THE paperless office might still be a pipedream, but growing numbers of companies are taking a hard look at their printing habits in a push to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
Many soon realise that printing has not received the attention given to other elements of the IT infrastructure.
Printers are often not centrally purchased, with the result being a mishmash of models and consumable requirements.
Added to this is the growing tendency to print documents.
Most information is now stored electronically, but many employees still print documents for processing and checking.
According to technology analyst IDC, 60 per cent of Australian businesses surveyed for a recent report estimate they are printing more pages than they were five years ago.
"We print more, are less conscientious about doing so, and spend more time and money on reprinting documents seemingly lost in the piles of printed pages in print rooms or stowed away somewhere out of sight," IDC program manager Rishi Ghai says.
"However, competitive pressures and the ever-increasing complexity of operations are driving the need to streamline information organisation, encompassing a range of processes and workflows."
Gartner analyst Pete Basiliere agrees, saying many businesses focus only on the day-to-day maintenance and support of printers and copiers rather than taking a more holistic view of what employees actually need to get their work done.
"Actively managing office printing can reduce spending by 10 per cent to 30 per cent while reaping environmental benefits," he says.
"Although most enterprises now recognise the problem, few have the necessary information, leadership, funding and strategy to fully succeed." Acutely aware of these pressures, major printer vendors are working hard to help customers improve their selection of equipment and more efficiently deploy it in their offices.
Many are offering consultative services for large clients.
A team will conduct a full audit of a company's printing equipment and advise on which units should be replaced, and with what.
Often, single printers sitting on employees' desks can be replaced with fewer, larger units in central locations.
By standardising on a limited range of printers, the types and numbers of consumable items such as toner cartridges can be reduced.
As well as the need to streamline equipment, Lexmark marketing manager Stephen Bell says one of the biggest challenges in many organisations is finding ways to manage large amounts of information.
Applications such as Microsoft SharePoint go some way towards streamline workflows by keeping information in electronic form, but a lot of data still ends up on paper.
"We need to find ways to integrate with these types of applications, both to bring information into them and get it out again when needed," he says.
"It is a matter of working closely with companies to understand how they work, and then matching devices to those requirements, remembering that requirements can vary from department to department and office to office."
Bell points to the growing capabilities of multifunction printing devices (MFPs), which copy, print, scan and often fax.
Such machines can replace a variety of standalone units, reducing costs and improving productivity. Bell says advances in software now enable MFPs to link directly to existing corporate applications.
For example, documents can be scanned on a unit and sent directly to a database or SharePoint server.
"In the same way that you don't need to be a telecoms engineer to make a phone call, we want to make it that simple to put data into applications and get it out," he says.
"We can make it a one-step process by using the touchscreen on an MFP."
Hewlett-Packard is adopting a similar approach in the search for a more efficient way to move and store information in organisations. Imaging and printing group commercial and enterprise manager Luke Duggan says MFPs can be "digital on and off ramps for information".
"There is always going to be room for the printed page, but we need to look at the whole challenge of managing information," he says.
Duggan points to HP's acquisition of Exstream Software earlier this year as an example of the company's strategy in this area.
Exstream develops technology that allows organisations to easily create documents that can be shared by print and online channels.
Such documents can be personalised easily, enabling companies to creatively target particular customers with customised campaigns.
Duggan says more moves such as this should be expected as HP begins to morph from a printer company into the broader role of document and information management.
Despite the declared intentions of companies to find ways to reduce the amount of printing and copying they are doing, market figures show equipment sales continue to rise.
According to Gartner, in the Asia-Pacific region shipments of printers, copiers and MFPs rose 7 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, compared with the same period last year.
Spending rose even more, by 13 per cent in the quarter to reach almost $2 billion.
This was attributed to more companies opting for MFPs that have higher specs and therefore higher price tags.
According to Gartner's examination of the Asia-Pacific market, in the A4 page flatbed MFP and copier segment, HP claimed 28 per cent of the market in the first quarter, just behind Samsung on 29 per cent.
Canon claimed 10 per cent while Fuji Xerox's share was 5 per cent.
Overall, printer vendors remain bullish about the market outlook for their offerings.
Refresh cycles in large enterprise accounts combined with growing demand from mid-market companies is maintaining keen demand for new equipment and services.
"The market is very strong at the moment," Lexmark's Bell says. "It's a matter of working with customers to ensure we provide them with the equipment they require."
However, Gartner printing analyst Cecile Drew says, vendors must focus on helping their customers print less more responsibly.
This comes down to more than just selling good printers.
"Print technology providers and their channel partners are looking to differentiate themselves by bundling software and services to the hardware they sell, and thereby enhancing client value and their own profitability," she says.
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