MPS market poised for growth as 79% businesses plan to increase spend

Quocirca's latest Managed Print Services Landscape report, identifies the drivers that are shaping MPS engagements and analyses how vendors are positioned to respond. The report draws on primary research conducted with IT Managers in the UK, France, Germany and the US and finds evidence that organisations are still struggling to realise cost reduction and environmental MPS objectives.

Key findings include:

• 79% anticipate increasing MPS spend in the next 12 months, with 27% planning a significant increase
• 50% say printing is still very important to their business
• 72% have not fully achieved consumables cost reduction objectives
• 71% have not fully realised environmental impact reduction objectives
• 63% say they are in the optimisation phase of MPS deployment, focused on delivering workflow tools to improve business processes
• 37% say MPS is very important to digital transformation – up from 23% in 2018
• 84% say embedded MFP apps are useful for integrating paper-digital workflows

Louella Fernandes, Quocirca's Research Director said, "businesses are planning to increase MPS spend, which is welcome news for providers. However, the market is mature, so they need to differentiate their offering and seek broader engagements that tap into customer demand for digital transformation, security and sustainability. Buyers are looking for additional services such as workplace services, IT managed services and collaboration services, so providers that respond to this demand will be better positioned to help organisations achieve the MPS objectives that have so far eluded them."

Quocirca's analysis finds the competition is intensifying as vendors bring their different strengths and broader IT services experience to market. Xerox continues to lead the group, but its lead is being squeezed, particularly by HP which has made strong advances in deepening its security services and solutions portfolio. Ricoh stands out for its comprehensive range of non-print related IT and communications services. Lexmark continues to excel, particularly in distributed environments, boosted by its new cloud services offerings.

Louella Fernandes says: "Leading vendors are pursuing a strategy of diversifying their offerings and strengthening competence in areas such as cloud, IoT, security and analytics. To succeed they must continue to build deeper relationships with clients across a broad range of areas and become a strategic partner to IT decision-makers and lines-of-business." 

The pressure to meet security and compliance requirements and the growing weight of sustainability concerns are reflected in the fact that security and sustainability top the list of most important supplier selection criteria. 48 per cent of businesses are looking for an MPS provider with security expertise while sustainability expertise, a newly added option in the 2019 survey, is just 1 per cent behind.

Achieving regulatory compliance has risen in prominence as a benefit of MPS and was rated very important by 52 per cent of businesses. Improved service quality/reliability and reduced costs were in second and third positions.

The Quocirca Managed Print Services Landscape report contains detailed market and vendor analysis providing a comprehensive insight into the drivers, priorities and direction of the industry into 2020. It contains recommendations for providers and buyers of MPS to assist in strategic decision-making. Download the complimentary executive summary or purchase the full report.