Managed Print Service sales grow as vendors drive into mid-market

Managed Print Services (MPS) and Basic Print Services (BPS) market in Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APeJ) region grew 16.4% year-on-year in 2013 to reach US$2,693.5 million.

According to IDC findings, Australia and South Korea continue to be the two key drivers in this region contributing approximately 48% of the APeJ market, rounding up the top 5 markets in the region together with the PRC, Thailand and Singapore.

The growth trend is likely to sustain as MPS vendors drive into the mid-market for new MPS opportunities, and include value-add solutions to customers.

MPS, traditionally targeted at Enterprise customers, is seeing opportunities in the Small-Medium Businesses (SMBs) segment, where the growth in this segment is faster than the Enterprise segment in countries such as Australia and Singapore.

“There are plentiful of MPS opportunities out there," says Junhua Sia, Senior Market Analyst for Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions (IPDS) research, IDC Asia/Pacific.

"Vendors, however, need to know which ones to capitalise on by clearly identifying their target audience, service/solution offering and value proposition prior going into any MPS engagement.

"By doing so, they can then clearly differentiate themselves from the other vendors and have a higher chance of winning the deal."

MPS vendors are driving into this space where new opportunities exist albeit in smaller revenue size. To attack this segment, MPS vendors are collaborating with channel partners to provide watered-down/standardized MPS packages to the end customers.

Channel partners, however, are not limited to the traditional printer/copier providers, according to Sia.

"They can be IT services providers with no prior experience in print," the report adds. "In this situation, the MPS vendors will be working more closely or directly with the end customers."

Sia says that besides just providing print management, MPS vendors are also looking at incorporating solutions in the MPS contracts as a value-added to customers.

Using the “intelligent” multifunction device as a centre-piece in the print environment, MPS vendors can install third party or their own proprietary solutions onto them.

"Some of these solutions could help automate/optimise business processes, manage digital information or even work with cloud/mobile technologies, with the objective to provide end-users higher business efficiency," the report explains.

According to Sia, examples of these solutions are Canon’s I.R.I.S and Therefore; Lexmark’s Perceptive Software Suite; Xerox’s Workflow Assessment Services; HP’s Autonomy; as well as Ricoh’s collaboration with Laserfiche.