Recession sparks growth of managed print services

By SearchSMBAsia Editors | May 18, 2009

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Sparked by the economic downturn, the managed print services (MPS) industry in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) will experience a double-digit growth as companies are turning away from capital investments, resulting in an increase in demand for extension of warranties and increased services and maintenance contracts.

IDC’s 2009-2013 analysis and forecast of the MPS market in APEJ sees double-digit growth for the industry, despite the current economic condition. The region’s MPS market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.5% from US$419.9 million in 2008 to US$863.4 million in 2013. MPS in the emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia, are expected to see rapid growth in the next five years. Albeit at a declining rate, mature markets such as Australia, Korea and Singapore will also continue to see growth.

Cost management is still the common and key focus across verticals and countries. While early 2008 saw a migration from basic cost savings to value added services such as business process improvements and green technologies, the current economic conditions have forced organizations to revisit their focus on the basics – cost management. MPS fits well into the new demand from organizations which is migrating CAPEX top OPEX and increasing the lifecycle of hardware.

IDC expects to see double-digit CAGRs for MPS market from 2009 to 2013, especially in China, India and Indonesia, assuming political stability in these markets. The China and India markets, in particular, represent large opportunities that are the only bright sparks in IT services for the APEJ market given the current economy. IDC believes that India will see robust growth of 6.7% in 2009 for IT services and for China IT services, growth of 11.7%. Although Indonesia accounts for only 3.5% of the total MPS market in APEJ, the country is keen to adopt proven models and is looking for document management systems that have been tried and tested by neighboring countries. The Indonesia MPS market is projected to grow at 18.6% year-on-year.

Despite the uncertain economic times, the financial and government sectors, which are key proponents of document management solutions in the APEJ region, will continue to invest in the same. The rational for investments are varied with the financial sector focusing on cost management, operational efficiency, transparency and compliance; while the government sector, targeting operational efficiencies, is keen to invest in the local market to boost the economy. A recent IDC Peripherals, Hardware, Software and Services Study, conducted in 10 countries across APEJ, revealed that 18.8% of the organizations polled in the financial sector will continue to seek document related solutions, particularly print accounting and management related solutions, over the next one to two years.  Because of the changes in the fundamentals of doing business within the financial sector, and the increasing focus on transparency and compliance, document archival and storage will also be a key area with 26.7% of organizations polled, seeking such solutions in the short term, compared to 16.8% who will focus on document security and 15.8% on scan related solutions.