Is Managed Print Services Shedding Its Skin?

IDC finds that Managed Print Services (MPS) is undergoing an extreme makeover and is increasing its focus on "services." Vendors are starting to expand service offerings either in-house or via partnerships to bring MPS to the boardroom.

Accelerated by new technology services such as cloud, IDC believes that in the short term, enterprises in the APEJ region will be looking for consolidation of services offerings. Currently, multi-tower deals in the information technology outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services markets are seen blended into single contracts. As a result, IDC expects MPS to soon be integrated as part of such extensive contracts.

Suchitra Narayan, Research Manager for IDC's Asia/Pacific IT Services Research says, "We are witnessing three fundamental shifts in how MPS is perceived by the market. First, MPS is entering the boardroom via managed services and is gaining the CXO's attention. Secondly, it is no longer about services that you buy bundled with hardware; it is hardware that comes bundled as a services offering. Thirdly, with the shift to a services economy, there will also be an increased focused on channel-based MPS delivery. Channels will have to undergo a restructuring to ensure they build-out services capabilities and not just deliver and manage 'boxes.'"

According to IDC, the Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ managed print services (MPS) market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% in the period 2010-2014. It will reach US$530 million in 2010 and surpass US$990 million in 2014.

For more information about the report, see the synopsis here.