WhatTheyThink

Premium Commentary & Analysis

Print Software Investments Have to Fit into Your Technology Stack

When you buy print software for your business, it needs to “fit” into the technology stack you already have. This means that it solves challenges you cannot solve with your existing software and it will fit with the other pieces of your technology.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Every print business that has been in business for more than a month is using some mix of software technologies to run their business. There is an existing technology stack - this is what I call the set of software solutions a printer is using. When a printer is shopping for new print software; they always need to take into consideration their current technology stack. I have yet to meet a printer who was willing to throw out all previous software investments, so every print software decision MUST take into account what technology you already have installed and running in your business. 

When printers contact me about web-to-print solutions, the first question I ask is what is your Print MIS? When customers contact me about Print MIS solutions, the questions I ask are; do you have a production/pre-press management tool and/or an order entry/web-to-print tool?

Your existing technology stack is a big part of your future print software decisions.


Continue reading your article
with a WhatTheyThink membership.

WhatTheyThink Annual Membership

Less than $4/week.

Get unlimited access to in-depth commentary and analysis covering the latest trends, emerging technologies, operational strategies, and key events across every segment of today's printing industry.

Stay informed. Stay competitive. Stay ahead.
WhatTheyThink Day Pass

$5 for 24 hours

Unlimited access to all of WhatTheyThink. Get your Day Pass

Already a member?
Sign In

About Jennifer Matt

Jennifer Matt is the managing editor of WhatTheyThink’s Print Software section as well as President of Web2Print Experts, Inc. a technology-independent print software consulting firm helping printers with web-to-print and print MIS solutions.

Recent Articles from Jennifer Matt

Utilizing CRM Tools to Sell Print

A CRM tool needs to deliver value to your sales team in the form of time savings or differentiation in how fast they can get quotes out to their customers. Read More

Manual Steps are Piling Up in Customer Service

When the power dynamic is uneven across the functional areas of your print business, more powerful areas (production and sales) tend to shift manual steps to the less powerful areas (customer service). Read More

Stepping Over Dollars to Pick Up Pennies

We tend to discount the time of our full-time employees because we are paying for it already—looking at them like sunk costs. So, when we ask them to do things that are non-value add (aka a complete waste of their time), we don’t see it as a cost. Well, it has real costs. Read More

Deciding What’s Important

In a print plant, it is easy to come to work and fall into the drama of getting jobs out the door. There is always something you can focus on in your day-to-day work life. The art of moving your business forward happens when you direct your focus to areas of your business that you can impact the most. Read More

This Plant Wouldn’t Run Without Me

In conversations with a label converter recently, the General Manager told me that more than once in the last few years key employees had voiced the core belief that “this plant wouldn’t run without me.” Now, you can take this statement a lot of different ways. My initial reaction is concern for the business because the employee that says this is both likely a key player and potentially a risk. Read More

Recent Printing Industry News

Wednesday, June 03, 2026