Making Sense of Your Print Options

With so many available options, deciding which print solutions to incorporate into your business can be an overwhelming task. By identifying your business priorities and assessing which companies and technologies best align with these priorities, you can better determine which technologies and services are best for you and your customers.

Before deciding which print solutions to incorporate into your business, you should ensure your organization’s top business priorities—and those of your customers—are front of mind.
Beyond the goals that are shared across organizations, you should consider your own objectives as well as those of your customers.
Another step toward choosing the best print technologies and services to include in your business is researching what others think about the solutions.

By Christine Dunne

Introduction

Whether you’re a print user, print service provider (PSP), or print technology provider, it can be overwhelming trying to make sense of all the relevant technologies and services in the market. With so many apparent options, which make sense to use, sell, or integrate? This article provides some food for thought as you’re researching the print solution landscape.

What Are Your Business Priorities?

Before deciding which print solutions to incorporate into your business, you should ensure your organization’s top business priorities—and those of your customers—are front of mind. All businesses want to improve revenue growth, enhance efficiency and productivity, and reduce costs. They also want to maintain high-quality products and/or services, satisfy customers, and improve staff retention. When evaluating print technology and services, you can contemplate the extent to which various offerings will help you and your customers achieve these goals.

For example, higher-speed print devices with connections to commonly-used business applications could help workers become more efficient and productive. In addition, managed print services engagements could help bring down costs. If you’re a manufacturer, you could communicate how the improved print quality of your devices can better serve customers and PSPs.

Beyond the goals that are shared across organizations, you should consider your own objectives as well as those of your customers. Assess the importance of the following:

Sustainability
Security and compliance
Embellishments on marketing materials
Digitization
Cloud migration
Accessibility
Ease of use
IT outsourcing
Conferencing and collaboration
Hybrid working

According to a survey from Keypoint Intelligence, improving document security tends to be a leading IT priority in US organizations. Although other priorities are important too, they tend to fluctuate based on business size. Simply put, each organization will have its own unique set of values and interests.

Top Business Priorities

Source: IT Decision-Maker Survey, Keypoint Intelligence 2019

What Do Users and Experts Say?

Another step toward choosing the best print technologies and services to include in your business is researching what others think about the solutions. This doesn’t necessarily mean perusing online reviews; it might also involve getting feedback that’s relevant your business’ top priorities. For example, if sustainability is an important issue for your firm, you can consult with other like-minded companies to see what kinds of print solutions they use and prefer. You can ask about achievements surrounding energy use, toner and device recycling, and the use of recycled paper. Another way to make connections is attending conferences that are focused on your topic of interest.

Another way to determine the print technologies that align best with your corporate priorities is to see what the experts have to say. In the print space, for example, Keypoint Intelligence’s PaceSetter awards evaluate print technology manufacturers and software developers on the performance of their products and services as well as how these solutions support different business objectives and vertical markets. The awards also explore how adjacent and related technologies (e.g., scanners, scan apps and software, document management solutions, 3D printers, PCs, digital whiteboards, and workplace of the future technologies) achieve the various objectives.

The Bottom Line

After establishing your business priorities and identifying the companies and technologies that best align with these priorities, you will be better equipped to determine which print solutions are best for you (for use, sale, or technology integration) and your customers. Of course, it is also important to consider some additional factors:

Print budget (current and future)
Supplier/partner relationships and any current contracts
Existing technologies and their compatibility with future solutions
Space limitations
Access to local support
Preferred payment options

Once you’ve made all the necessary considerations, you will be positioned to make the best decisions for the future success of your company.

Christine Dunne is a Consulting Editor for Keypoint Intelligence’s Office Technology & Services Group. Her responsibilities include responding to client inquiries, conducting market research and analysis, and providing coverage of industry events. Ms. Dunne has written extensively about search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising.