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Opportunities Exist for Hardcopy Vendors
and their Partners to Support Corporate Rebranding Initiatives
Developing and
executing new company brands provides corporations with an opportunity
to evaluate the number and types of documents that are used to run the
business. During the execution phase of a rebranding activity,
companies need to know in detail which customer-facing and internal
documents will be impacted by the brand change and, most important, the
costs associated with it. IDC believes most firms are ill prepared to
execute on an enterprisewide brand change, and hardcopy vendors along
with their partners have the opportunity to provide support to such
initiatives.
Key Processes that Can Help with Rebranding
Initiatives
- Conduct a
document audit of all documents, both internal and external.
- Develop an
enterprisewide document taxonomy that identifies key metrics about
documents.
- Implement a
document database that maintains and administers the document taxonomy.
- Provide an integration between the
document database and specific
internal systems in order to track costs associated with the document.
Uncover IDC's Branding Execution Analysis
Case: Xerox
IDC had the
opportunity to discuss the operational steps that Xerox went through in
executing its most recent rebranding. Find out how the process was
accomplished for Xerox in IDC's study, Complex Business
Process Series: Brand Changes and Their Impact on Managing Documents
Within an Enterprise (Doc
# 213499).
A3 Versus A4: Making Copier Vendors
Nervous
The most excitement
in the U.S. hardcopy industry between A3 and A4 takes place in the MFP
market. The workgroup segments of the color and monochrome MFP markets
show a coexistence of A3 and A4 products throughout the forecast period
(2008-2012), but A4 is projected to make a substantial inroad over the
same period. Indeed, the U.S. MFP market, with its legacy in the A3
copier world, has increased interest from printer vendors who desire to
bring a lower cost MFP option than what has traditionally been
available. Also, IDC user research has confirmed that many customers
have an overabundance of A3 machines in use versus their actual A3
output requirements. IDC believes that as users become
increasingly aware of this situation, more of them will begin to
consider A4 configurations as a lower cost alternative. As a
result, stronger growth for A4 overall, particularly in the MFP market,
is anticipated.
The A3/A4 Battle Summarized With a Few
Numbers
- A4 color MFPs show the highest growth
opportunity
- A4 monochrome is the biggest unit
opportunity
- A3 printers are a niche market
- A3 MFPs are a legacy market, but facing
A4 MFP competition
Learn More about Opportunities for Vendors
Read IDC study, A3/A4
Forecasts in the U.S. Hardcopy Market (Doc
# 213649), which highlights the interest in A3 (11x17) and A4
(8.5x11) machines, both monochrome and color. The presentation
discusses customers’ views of these machine types as well as
IDC’s U.S. forecast projections for these machines through
2012.
IDC's QuickPoll Suggests that Hardcopy is
Immune from U.S. Economic Downturn
IDC's QuickPoll
results suggest that the opportunity for hardcopy vendors remains
hopeful, even in a challenged U.S. economy, and that hardcopy vendors
can approach the market with guarded optimism. The poll does
demonstrate IT and line-of-business managers' cautiousness when
considering hardcopy budgets and spending. However, the responses do
reveal that the challenging economy presents attractive prospects for
hardcopy business, especially for those products/services that focus on
efficiency and cost effectiveness. Hardcopy vendors who provide their
customers with such solutions have the greatest opportunity for revenue
and profits in this competitive marketplace.
Key Highlights
- Budgets for hardcopy equipment are
primarily unaffected by the current economic status.
- A shift from personal desktop devices to
shared workgroup devices is evident.
- There is interest from IT and
line-of-business managers for simple tools that can help address
hardcopy costs and usage.
- The U.S. economy is projected to rebound
within a year.
Gain Details by Company Size, Respondent
Type and Role in Organization
Read IDC
Quick Poll Suggests That Hardcopy Is Immune from U.S. Economic Downturn
(Doc
# 212687). This online QuickPoll was conducted in May 2008.
The responses are segmented by total, company size, respondent type
(line-of-business manager and IT), title, and U.S./non-U.S.
respondents, and are represented by several industries.
Production Printing Markets: End User
Perspectives and Their Impact on the Future of Print
The Production
Printing Markets: End-User Perspectives and Their Impact on the Future
of Print presentation examines key trends that are taking
place within the production printing market place. In addition to
analyzing trends within a broad range of customer segments, the study
encompasses several product categories, ranging from light- to
full-production, cutsheet to continuous form and monochrome to full
process color. Topics of discussion address multiple areas, including
trends for print volumes by customer segments and print environment, as
well as challenges impacting production print.
