Quocirca: Print Industry Poised for Change in 2024

Quocirca: Print Industry Poised for Change in 2024

Quocirca predicts that the rapidly transforming workplace and accelerating introduction of AI, automation, and collaboration tools will shape the print industry in 2024. Vendors and channel businesses will need to adapt fast to get ahead of the curve and capture business opportunities for print infrastructure modernization and digitization.

As businesses strive to support today’s hybrid workforce, they will seek to modernize their print infrastructure. With many organizations accelerating digital transformation initiatives over the coming year, driven by cost-efficiency and sustainability goals, print volumes will continue to decline. Traditional MPS providers are well-positioned to extend their products and services to support digitization while ensuring businesses operate a secure and sustainable print infrastructure.

Quocirca CEO Louella Fernandes (pictured) predicts: “The coming year will see companies accelerate on multiple fronts, from digitization to AI adoption and security to sustainability. They are keen to embrace new technology that will deliver cost, efficiency, and productivity benefits. They are also open to new buying channels and supplier models, meaning the convergence of MPS and Managed IT will gather pace. Vendors and channel partners need to position themselves to respond by building partnerships and developing expertise across all areas.”

Quocirca’s Ten Key Trends for 2024 are:

5. AI takes center stage. 56% of organizations plan to increase investment in AI and machine learning technology in the next year but while generative AI adoption is now mainstream, it will continue to be hindered by security and ethical concerns. Print suppliers will need to carefully evaluate how they can embed AI into existing products and services that help augment workplace productivity. Intelligent Document Processing is a key area where vendors can draw on existing expertise and build out AI solutions.
6. The office is redefined. The changing purpose of the office will continue to focus on collaboration and connection, with 37% of participants in Quocirca’s Future of Work study saying in-person collaboration is the most important benefit of the office. While return-to-office policies will help print volumes recover in some sectors, the opportunity for print suppliers will be around delivering workplace technology that supports hybrid workers.
7. Digitization continues to erode print resilience. Only 11% of organizations currently operate in a paperless environment, but 75% are accelerating paper digitization initiatives. This will create new opportunities for integrated digital workflow automation and tailored digitization solutions that correspond to the customer’s digital maturity.
8. The cybersecurity battleground intensifies. The threat landscape continues to grow, and the print infrastructure remains vulnerable, with 61% reporting a print-related data loss in the past year. With organizations struggling to keep on top of print security challenges, suppliers will need to deepen security service offerings and embrace AI-enabled security to help customers better detect, protect, and monitor the print environment.
9. MPS transformation boosts modernization strategies.2024 will see organizations continue to refresh and redesign their print environment to better support the hybrid workplace. Addressing cost challenges around hardware, and consumables along with a need to reduce wasteful printing will create more demand for next-generation MPS that helps organizations operate a secure and sustainable print infrastructure. MPS remains a key enabler for digital transformation helping organizations better integrate print and digital workflows with 36% of organizations saying it is very important to their digitization initiatives.
10. Sustainability transparency drives progress. Customers are demanding more insight into the environmental impact of their print environment and their print suppliers. 70% of organisations say it is important their print supplier provides a range of sustainable products and services and 69% say it is important print suppliers show they are reducing their environmental impact. This will create opportunities for suppliers to deliver more value-led sustainability-focused assessments, products, and services to support their customers’ environmental goals.
11. A break in the clouds impacts cloud print adoption. Despite a shift to cloud print management, organizations will continue to experience print server sprawl. This along with a fragmented market with many players will hinder cloud print adoption.  Suppliers will need to overcome the top barriers to adoption, which are security (36%) and lack of clarity around cost benefits (29%).
12. Industry leaders embrace data innovation. Data will be key to competitive advantage in the mature print market and we can expect to see leading vendors enhancing AI-driven analytics capabilities. This will primarily be used to enhance predictive maintenance but will also extend to the use of AI to improve customer service, detect and identify security threats, and better analyze and predict print and scan usage to uncover opportunities for new products and services.
13. MPS and managed IT convergence gains momentum: 2024 will see more managed IT providers moving into print and vice versa. More than two-thirds of respondents to Quocirca’s Managed IT Services 2023 study are open to using a single provider for IT services and MPS, anticipating cost and efficiency savings from using a single supplier. However, MPS providers have more work to do to establish credibility in the IT services space and partnerships will be key to achieving this.
14. Marketplaces unlock new opportunities. The acceleration of cloud adoption is leading to increased use of cloud-based marketplaces by B2B buyers, with Quocirca research indicating that 50% now use them for cloud print technology procurement. Marketplaces provide an opportunity to create added value for customers and channel businesses should explore diversifying their sales models to capitalize.

Louella Fernandes adds: “The coming year will be a time of change for print vendors and the channel, reflecting the changes their customers are undergoing. It’s important that the industry capitalizes on opportunities and moves beyond its core business to build capabilities that meet customer needs.”

Quocirca’s 2024 Trends report, including recommendations for vendors and the channel, is available here. Read the complimentary executive summary.

Related:

• Quocirca: Print Industry Vendors Are Accelerating Sustainability Strategy
• Quocirca: Cloud Print Adoption Growing More Complex
• Quocirca Releases Print Industry Trends and Predictions in 2023
• Quocirca Publishes the Print Industry’s First Comprehensive Review of Vendor Sustainability
• Quocirca Reveals Hybrid Workers Face Printer Security Risks