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DIGITAL DISRUPTION
Print’s
tangibility
and durability;
its credibility
and trust can
set it apart
from the noisy
cluttered
online
landscape
There has been much talk about
disruption in the print industry,
particularly with the latest
acquisition of Samsung’s printer
business by HP. The market has seen
a wave of consolidation, HP now
operates as two separate companies,
Xerox has separated its technology
business and its service business,
The Foxconn Technology Group
acquired Sharp in August 2016 and
Lexmark’s acquisition by a Chinese
consortium led by Apex Technology
is now approved. So what does the
future hold for the print industry, one
that is hardware-centric and reliant
on the printed page? Can it truly
reinvent itself for the digital age?
Surviving the digital onslaught
Change or die has long been the mantra
in a technology landscape that is facing a
range of disruptive forces – smartphones,
cameras, sensors, social media, the cloud,
analytics. Emerging technology such as 3D
printing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are
poised to create yet more disruption, while
new models of service consumption have
enabled companies such as Uber and Air
BnB to re-write the rules of the markets
they have entered.
The print industry is already feeling
the force of the digital age; information is
increasingly read, shared and distributed
online rather than on paper. As with any
legacy industry reliant on a huge hardware
installed base, manufacturers must find
new areas of innovation whilst protecting
their core business. Add to this the ongoing
revenue stream through consumables
and it is obvious that manufacturers face
the dilemma of finding new growth areas
for printing, whilst making their products
relevant in today’s digital age.
If we take it back to basics, print is
a delivery mechanism for sharing and
delivering information and content. The
print industry is not alone in the mammoth
task of reinventing a traditional platform
for content delivery – think TV, film, music
– where formats such as CD and DVDs
are being killed by the Internet and digital
streaming subscription services.
Print is far from dead
Yet print is far from dead. Print’s tangibility
and durability; its credibility and trust
can set it apart from the noisy cluttered
online landscape. Research has shown
that readers are more likely to retain
information on printed material leading
to higher engagement levels. Print offers
our undivided attention, rather than
the multitasking experience with online
content.
Although print is not dying any time
soon, manufacturers must connect to their
customers in more meaningful ways. This
means creating products and services that
leverage their heritage in print but also
connect seamlessly into the digital and
online world.
Quocirca believes that print
manufacturers must exploit the following
opportunities:
n
Adapt to the “as-a-service
economy”.
The consumer preference for
services over products and subscriptions
over purchases is permeating into
the business market. This is driven by
increasing customer demand for flexibility
that will allow them to take advantage of
new technologies.
With an as-a-service model, customers
are not burdened by significant upgrade
costs and can more accurately estimate
the ongoing cost of access to technology.
MPS is already an established service
Can the print industry
survive digital disruption?
With a business model predicated on selling hardware and consumables, Louella Fernandes,
Associate Director at Quocirca, considers how the print industry can innovate in a market
which may be rapidly reaching its sell by date
model in the market, offering a lucrative
recurring services revenue model along
with increased customer retention long
after the printer hardware sale. While
the MPS market is relatively mature in
the enterprise space, there are further
opportunities to tap into the largely under-
penetrated SMB market with “print-as-a-
service” offerings. For the channel, digital
services around printer device diagnostics
and predictive/preventative maintenance
have significant untapped potential. MPS
vendors should drive further innovation
in their engagements around cloud
delivery, security and mobility. These are
key enablers, not only for the as-a-service
economy, but also digital transformation.
n
Drive the digital transformation
journey.
Despite talk of its demise, paper
remains a key element of the connected
and collaborative office workplace and
still plays a critical role in the business
processes of many organisations. However,
paper bottlenecks can hinder business
productivity and efficiency.
Print vendors are well positioned to
connect the paper and digital worlds
and are developing stronger expertise in
workflow solutions and services. In many
cases, the leveraging of investments in
smart multifunction peripherals, which
have evolved to become sophisticated
document processing platforms, provides
vendors with an opportunity to maximise
the value of their hardware offerings.
Vendors need to change legacy perceptions
of their brand and be accepted as a trusted
partner in the enterprise digitisation
journey. Business process optimisation and
workflow capabilities will become a key
point of differentiation for vendors in the
industry, requiring a balanced hardware,
software and service portfolio.
n
Leverage Internet of Things (IoT)
technologies.
All printers are things
and the connected smart MFP is part of
the IoT landscape. Vendors can exploit
the enormous data generated to monitor
actual customer product and service
Louella Fernandes,
Associate Director,
Quocirca
Continued...