Key Factors Impacting Production Print
Volumes
- 80% of in-plants/CRDs indicate that
offset transfer is driving double digit increases in digital volume.
Note, a third of in-plants state that digital print is increasing at
rates greater than 25%.
- Print service providers are also seeing
increases in digital volume, driven by offset transfer. 68% of
respondents stated digital print is increasing or substantially
increasing as a result of offset transfer. In fact, only 11% of
respondents indicate no increase in volume due to offset transfer.
- 46% of print establishment respondents
have adopted VDP services. Moreover, another 15% of those not providing
VDP do plan on offering such services in the future.
Although Current Adoption of TransPromo
Applications is Low Now, Demand will Increase
Only 10% of
in-house print establishments (Data centers and In-plants), who print
transactional documents, currently have adopted and are up and running
with trans-promotional applications. However, 11% of print
establishment respondents are currently
implementing a trans-promo application, but are not yet up and running.
Furthermore, another 25% are currently considering adoption. Of course
not all considering will transition to adoption, but it is reasonable
to believe that a percentage will. 58% of all print establishment
respondents – in-house and print service providers
– agree that demand for trans-promotional print applications
will increase.
Learn More
Read IDC's
presentation survey, Production Printing Markets: End-User
Perspectives and Their Impact on the Future of Print (Doc
# 213235). The study is based on a U.S. end user survey of
production printing environments as well as line-of-business,
marketing, operations and IT executives responsible for high volume
customer communications that are printed and mailed. Summary thoughts
are provided, relating market trends and customer challenges to
customer product and services needs.
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Scanning use in the
United States continues to accelerate, according to a special research
study published by IDC. This study – based on survey data
from over 1,800 end user, IT and facilities/operations/purchasing
respondents in eight key document-intensive industries –
points out that 52% of all respondents indicated that they have
increased their scanning use over the past two years and that
57% expect a scanning usage increase over the next two
years. This represents a solid opportunity for hardcopy device
manufacturers (particularly MFP vendors) that offer scanning as an
integral piece of their overall solution. In addition, the opportunity
is
not just limited to hardware, but also opens up even more
revenue potential within the increasingly lucrative software and
services business related to the scanning ecosystem.
Eight Key Document-Intensive Industries
Researched
The research was
designed to uncover specific scanning opportunities within key
document-intensive industries. Vendors seeking to target scanning
business within these industries would benefit from IDC's study. The
industries researched for this study include:
- Banking
- Insurance
- Manufacturing
- Health care
- Retail/wholesale
- Legal
- Education
- Government
Most importantly,
the study also points out similarities and differences between the
eight industries analyzed. It also identifies particularly strong
scanning opportunities within each industry.
Learn More
IDC's upcoming
special study, Document Intensive Business Processes and
Scanning, 2008
(IDC #213889) offers a comprehensive analysis of the U.S. scanning
opportunity based on survey data from end user, IT and
facilities/operations/purchasing respondents.
For more
information, contact Keith
Kmetz.
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"Inkjet MFPs are
expected to show a positive CAGR through 2012. There have been no
surprises in this expectation over the past one year. However, what has
changed is the gradual evolution of three key areas that could define
inkjet MFP growth in the near term. First, the strong growth of 4-in-1
devices in the $100-$299 price band segment. The need for fax
capability in inkjets, especially from SMB, has fueled this segment.
Further, declining prices on standard fax systems with network
capability have led to a widening of an already huge price delta
between comparable 4-in-1 color laser devices. Second, the emergence of
enhanced photo capabilities in inkjet MFPs. As vendors develop more and
more intuitive photo features on an MFP, photo capability has nearly
become an industry standard for inkjet MFPs. Nearly 80% of all inkjet
MFPs today offer standard photo-direct capability. Third, the gradual
climb of in-built wireless devices. With growing wi-fi in homes, the
need for more than one print device for multiple PC households has
decreased to some extent. However, as more and more options of wireless
MFPs are becoming available to the home user, we can expect this to be
a trigger point for growth in the near and long terms. Functionality
that appeals to SMBs is important as this market has a strong
preference for laser, and some major vendors are reporting softness in
the home inkjet market due to wireless enabled sharing." -
Sahaja Sarathy, Senior
Research Analyst, Hardcopy Solutions.
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