production system, with minimal reconfiguration needed.
The Vasion support team acted quickly and efficiently, setting up a fully functional test environment that allowed Waltons to validate the solution in a real-world setting before scaling. The test setup was so stable and responsive that it seamlessly became their production system, with minimal reconfiguration needed.
“I popped in the MAC address…hit refresh, and it just worked.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
Built-In Security
Waltons Namibia offers public-facing copy shop services in several of its branches, meaning network security is a critical concern. Customers frequently bring in their own laptops, USB drives, and mobile phones, which can pose serious risks if connected to the organization’s main network.
Vasion Print made it easy to address this challenge by enabling MAC address-based network isolation. This allows Waltons to separate copy shop print traffic from the rest of the corporate environment, maintaining a secure network perimeter while still offering flexible, on-demand printing to the public.
Vasion Print made it easy to address this challenge by enabling MAC address-based network isolation. This allows Waltons to separate copy shop print traffic from the rest of the corporate environment, maintaining a secure network perimeter while still offering flexible, on-demand printing to the public.
“We wanted to segregate copy centers...and Vasion Print made that 100% easier.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
The Solution
Print Tickets Virtually Eliminated
Support requests related to printing dropped from an overwhelming 120 per week to fewer than one — a staggering 99% reduction. What had once been a daily battle became a nonissue. For the first time in years, the IT team wasn’t tied up fixing the same problems or reconfiguring printers across branches. With that burden lifted, they finally had the time and energy to focus on larger, more strategic projects.
“Best thing that ever happened to me...I’ll tell everybody.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
IT Regained Trust and Strategic Role
The successful rollout restored user confidence and transformed IT’s internal reputation from a problem center to a problem-solver. The ripple effect spread quickly, and employees who used to brace themselves for printing issues started trusting that their documents would print right the first time. And for IT, every hour reclaimed from troubleshooting became an hour reinvested in building smarter, more resilient systems.
“Before, the IT team had a tarnished reputation due to the print infrastructure. Implementing Vasion improved the relationship between the IT department and the rest of the business.”
— Jacques Arangies, Systems Administrator
Scalable Growth and Exploration of New Tools
Now that printer issues are a thing of the past, the team is turning its attention to what’s next. They’re looking to expand their copy center services, with plans to roll out more Minolta printers to handle growing customer demand and support more advanced print jobs. The goal is to turn select branches into full-service hubs that offer even more to customers.
Beyond hardware expansion, Waltons is actively exploring new Vasion products to enhance document management and workflow automation. They’re especially interested in solutions like Output Automation and Enterprise Content Management (ECM), with features like barcode scanning and digital archiving. These tools have the potential to simplify operations, boost security, and save even more time across the organization.
Beyond hardware expansion, Waltons is actively exploring new Vasion products to enhance document management and workflow automation. They’re especially interested in solutions like Output Automation and Enterprise Content Management (ECM), with features like barcode scanning and digital archiving. These tools have the potential to simplify operations, boost security, and save even more time across the organization.
“We want to make our copy centers bigger… adding more Minolta printers. [We’re] definitely looking at Vasion’s ECM, barcode scanning, [and] document archiving.”
— Bianca Mannetti, IT Manager