Death of the Hype?
This guest blog was contributed by Brian Stevenson.
It’s great to be here this week as a guest blogger – my first with The Imaging Channel.
I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but everywhere I look, it’s doom and gloom hitting our industry: the death of this and that, iPads ruling the world, HP imploding, more printer consolidation happening. Is the new device “ratio” 100:1 yet?
With all of this hype, I’m a bit shocked we’re still here. Then I found this post from IDC suggesting printed pages are expected to grow slightly over the coming few years. Interesting.
Change is absolutely occurring … but has been for years. Businesses have shifted from “print and distribute” to “distribute and print.” Advances in technology have allowed software to play a further role in reducing waste – no pages left orphaned at the printer, no duplicate printing of a document. Today, business process optimization (BPO) is becoming a focus for many companies as they seek efficiencies and cost savings.
So is it the end, or are we simply moving into an era of intelligent printing?
There is no doubt the emergence of the tablet and other forms of technology will pick up a larger percentage of the images. Don’t be scared by this change; embrace it. See it as an opportunity to shift your company from being in the print business to being in the “image presentment” business. You have adapted in the past, whether it was the move from analog to digital or the more recent transition to MPS, and the future won’t be any different. As the industry moves forward, you will still need to anticipate the evolution of technology, and being a true advisor and partner to your customers will become critical to your future success.
At some point, the vast majority of images will be presented on something other than paper. However, with the amount of information being consumed still doubling every 24 months, it’s safe to assume that printed pages will continue to be relevant through our working lifetime and beyond.
Take a look at another industry: energy – or more specifically, electricity. When looking at the alternatives for powering our planet, many would argue that a cleaner, renewable resource like the sun or wind would be preferred over coal, the leading culprit of CO2 pollution. However, the world sees coal production increasing through 2030, albeit at a slower growth rate to virtually all other energy alternatives.
The challenge with paralleling print and energy could be as much political as it is cultural. However, the reality is that an overnight move away from coal isn’t possible, nor is it good for everyone. Same goes for paper. Technologies now exist that provide various new methods for presenting images, and that’s good. But let’s not forget that paper is still the preferred viewing method for the significant majority of the population and will continue to be so for decades to come.
There are many that forecast coal will be relevant for another 223 years. Is it possible that paper will too? I believe it’s time to announce the Death of the Hype.
Contact Brian Stevenson at bstevenson@footprintmps.com.
Brian Stevenson has enjoyed being part of the managed print space for the past several years as the president of LaserNetworks and today as a partner in footPRINT MPS. Stevenson is also a board member of the MPSA, representing the independent resellers.
Posted by Brian Stevenson on 11/07/2011