IDC Claims MPS at Maturity Inflection Point

IDC’s Research Director Holly Muscolino blogged that the MPDS (Managed Print and Document Services) market is at an inflection point in terms of maturity. Though many enterprises have outsourced print management, the maturity of those engagements is relatively low, particularly in the developed, enterprise market.

Muscolino said that a relatively small proportion of the engagements “include value-added services” beyond the optimization of the distributed fleet of office printers and MFPs. Plus, “very few encompass a holistic enterprise-wide approach, including production print and/or home, satellite, or branch workers”. The technology adopted is relatively homogenous throughout the industry, though it is becoming more intelligent and automated.

She added, “Hardcopy vendors have the opportunity to increase differentiation and create new annuity streams by developing and deploying service portfolios that impel enterprise customers to higher levels of print and document management maturity, resulting in greater benefits for those customers in terms of cost savings, employee productivity, and even top-line revenue growth. In addition, vendors can continue to expand both core and advanced services into the midmarket and into emerging markets.”

In addition to considering the printing devices and related technology deployed, Muscolino also suggested organizations should evaluate the MPS vendor to determine whether it comprehends their specific business objectives and has the capacity to meet those objectives. Moreover, the vendors should understand their scalability and scope of the offering.

“Ask the vendor to provide a road map for ongoing optimization and continuous improvement,” says Muscolino, “and look for a record of managed print services operational excellence.”